Most body builder or fitness trainer believe that cooling down after exercise is just as important as the workout itself. A cool down after a workout is an essential part of your exercise routine. A cool down can last for 5-15 minutes, the popular way to cool down is by stretching. However it is always a temptation to skip the cool down after exercise, but an effective cooldown can bring many benefits for your body. The main purpose of cooling down after exercise is to allow your heart rate and breathing to return to normal after extensive aerobic exercise. This can help you avoid feeling faintness. Also, cool down exercise can help to improve flexibility, in turn helping prevent injury in a long-term.

Importance of cooling down

As mentioned above one of the most important functions of the post-exercise cool down is to prevent dizziness. This is because, after a strenuous exercise can cause the blood vessels in your legs to expand, which will bring more blood into the legs and feet. Therefore, when you suddenly stop exercising without taking time to cool down, your heart rate slows abruptly and that blood can pool in your lower body, and cause dizziness and even a more serious problem of fainting.

Therefore when you’re done with your exercise, continue the workout at a more relaxed pace, for at least five minutes. For example, after an intense run on the treadmill, slowly turn into a jogging pace then to a walking pace, cool down until your heart rate drops back to normal (most adults have a resting heart rate between 60 and 100bpm). When you’ve accomplished that, do some stretching on the floor.

How to do a cooldown by stretching 

Then finally you can finish your whole workout with some seated stretches to improve flexibility throughout the whole body and promote relaxation. Everyone should be in the habit of stretching after each exercise session. Stretching when your muscles are warm, as they are after a workout, can improve your flexibility over time, which helps to prevent injury. Stretch every major muscle group after a workout, and holding each stretch for about 10 to 20 seconds and breathing throughout. Stretching shouldn’t be painful, but you should feel the tension in the muscle being stretched.

I love to follow fitness video as a guide when I’m doing my cool down stretch. This is a 10 minutes full body stretch by Emi Wong that I found it super useful as a guideline. If you’re confused on how to do your stretch please do watch this!!