Why is it necessary to do a 2 minute cool down after performing a cardio exercise?
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Might even want to do a longer cooldown than that. It helps bring your heart rate down at a steadier pace .
It keeps the blood flowing throughout the body. Stopping suddenly can cause light-headedness because your heart rate and blood pressure drop rapidly
When you’re doing cardio, all your muscles in your legs and core are constantly squeezing to help put pressure on your veins to push the blood back into the heart. If you suddenly stop, there is a chance that for a few seconds, your heart will get drastically diminished venous return, but will still keep beating fast. So you’re basically starving your heart and brain of vital blood perfusion, and if this happens for more than a few seconds, you will feel dizzy or might pass out.
This phenomenon is called exercise-associated collapse (EAC).
It’s not necessary usually, but it’s also not a bad idea. Better to walk around for a few minutes after a hard run (for example) than just stop and sit down. Let the heart rate come down more slowly, keep the lactic acid exchange going, etc. That said, 99+% of the time, if you just do stop and sit down, you’ll be fine. We see world class athletes collapsing after an all out effort time and time again, and yet they’re back to compete again and again, so clearly it’s not detrimental to just stop after an all out effort.
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