3 Reasons You Shouldn’t Skip Cooldowns After Workouts
You might be in a hurry to hit the shower, but don’t skip your cooldown.
Cooling down is one of the most important components of a workout. A good cooldown includes light cardio and stretching the muscle groups that you just used in your exercise routine. Cooldowns offer many benefits, including jumpstarting your recovery to get the most of your workout.
References
Afonso, J., et al. (2021). The effectiveness of post-exercise stretching in short-term and delayed recovery of strength, range of motion and delayed onset muscle soreness: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Frontiers of Physiology.
American Heart Association. (2014). Warm up, cool down.
Medeiros, D. M., et al. (2016). Influence of static stretching on hamstring flexibility in healthy young adults: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Physiotherapy Theory and Practice.
Olsen, O., et al. (2012). The effect of warm-up and cool-down exercise on delayed onset muscle soreness in the quadriceps muscle: A randomized controlled trial. Journal of Human Kinetics.
Page, P. (2012). Current concepts in muscle stretching for exercise and rehabilitation. International Journal of Sports Physical Therapy.
Penn, S. (2016). Cool-down. Advanced Personal Training.