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Performing exercises to cool down after a strenuous or intense exercise session is very important. Cool down exercises and stretches decrease risk of injury, improve blood flow, and reduce stress on the heart and other muscles.
Cooling down after a workout also allows you to bring your heart rate, body temperature, and blood pressure to normal levels before continuing with your regular activities.
Below, we will discuss a few simple cool down exercises and stretches you can do after your workout. For more such stretches and exercises, check out our article on effective cool down exercises you must do.
Exercises to Cool Down after Intense Exercise
Check out the following six exercises that can help you cool down after an intense exercise session:
1) World's Greatest Stretch
This cool down stretch is named appropriately as the world's greatest stretch. It's excellent for improving thoracic or mid-back mobility, which is frequently overlooked.
It's also easily adaptable to your current level of flexibility, making it ideal for opening up the hips and lengthening out the hip flexors.
Instructions:
- Take a big step forward with your left foot from a standing position, as if you were doing an extended lunge.
- Firmly place your left foot on the ground.
- Place your right hand next to your left foot on the floor, and twist your upper body to the left while extending your left arm toward the ceiling.
- Hold for 30 seconds before switching sides and repeating.
2) Piriformis Stretch
This cool down post-workout stretch is extremely beneficial in strengthening the piriformis muscle, through which the sciatic nerve passes. Stretching (and strengthening) that muscle, particularly after a workout, can improve mobility and prevent painful flare-ups.
Instructions:
- Sit on the floor with your legs stretched in front.
- Place your right foot firmly on the ground next to your left knee after crossing your right leg over your left.
- Place your right hand behind you, and twist your upper body to the right.
- As you twist, place your left elbow on your right knee, and press outward to deepen the stretch.
- Hold for 30 seconds before switching sides and repeating.
3) Bent Knee Cross-Body Stretch
This cool down stretch works the muscles in the lower back and obliques. Strengthening the core musculature is essential for maintaining a healthy back, and the move also helps stretch the bones in the lower back and sacroiliac joint.
Instructions:
- Lie on your back, and rotate through your lower back while swinging one leg over the other.
- For balance, extend both arms out to the side.
- Try to keep your shoulder blades as close to the floor as possible.
- The rotation in the opposite direction should be resisted by your upper torso.
- Hold for 30 seconds before switching sides.
4) Child's Pose
It's probably one of the best cool down exercises you can perform post-workout and is a relaxing yoga pose that helps de-stress and relax the muscles and the mind.
The child's pose stretches and relieves the muscles in the back, shoulders, hips and knees.
Instructions:
- Kneel on the ground. Wth your knees and legs together, bend your knees, and sit on the back of your calves.
- If you're unable to lower all the way to your calves, place a pillow between the back of your thighs and calves to relieve pressure on the knees.
- Fold your body over the front of your thighs, reaching your arms out, lowering your head, and maintaining contact between your calves and thighs.
- The farther you reach, the more you will feel stretched.
5) Standing Quad Stretch
Quads play an important role in helping control knee motion, so keeping the quads loose and lengthened is key to avoid injury. Runners, especially, need this cool down stretch, as they're more prone to knee injuries if their quads are tight.
Instructions:
- While standing on your right leg, grab your shoe with your left hand, and pull your left ankle up to meet your buttocks.
- Hold the position for 30 seconds. The stretch should be felt in the front of your thigh.
- To maximize the effect, try to extend your knee as far as possible.
- Repeat on the opposite side.
6) Single Knee-to-Chest Stretch
This cool-down exercise is so relaxing that you might even fall asleep after your workout.
This move isolates the larger muscles of the lower back and stretches the sacroiliac joint (where the sacrum, or sit bone, connects with your pelvis). If the joint gets stuck, it can cause lower back pain.
Instructions:
- Lie on your back, with your legs straight and one knee bent.
- Bring your bent knee up to your chest and stomach.
- Hold your leg with both hands on your shin or the back of your thigh, whichever is more comfortable, and hold till you feel a stretch in your back.
- Hold for 30 seconds before switching legs.
Takeaway
Cooling down after a workout allows the body to recover, regulates body systems, and eases you back into your normal daily routine. The aforementioned exercises are quite effective as a cool down routine, but you can also use other static and dynamic stretches to cool down.
For more such exercises, check out our article on best yoga cool-down exercises to loosen up tight muscles.
