Soccer Performance Training - Cool Down

Micheal Minthorne: Hi! I am Micheal Minthorne and I am showing you how to perform proper soccer movements. Toward the end of the training session or the end of the soccer game you want to make sure you include a cool down. During this cool down you want to make sure that you lower your heart rate and get a good static stretch of your muscles. This will be a good time, if you have a partner to do a PNF stretch.

Cool down is often neglected after the training session or soccer game is known for athletes to just leave and go home. Two days later they find themselves sore with what's called delayed onset muscle soreness.

Soreness can be prevented by stretching and cooling down after the session. When you are at the end of the session your heart rate is normally up. So you want to bring that down with light jogs, light skips and easy side-to-side movements. Static stretching should follow. You should hold the stretches for about 10-15 seconds targeting the muscles that were activated during the session mainly glutes, hamstrings, quads, calves, hip flexors, abdominal and lower back. Once you have done a static stretch for all the muscles that you have been targeting, then you are ready to go home.

So if you don't stretch or cool down after a session, don't be surprised if you are sore. All these tips have proved useful to help you perform better on the soccer field. Thank you for watching.