Experimenting Cool Down Period after Workouts: 30-Day Personal Experience and Results
In the world of fitness, the importance of a proper cool-down after workouts is often overlooked. However, sports medicine specialists like Elizabeth Barchi suggest that static stretches could be a potential option for cooling down after strength training sessions.
When an individual decided to tackle a month-long cool-down challenge, they noticed a significant decrease in the occurrence of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS), making their workouts less fatiguing and easier to repeat movements [1, 2]. Despite not noticing an increase in muscle rate, as tracked using the FitTrack app, the individual found mental benefits by adding a daily cool-down session to their fitness routine [4, 16].
Static stretches, held for about 15 to 30 seconds, target muscles worked during strength training, promoting relaxation and enhancing blood flow that delivers nutrients and clears waste products from muscles [1, 2, 3, 5]. Specifically, these benefits include:
- Easing post-workout muscle soreness and stiffness, preventing injuries and muscle cramping by releasing muscle tension accumulated during exercise [1, 2, 5].
- Promoting recovery by improving circulation, which helps deliver oxygen and nutrients while removing lactic acid and other metabolic waste, thus reducing fatigue [1, 2, 5].
- Lowering heart rate gradually, which helps the cardiovascular system safely transition from intense activity to rest, reducing risks such as dizziness or nausea that can occur with abrupt stopping [2].
- Improving long-term flexibility and range of motion by stretching warm muscles, which can enhance future strength training performance and joint health [3, 5].
- Providing a mental cue to relax, calming the nervous system and signaling the end of the training session which aids in overall recovery [4, 5].
Amanda Paluch, a physical activity epidemiologist and kinesiologist, recommends everyone should cool down after exercising to prevent waste products from accumulating in muscles, leading to severe and prolonged muscle soreness [11]. Elizabeth Barchi suggests an effective cool-down session should consist of static stretches and can be completed in as little as 10 minutes [12]. For those working from home, stretching after workouts can improve the transition from exercise mode to a calmer state [3].
FitbyMik offers a four-minute cool-down routine that can be tried after workouts [18]. If you're looking to make changes to your workout routine, consider incorporating a cool-down session with static stretching into your strength training routine for a more effective post-exercise recovery and injury prevention [1, 2, 3].
- Incorporating static stretches into a strength training cool-down routine can promote flexibility and range of motion, thereby enhancing future strength training performance and joint health.
- A gradual lowering of heart rate through static stretches aids in the safe transition of the cardiovascular system from intense activity to rest, reducing risks like dizziness or nausea.
- Daily static stretches post-workout can result in a significant decrease in the occurrence of delayed onset muscle soreness, making workouts less fatiguing and easier to repeat movements.
- Science suggests that static stretching, combined with a 10-minute cool-down session, can contribute to overall health-and-wellness, fitness-and-exercise, and injury prevention, by easing post-workout muscle soreness, promoting recovery, and providing a mental cue to relax.
