5 Reasons To Include A cool down In Your Workout Routine

Many of us are guilty of going hard in the home gym and immediately heading to the kitchen for sustenance as soon as we finish the main portion of our workout. 

Objectively we know that we should take some time to cool down properly after a heavy session hitting the weights, but in reality we check out of the gym as soon as we put our final dumbbell down. 

However, there are many excellent reasons to make a cool down a non-negotiable part of your workout routine, not least of all that it will likely accelerate the results you get from working out. Here are five of the top reasons to make time for a cool down.

1. Maintain muscle mass and boost performance

To maintain, or even build, muscle mass and boost your future performance, it’s advisable to include an active cool down in your workout routine. 

Active cool downs are an opportunity to help bring your heart rate down while still moving your body. Examples of active cool down exercises include brisk walking, swimming and even lifting lighter weights than you would during a workout.

As you get older, building a cool down into your gym routine becomes even more important because it helps you to maintain your muscle mass, which naturally reduces as you age. 

The key with creating an active recovery cool down routine that works is to choose movements different to those you’ve been performing in your workout session.

2. Avoid injury

There are lots of ways in which to avoid injury while you’re training, including warming up before you get started and making sure that you’re scaling your weights appropriately – that’s why it’s good to have a set of adjustable dumbbells in your home gym.

However, your cool down is also important when it comes to injury prevention, because it is the first opportunity your muscles get to recover after a heavy session. 

If you suddenly stop exercising, especially after lifting heavy weights, your muscles can seize up. They go from doing a lot of work to no work very quickly, which is difficult for your body to adjust to.

Instead, it’s best to maintain at least some movement, which is why walking, jogging and gentle dynamic stretching are all good options for a cool down. This has the added effect that it prevents you from cramping up, which is our next reason to cool down properly.

3. Reduce the risk of muscle cramps

This is particularly relevant if your workout has included intense cardio and considerably raised your heart rate. During this kind of training session, lactic acid builds up in your muscles. 

If you stop your activity abruptly, such as when you reach the end of your workout routine, that lactic acid can stay in your muscles for longer and potentially cause muscle cramps. 

However, if you take some time to cool down by doing lighter exercises, you give your muscles an opportunity to get rid of some of the lactic acid they have built up gradually, and in doing so you reduce the risk of experiencing cramps afterwards.

4. Improve your flexibility 

Stretching after your workout is a common part of a cool down routine and with good reason. Your muscles are already nice and warm, which means you can stretch at a larger range just after a workout.

According to Harvard Medical School, including stretches in your cool down can lengthen and relax your muscles, which improves your range of motion as well as your flexibility. The advice is to create a stretching routine where you flow from one static stretch to the next.

You might be wondering if you need to improve your flexibility though. However, if you want to continue lifting weights – and scale up how much you’re lifting – safely, stretching is an important component of your cool down as it helps improve your range of movement.

This means your muscles can extend more effectively when you lift, causing you less pain and protecting your joints in the process. 

5. Tap into the mental benefits of your workout

Many of us don’t only workout for the physical benefits of doing so. For a lot of us, working out is a way to let go of the stresses of daily life. We often rush from one activity to the next with little time to pause in between.

Building a cool down routine of even five minutes into the end of your workout gives you an opportunity to mentally relax from your session. Take a moment to appreciate your body and what it allows you to do.

You can also use this time for some gentle breathwork to help ground you and make you feel more relaxed.