You should finish training sessions and competitions with a 15-20 minute period of active recovery where your level of physical and psychological activity is gradually reduced so that you arrive home partly physically recovered and mentally relaxed.
This is the beginning of your recovery and will reduce some of the usual stiffness and sore muscles that you usually experience following hard training or races.
For a games player or runner this could be a gentle period of jogging and walking. For a cyclist a gentle period on low gears. THe exercise does not even have to be specific to your sport, the important thing is that it gradually reduces the bodies output heart rate - circulation and mental excitement and returns it to near pre training or competition status.
