Warm-ups and cool-downs

How should a beginner cool down?

Keep it easy and gentle: slow down gradually at the end of your activity rather than stopping suddenly. There's no single best cool-down for everyone⁷, so choose one you find pleasant and can do easily.

• Gentle stretches: the NHS suggests about 5 minutes after exercise to gradually relax, improve flexibility and slow your heart rate, and says to spend longer if you feel the need⁵.
• A set routine: the NHS also offers a 10-minute cool-down routine that it describes as suitable for all fitness levels⁶.
• Easy movement: low-to-moderate effort, low-impact movement in a form you like works as a cool-down⁷. A few minutes of slow walking is an easy option.
• Calf stretch: hold it for 15–20 seconds, leaning on the back of a chair or on a wall if you need support⁵.

At the end of a walk, you can simply walk a little more slowly each minute for the last few minutes, then finish with the calf stretch. If a stretch hurts, ease off.

How should a beginner warm up?

Start slowly and let your heart rate rise gradually, rather than going straight from rest to working as hard as you can⁸. The NHS says a warm-up should take at least 6 minutes, and longer if you feel the need¹.

For a walk, the warm-up can be the first part of the walk itself, at a very slow, easy pace. Guidance for people in cardiac rehabilitation suggests 10–15 minutes, starting slowly and gradually making your movements bigger and faster, to raise your heart rate and loosen your main joints⁹. Healthdirect describes a good warm-up as one that slowly raises your heart rate and prepares your muscles for activity¹⁰.

Treat stretching as an optional extra, not the whole warm-up. The general principle for starting out is "start low and go slow": begin with activities that are achievable and build up gradually⁸. Fit your routine to your usual activity, your health and how you respond to exercise¹¹.

What does a cool-down do for recovery?

Cool-downs don't appear to speed muscle recovery much, so think of one as a comfortable way to finish rather than something you must do. Stretching after exercise doesn't seem to reduce muscle soreness over the next three days compared with simply resting³, and an easy active cool-down doesn't clearly reduce it either⁷. A warm-up before unfamiliar, harder exercise may ease soreness slightly more than a cool-down does¹².

What a cool-down does offer is comfort: the NHS describes cool-down stretches as a way to gradually relax, improve flexibility and slow your heart rate⁵.

Some muscle soreness is normal. Soreness that comes on a day or so after new or harder exercise, and fades over a few days (rarely more than five), is nothing to worry about. Exercise doesn't have to hurt to work, so you don't need soreness to make progress.

If you sometimes skip the cool-down, that's fine. What matters most is that you keep being active.

How does warming up prevent injury?

Health organisations advise warming up to lower your chance of injury. Healthdirect says a good warm-up slowly raises your heart rate and prepares your muscles¹⁰, and the NHS advises at least 6 minutes¹. Neither says by how much it lowers the risk.

What the warm-up contains seems to matter. The programmes linked to fewer injuries mixed stretching with strengthening, balance exercises, agility drills and landing techniques, and were done at every session for more than three months⁴. Stretching alone is a weaker bet: routine static stretching doesn't reduce overall injury rates². A warm-up that follows stretching with active movement is recommended for reducing muscle injuries in healthy active people¹³.

In practice:

• Include light movement that gradually raises your heart rate, rather than relying on holding stretches.
• Warm up every time, because consistency is what the successful programmes had in common.
• Build up your activity gradually.

These programmes were designed for sport. It isn't clear yet how well they apply to older adults, who may be at higher risk of injury when their activity levels change⁴, so keep your early sessions light.

When to check with a health professional

If you're starting exercise after a long break, it's always a good idea to see your doctor first.

For an injury or a health condition, see a health professional, such as your doctor or a physio. They can also advise how to adjust your warm-up if your joints are stiff.

If something hurts, stop or ease off. For a sore muscle or joint, ease off, and see a doctor or other health professional if it persists or gets worse.

Feeling sick, sweaty or unwell, or dizzy or breathless in a way that doesn't settle, during or after activity is not something to ease off for. If it has settled, see a doctor soon. If it doesn't settle, use the emergency advice below.

Call your local emergency number for chest pain or pressure (or pain spreading to the arm, neck, jaw or back, especially with sweating or feeling sick), severe breathlessness, fainting or collapse, signs of a stroke, a serious injury, or someone who isn't safe. Don't wait to see whether chest pain passes, and don't drive yourself to hospital: call an ambulance.