The Benefits Of A Post-Workout Cooldown

We're living in a hyper-stimulated, and therefore, hyper-stressed world.

If we are willing to be honest with ourselves, we might admit we have an unhealthy addiction to our phones, and some of us even with work, television, emails, ect.

Most days, it's go-go-go until we're forced to slow ourselves down at the last moment before bed.

Not exactly the telltale signs of health when that's the default.

What if I told you there was something you could do during your workout that could decrease your stress and sensitivity to overstimulation AND increase your presence and productivity?

Would you do it?

What if I told you that it could be the most challenging part of your workout?

That something is a cooldown.

Today, we're continuously bombarded by stressors (via inputs such as screens, sounds, thoughts, and much more). One example could be your alarm in the morning, another could be that deadline at work.

These stressors accumulate within our bodies physiologically. This means we carry it inside our bodies (we have all heard of or seen the person that "holds their stress" in their neck and shoulders).

Our nervous system has complex ways of managing these stressors that are deeply rooted within our biology - some are super effective, while others are not so much.

A cooldown opens up a window so that our biological stress managers can get to work, cleaning house.

Here are 3 ways that doing a cooldown at the end of a workout can change your life.

1. It Desensitizes The Body

Once you lay down in a comfortable position, close your eyes, and slowly start to let go, something extraordinary happens.

The body begins to fade.

All that physiological stress that we hold onto throughout our day (even some of the stress we introduced during the workout) now has a moment to offload.

By reducing most, if not all, inputs (our senses), we begin to lose touch with the outside world.

With no inputs, we're left to focus on our own outputs - mainly thoughts, but also movements like nudges to itch your nose or fidget your fingers.

In the beginning, these urges can be a distraction. In time, these very same urges can come and go as easy as water drops on a rain jacket.

What happens when you have no inputs, and your outputs are just coming and going? Your brain recognizes this is safety - and enough of it that it's comparable to sleep (the most restful and peaceful part of our day).

Is this possible during a 2-3 minute cooldown? Absolutely.

Is it worth it? 100%.

Why? Check out the next point.

2. It Creates A Map Of The Territory

I recently had this discussion with one of my 1:1 clients. Stress lies on a spectrum, stimulation on a spectrum.

What's on the other side of these two?

Do you know?

I'd argue that you do. The circumstances are unique to the individual, but sitting at the beach on a beautiful day, chilling by the campfire with good company, laughing until your stomach hurts.

We know what it feels like (in moments) to be stress-free, calm, and present.

The real question, is this.

Do you have a say in what state you're in at any given moment?

Put another way, do you own tools that could help you manage yourself when you're too far down the stress spectrum?

A cooldown offers up a tool to hold within your toolbox.

Sitting still. Scanning your body, releasing any tension. Slowing down your breath.

In just a few minutes, you could be living in an entirely different world. This is not just happening in your head either - this is happening deep within your physiology. Actual physiological mechanisms shift you into a new state.

Having a better sense, at any given moment, of where you are on the stress spectrum puts the power back in your hands. You can then choose to do something about it.

3. Variability

Variability is critical to health.

Heart rate variability is one such example that is becoming more common to the layperson.

By developing your map of the (stress) territory, you begin to learn your limits (both upper and lower).

The grander the spectrum of your limits, the more flexible your health is (this is a good thing).

On one side is your sympathetic, or fight or flight, system which is often overstimulated in today's age. However, I don't want you to think that it's bad. We need it to do things like focus on a task, workout, run, and perform many tasks while under stress.

Someone who can tap into their sympathetic state to a higher degree has a physiological advantage. Performance and strength metrics - such as a 5rm squat - are, in a way, a measure of your sympathetic state's upper limits.

On the other side is your parasympathetic, or rest and digest, system which is commonly off-kilter. The health and function of the digestive system and our sleep quality are both dependent on this system.

Why is this important to know?

There is a direct correlation between your ability to switch between these two systems and your ability to manage stress.

Another reason that the cooldown is so effective at improving your life is that it comes right after the hardest part of your day. You're usually gased, with your heart rate through the roof, and huffing and puffing by the end of your workout. These are all signs of being physiologically stressed!

That is the absolute best time to practice shifting gears - specifically downshifting.

Practicing lowering your heart and breathing rate in a short amount of time is a strong teller of your physiological health.

So why might a cooldown be the hardest part of your workout, as I mentioned above?

Because today we're rarely encouraged to slow down and practice downshifting.

The best part of this is that this is the case no matter your fitness level. We can all better improve our ability to shift to calmer, more present states that invoke healthier responses from our body and mind and that offload stress.

So without further ado, let's take a nap.

P.S. You can dive deeper into this topic by watching my video on it here.

Thank you for reading, I hope you found value in today's issue.

Feel free to message me with any thoughts or ideas.