With working out, we place so much emphasis on the workout itself and pay at least a little bit more attention on the warm-up. What we often neglect is the cooldown. Usually, people assume you simply have to move just light enough to get your heart rate down and be done and on your way. However, this is not the case, as failing to cool down properly can potentially take away a lot of your efforts. In fact, beyond losing weight or building muscle, an improper cool down can have a direct effect over your health.
Here’s why cooling down is so important, and how you should do it properly:

The Good Thing About Stress

Let’s face it, stress sucks. No one likes it. And we’re all constantly working towards managing or minimizing it. But did you know that stress isn’t all bad? Yes, believe it or not, stress plays a role in regards to health. Without stress, our body cannot make important adaptations towards resilience, response to stress itself, or even recovery. Look no further than an injury. Say we bumped our elbow really hard. For a while, it feels really numb. Then it starts to swell up and turn red. This phenomenon is, in a way, a form of stress. The ensuing inflammation that results from stress signals our body to go and fix things up. With the proper care both inside and out, the elbow will eventually start to heal and recover. Thanks to stress, this cycle was able to come to a close. Thus, in a way, stress was a necessary evil of sorts.

Activating the Right Switch

But let’s make this more relevant.
Did you know that your workout is actually a form of stress? Think about it. If you’re using things like kettlebells or a jump rope, you’re tearing away at your muscle fibers and firing up your entire body. The stress in the form of your workout results in your bodybuilding lean, strong muscles, and a healthy cardiovascular system (amongst plenty of other wonderful things!). But in order to do so, it needed the “stress” of exercise.
This “stress” acts upon our sympathetic nervous system, which is also referred to as our “fight or flight” system. It’s what enabled our ancestors to hunt and fight out in the wild. Essentially, it was our key to survival. Without it, we’d be non-reactive, idle creatures just waiting to be killed by a predator. In a modern context, our sympathetic nervous system can still be used to our advantage for engaging in healthy amounts of exercise to build a healthy and fit body.
Here’s where things can potentially turn ugly.
See, our body has two switches- the sympathetic state of fight or flight, which I just covered, and the parasympathetic state of “rest and digest”. Guess which of the two supports recovery? If guessed the parasympathetic state, you’re on target! This state is crucial towards growth, repair and of course avoiding the potential damage from stress. While stress is not a bad thing in the right context, it’s generally something we should avoid running into most of the time.
In excess, stress can impede muscle growth, sleep, hormone balance, moods, and even digestion. By encouraging the parasympathetic state of rest and digest, we can recover from our workouts, build muscle, sleep well, balance our hormones and mood, and, as the name implies, digest our food. But in order to reap the benefits of this state, we need to learn how to activate the right switch. With the parasympathetic and sympathetic states, there can only be one switch that’s on. You’re either working out hard or you’re resting. Or, for our ancestors, you’re either running from a wild beast or chowing down a good day’s hunt.
Going back to modern living, how do we learn how to activate the right switches? Well, we already know how to activate the sympathetic state: working out. Say you’re sweating and breathing really hard and relieved that you’ve finished your session. What do you do next?
If you thought the answer was to head over to the kitchen for a post-workout meal, hold up.
Because you haven’t turned the right switch back on. You’re still in a sympathetic state. Now you need to activate the parasympathetic state.
You know how it’s done.

The Cool Down

With a cooldown, you’re going to be moving a lot differently than you were from both the warm-up and workout. Here, the focus is on moving still mindfully but with more relaxation and ease. Yes, you move slower, but you also bring your mind into the act. Don’t just flap your arms or walk in place for a while. Do things like stretching or simple yoga poses like downward dog. Take advantage of the fact that your muscles are warm and prime for flexibility exercises, which can also support recovery and better performance in your future workouts. During this time, try to lengthen your inhales and exhales as you breathe. (During a workout, we’re breathing really hard and fast; with the cooldown, the dial turns down a few notches, and our breaths become deeper and longer.)
Depending on the time you have, your cool down should last as short as five minutes to as long as fifteen. If you’re working out at home or bring your own music to the gym, try switching the hyper, fast-paced songs for the slower, longer-paced, soothing ones. Again, try to bring your breath and mind into the cool down. Set an intention towards relaxing. Tell yourself that the hard stuff is over; now is the time to chill out and feel good about stretching and moving with ease. It’s actually very nice once you’ve got your head in the right game!
Once you’ve set the parasympathetic switch on, your body can immediately go toward repairing itself. And when you allow it to do so, you’ll start to notice better muscle definition, strength, energy, and performance in the workouts to come. Pair that with the right nutrition for your bio-individuality and you’ve got a recipe for better progress and weight goals!

Need Some Cool Downs? I’ve Got ‘Em!

In case you’re still unsure as to how to cool down properly, or need a follow-along video to guide you, don’t worry, I’m way ahead of you. ZGYM members know that cooling down is programmed into the workouts. For the newcomers out there, here are a few of my cool down sequences that you can try today:

Cool Down & Stretching Routine
Cool Down & Stretch for Busy Days
Warm Up & Cool Down for Busy Days

Further Reading:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/parasympathetic_nervous_system.htm
https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/sympathetic_nervous_system.htm
https://www.health.com/stress/5-weird-ways-stress-can-actually-be-good-for-you
https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/fitness/fitness-basics/warm-up-cool-down