Post-exercise cool down – active or passive?

Cool down – what’s the purpose?

Cool down, in the simplest terms, is about “cooling down” the body after the main part of the workout, i.e. a smooth transition from intense effort to the rest and recovery phase. Its purpose is primarily to calm the body – i.e. lower the heart rate, calm down and balance the respiratory rhythm. Cool down can be considered the opposite of warm-up.

Cool down, most often practiced in group classes, is short – it is about 10 minutes devoted to “getting off the pulse”, relaxing the muscles and smoothly transitioning to stretching. In the case of particularly intense workouts, it may last longer – but the key is to calm down the body during the first hour after training.

The basic goal we want to achieve by performing a cool down is to support the body’s post-exercise recovery. It has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, prevents delayed muscle soreness and supports the removal of metabolic by-products (e.g. lactate). It also supports the resynthesis of glycogen in muscle tissue so as to prepare the body for the next portion of exercise in a shorter time.
 

Cool down – types

There are many different cool down methods – sometimes they result directly from the type of activity, and sometimes they depend on our specific style or individual needs and habits. The basic division is based on the number of active muscle movements – that’s why we distinguish between active cool down, which involves performing low-intensity exercises, and passive cool down, which reduces muscle work to a minimum.

Active cool down may consist in continuing the exercise performed during the main workout with a lower intensity or another form of movement in lower aerobic zones, for example:

• jogging or march,
• leisurely cycling or spinning with little resistance,
• swimming at a leisurely pace,
• bends and lunges performed at a leisurely pace, with no weights,
• running on a treadmill at a leisurely pace or a session on an elliptical bike.

Passive cool down involves calming the body through static exercises and forms of muscle relaxation, for example:

• breathing exercises,
• some yoga poses, such as downward facing dog,
• muscle rolling and other self-massage techniques,
• static stretching.
   

Cool down – active or passive?

Active cool down is believed to be more beneficial for the body compared to passive cool down. Most studies confirm that active calm down allows the cardiovascular system to regenerate faster after exercise. The positive effects of active cool down were also confirmed by examining respiratory variables before and after exercise – it turned out that this form will also more effectively support the recovery of the respiratory system. Hence the conclusion that active cool down works very well after high-intensity workouts.
           
However, when we take a closer look at the other effects of cool down, the differences between the active and passive forms are not so obvious. Studies involving athletes do not give unambiguous results and do not provide precise answers as to which form of calming down is more effective in preventing muscle pain, helping to remove lactate or rebuilding glycogen stores. It often turns out that there are no great differences in the effectiveness of active and passive cool down, and sometimes even more beneficial effects of the latter form of calming down have been observed. Probably a lot depends on the type of disciplines practiced, individual level of physical fitness and preferences of the surveyed athletes.

Cool down – how to do it?

There is no one way to cool down after a workout. There is also no guarantee that it will produce identical results every time. A lot depends on individual issues, but the basic rules of proper cool down are always the same:

• low intensity – this applies to both the pace of movements and the mechanical load on the muscles,
• short time – the length of the cool down can vary depending on the intensity and duration of the main workout, but as a rule, it should not last longer than 30 minutes,
• compatibility with our preferences – calming down is supposed to calm us down and promote well-being, so we do it the way we like it.

It is worth reminding that cool down is not the same as recovery and rest. It supports them, but in no way replaces them! Nevertheless, it is worth adding calm down into workout routines. Even if the effects are not visible immediately, it is conducive to building good habits during daily activities and reminds you that proper recovery is extremely important and begins even before the end of the training session.

_References:

1. _{Van Hooren B., Peake J. M., Do We Need a Cool-Down After Exercise? A Narrative Review of the Psychophysiological Effects and the Effects on Performance, Injuries and the Long-Term Adaptive Response, Sports Medicine, 2018.}
2. _{https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360518452_Active_recovery_is_better_than_passive_recovery_to_optimizing_post-_exercise_body_recovery, dostęp: 20.08.2024.}
3. _{Cortis C., Tessitore A., D’Artibale E. et al., Effects of post-exercise recovery interventions on physiological, psychological, and performance parameters, International Journal of Sports Medicine, 2010.}
4. _{Rodriguez-Marroyo J. A., Gonzalez B., Foster C. et al., Effect of the Cooldown Type on Session Rating of Perceived Exertion, International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, 2021.}