Beginners The Benefits of a Cool Down After Exercise By Malia Frey facebook twitter linkedin Malia Frey is a weight loss expert, certified health coach, weight management specialist, personal trainer?, and fitness nutrition specialist.? Learn about our editorial process Malia Frey Reviewed by Reviewed by Tara Laferrara, CPT on February 13, 2020 Tara Laferrara is a certified NASM personal trainer, yoga teacher, and fitness coach. She also created her own online training program, the TL Method. Learn about our Review Board Tara Laferrara, CPT on February 13, 2020 Print Marc Romanelli / Blend Images / Getty Images A cool down is?an essential part of your workout. A cool down can last for 3–10 minutes and includes?stretches or gentle variations of the movements you did during your workout.?The purpose of cooling down after exercise is to allow your heart rate and breathing to return to normal and to promote relaxation.?? Important Benefits You might be tempted to skip your post-workout cool down, but there are several reasons that cooling down is important. Allows Heart Rate to Normalize Most forms of exercise cause your heart rate to increase. Cardiovascular exercise, also called aerobic exercise, can increase your heart rate substantially.? At the end of your workout, you want your heart rate to return to normal slowly. This helps you to avoid lightheadedness or a feeling of faintness.? Slows Breathing When your heart rate increases with exercise, your breathing becomes deeper as well. This is a sign that you are working hard and burning more calories with exercise. A cool down allows your breath to gradually return to the same rhythm it had before you started your workout. Improves Relaxation One of the most important benefits of exercise is improved confidence. Your cool down is a great opportunity for you to reflect on your accomplishment and give yourself credit for the hard work you did during the workout. This can promote a sense of relaxation and well-being and boost your motivation. How to Do a Cool Down The way that you do a cool down often depends on the type of exercise you did during your workout. Most cool downs last 3–10 minutes and include slower, gentle movements and stretching exercises. For example, to cool down after jogging you might do a brisk walk for 2–3 minutes, then gradually taper your pace to a stroll. At the end of your walk, you can do standing stretches to increase the range of motion in the leg muscles you just worked. Finish your cool down with seated stretches to improve flexibility throughout the whole body and promote relaxation. If your workout included more strength training, your cool down might include total body stretches to increase the range of motion in the joints you just worked. You'll want to be especially careful to stretch the joints that you just worked. So if you did biceps and triceps strengthening exercises, your cool down might include bicep and tricep stretches. It is also helpful to include relaxation exercises in your cool down. This might include a few minutes of deep breathing or a yoga-style savasana. These mind-body exercises, along with gentle movements and stretching will help you to take advantage of your cool down and keep your body healthy. Relaxing Total Body Stretches Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Get exercise tips to make your workouts less work and more fun. Sign Up You're in! Thank you, {{form.email}}, for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. What are your concerns? Other Inaccurate Hard to Understand Submit Article Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. van Hooren B, Peake JM. Do we need a cool-down after exercise? A narrative review of the psychophysiological effects and the effects on performance, injuries and the long-term adaptive response. Sports Med. 2018;48(7):1575-1595. doi:10.1007/s40279-018-0916-2