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GCSE Physical Education · key term
A routine after exercise that gradually reduces activity intensity and helps the body return towards its resting state.
Used by AQA and OCR
Paper 1
Light exercise followed by stretching after activity, allowing exercise intensity, heart rate and breathing rate to decrease gradually.
Revise: Recovery from exerciseDifferent methods address different needs, so a performer may combine a cool down, suitable food and drink, and treatments for muscle soreness.
Paper 1
A routine performed after exercise to help the body return gradually towards a resting state.
Revise: Warm-ups and cool-downsA cool-down has a different purpose: it helps the body move gradually from exercise back towards a resting state. Both routines should suit the sport and the muscles used, rather than being identical for every activity.
Distinguish maintaining an elevated heart rate during a cool down from keeping it at exercise intensity: it falls gradually towards resting level.
A cool-down maintains breathing and heart rate above resting levels initially, then gradually reduces them. These are complementary stages, not contradictory aims.
AQA lists prevention of DOMS as a cool-down benefit. Do not describe lactic acid as the cause of soreness in the following days or claim that cooling down guarantees no soreness.
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