15 cool down excercises

Most of us realise that warming up properly before you exercise is important. But did you know it’s just as important to cool down properly afterwards as well?

Just like doing warm up exercises and stretches, doing cool down exercises and stretches helps your body as well. They reduce your:

• chances of injury
• heart rate
• blood pressure
• core body temperature

You should spend 10 minutes cooling down after you exercise. It’s especially important to cool down if you’ve been doing a high-intensity exercise session.

Here are 15 cool down stretches and exercises you can do. Experiment and choose the ones that work best for you. The main thing is to focus on the muscles you’ve been using.  Do any of the exercises at a lower speed than you’d be doing anything during your actual exercise session. 

Lower body exercises and stretches 

1. Touching your toes 

Touching your toes (or getting as close as you comfortably can) to stretch and loosen your hamstrings. Gently do this several times. 

2. Hamstring stretch

Lie down on the floor. Raise one of your legs up and put your hands on your hamstring. Ideally raise it so it’s at right angles to your body and straighten it as much as possible. Alternate between doing this exercise for both of your legs.

 3. Pulling one leg at a time behind you to touch your buttocks 

Place your hand on your foot and pull your leg, behind you, bending at the knee. Place your other hand on a pole, a wall or a partner’s shoulder for balance if you need to. You should feel your thigh (quad) muscles stretching and loosening.

4. Knee to chest exercise

Lie flat on the floor and then alternate between pulling your knee up to your chest. This is a good exercise for loosening both your thigh (quad) muscles and your hamstrings. 

5. Calf stretch

Assume the push-up position with your knees off the floor. Then move your feet forward so your back becomes raised. Then raise one of your feet off the floor and put it behind the calf on your other leg. Rock back gently on the leg that is on the ground. You should feel your calf muscle on that leg stretching and loosening. 

6. Groin stretch

Stand upright but place your feet about 1 metre apart. Then alternate between slowly rocking from side to side. 

Core/back exercises and stretch 

7. Yoga poses

Get on your hands and knees and then alternate between arching and bowing your back. Arching your back involves raising it like you’re trying to get in an ‘n’-shaped position. Bowing it involves lowering it so you’re trying to get into a ‘u’-shaped position. 

8. Back stretch

Lie flat on your stomach with your hands placed out in front of you. Life your hands and feet at the same time, so you can feel your back arching and relaxing.

Upper body exercises and stretches 

9. Chest stretch

Place your hands together and then raise them directly above your head, pointing to the sky. You should feel your chest muscles stretch. 

10. Arm/shoulder stretch 

Place one arm across your body so that the inside of your bicep is touching your chest, just below your neck. Then do the same routine for your other arm. 

You can also do slow, gentle circles with each arm/shoulder to cool down and relax your muscles. You can alternate between circling backwards and forwards. 

11. Neck stretch 

Place your chin on your chest and then alternate between doing a slow series of clockwise and anti-clockwise circles with your head. 

All over body cool down exercises 

12. Light jog or walk

Make sure it’s at a very leisurely pace. The goal is to bring your heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure down.   

13. Go for a light swim 

A nice cool swimming pool will quickly cool you down and if you do some very slow swimming or walking in the pool, it will also bring your heart rate and blood pressure down after an intense workout. 

14. Go for a light ride 

Jump on an exercise bike and ride at a slow pace, particularly after you’ve been doing a heavy leg workout. It will help to relax your leg muscles.

 15. Mimic the exercises you’ve been doing at a much lighter intensity 

For example, if you’ve been lifting heavy weights, cool down by lifting some very light weights. Or if you’ve been riding an exercise bike, ride in a much easier gear to cool down. 

The bottom line 

Remember, cooling down after you exercise if just as important as warming up. Don’t skip one or the other. If you do, you won’t get the full benefits of your exercise session. You might also find you’re sore the next day, which might prevent you from even being able to exercise. 

How we can help 

At HBF Stadium in Claremont, we offer a range of group fitness classes in our state-of-the art gym facilities to suit all ages and fitness levels. There's over 80 group fitness classes to choose from, including Les Mills programs, cardio sessions, aqua classes and high-intensity Metafit workouts. 

We also have all the equipment you need to warm up, exercise and cool down properly. 

Contact us today to arrange a free trial or drop in to see our facilities for yourself. We’d love to see you!