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4 Cooldown Rituals to Start Doing After a Long Run

As much as running can be an enjoyable way to stay in shape, you can tire yourself out and even cause potential injuries if you’re not careful – and to prevent that, you need to make sure that your body is able to recover from this kind of strenuous activity.

Start doing these cooldown rituals right now to cool down and catch your breath more quickly after a long run:

1. Stretch
A long run should be ended by a few minutes of easy walking to allow your body to cool down.

Doing a brief stretching exercise post-run will not only keep your muscles from cramping up after a long run, but it also helps you lower your temperature and catch your breath more quickly.

When stretching, pay attention to your whole body rather than just your legs as you’re using every muscle when you run, and you want to make sure that you didn’t leave anything out.

2. Rehydrate
Long-distance running can make the body lose a lot of water through sweat, so it’s important to stay hydrated.

It’s also not just enough to drink water after a long run – it’s important to refuel afterwards, which is why you need to be extra careful about what you eat in order to replace the glycogen stores in your muscles.

3. Take a shower
Taking a shower is not only a great way to relax and feel more refreshed after a long run, but it also gets keeps the dirt and dust from sticking too long to your skin.

However, be sure to take a shower only about thirty minutes after running to ensure that your body’s temperature stabilizes gradually, since not doing this can easily mess with your internal body heat and make you feel under the weather.

4. Make rest a priority
Don’t try to over-exert yourself – listen to your body! Prolonged strain can result in injuries that will leave you out of the action for longer than what you would expect.

Contrary to popular belief, it’s not adding more days of exercise that are better, but having days of exercise that are planned and following through them consistently. By alternating between rest and exercise, you allow your body to recover steadily while increasing your endurance and metabolism.

Running can be exhausting as an intense physical activity, so make sure to keep these following steps in mind while gradually setting up new goals and achievements for continued improvement.

One last thing you need to keep in mind when committing to your running routine is to keep track of it. When you think you’ve made a significant amount of progress, celebrate your progress with friends or other fellow running enthusiasts over a meal or two.

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