Will a Cooldown After Lifting Make You Less Sore Tomorrow?

Do not count on a cooldown after lifting to prevent tomorrow’s muscle soreness. Small randomized trials have not established that benefit. Finishing exercise gradually can still serve a useful purpose, but feeling ready to leave the gym and recovering muscle function are different outcomes.

That distinction gets lost when every post-workout activity is sold as “recovery.” A gentle walk, an extra circuit, and a stretching session are different things. Before adding another block to your workout, decide what you want those minutes to accomplish.

What the soreness experiments found

In a randomized trial involving 52 healthy adults, researchers used 30 minutes of backward downhill treadmill walking to create muscle soreness. Participants were assigned a warm-up, a cooldown, both, or neither. The cooldown involved 10 minutes of forward uphill walking.

The cooldown had no apparent effect on soreness 48 hours later. This was a deliberately unfamiliar exercise protocol, rather than a test of experienced lifters finishing their usual squat session. It challenges the promise that adding light exercise reliably prevents soreness; it does not test every possible way to finish a workout.

A second randomized trial was closer to a leg-training session. Thirty-six volunteers performed loaded front lunges. One group cycled for 20 minutes afterward, another cycled beforehand, and a control group performed the resistance exercise alone.

Cycling afterward did not prevent next-day tenderness at the center of the quadriceps muscle. All three groups also showed reduced knee-extension force on the following two days. The study measured pressure sensitivity and force, giving a more specific picture than whether participants enjoyed the cooldown.

These are small studies using particular exercises and cooldowns. They support keeping expectations modest.

A gradual finish has a different job

The American Heart Association recommends reducing activity gradually after exercise. It explains that stopping suddenly can lead to lightheadedness as heart rate and blood pressure fall, and suggests five to 10 minutes of slower walking or a similar easier version of the activity.

This guidance concerns the transition out of exertion. It does not establish a particular cooldown as a way to repair muscle faster after lifting.

If you have an individualized exercise plan because of a health condition, follow the instructions you were given about ending activity.

Give the final minutes a clear purpose

To finish gradually: lower the demand. Choose an easy activity that lets the session taper down. Keep it easy enough to serve that purpose.

To practice mobility or flexibility: treat it as its own training choice. Pick the movement for the range or skill you want to work on. Its position after your last set does not establish it as a treatment for tomorrow’s soreness.

To decide whether a routine earns its place: identify the outcome you are watching. Feeling calmer afterward, enjoying the routine, and having less soreness the next day are separate observations. You can value the first two without claiming you have demonstrated the third.

You also do not need to copy the 20-minute cycling protocol from the laboratory experiment. A research method describes what was tested; it is not automatically a recommended addition to your program.

Keep a cooldown proportionate to its purpose. An easy finish can be worthwhile without becoming another demanding workout or a promise that you will wake up pain-free.

Related reading: why some consistent lifters rarely get sore and how to judge workout length by the work you need.

This article draws on randomized trials and American Heart Association guidance. No original interviews or firsthand exercise testing were conducted. It provides general exercise information, rather than an individualized medical or training plan.

This story was originally published by Men’s Fitness on Nov 11, 2026, where it first appeared in the Training section. Add Men’s Fitness as a Preferred Source by clicking here.