Although of those who know the importance of frequent exercise have a great pre-workout and workout routine, few have understood or spend time to relax their muscles after the completion of a medium or intense exercise program. Even if you drink a lot of water before or during an exercise routine, even of you do the necessary stretching exercises to warm up your muscles before you involve your whole body in any kind of intentional exercise task, most fail to realize the importance of their actions after the exercise portion is complete.

Probably you are feeling tired or have a million things waiting your immediate attention back home, so it is just logical for you to go back to your locker, change and get home to do your staff. But although you may have done the majority of your workout routine just right, the way you treat your body the few minutes after you exercise will directly affect your mood later as you might experience pain from sore muscles, your muscle tone might not strengthen enough to grow, or you might even be dehydrated without realizing it.

So after you finish your last set of exercises, spend some time to cool down. Just because your hour at the gym has ended does not mean that your body can go back to pre-workout state without giving it any time to readjust. Thus, even if you simply jogged for the last half hour of your exercise routine, setting the treadmill to a comfortable but steady walking mode will lower your heart's rate allowing some time for your muscles to come at peace with their new state. After five minutes of this light cardio exercise, you should perform some a short stretching routine. Actually, this stage is the most important one after finishing a workout routine. Since human muscles have the tendency of naturally contracting upon the completion of any exercise, stretching prevents them from shrinking. In fact, stretching allows your muscles to rebuild and grow bigger and stronger each time you conclude your workout session and thus receive the full benefit from your efforts. At the same time performing some basic stretching exercises also allows your muscles to relax and helps your body get rid of any waste substances circulating in your blood. Finally, stretching calms your nerves and anxieties and allows your mind to rejuvenate. This is why stretching is recommended by physicians after long periods of staying at the same position -like when working in the office or traveling by plane.

Moreover, it is important to remember to drink water in order to hydrate your body once the workout is over. Even if you do not feel thirsty you need to replenish yourself to avoid the nasty effects of dehydration.