24 Songs That Will Make Your Cooldown Even Chillier

Cooldowns can be a lot like dental appointments. You know you should, but when the time comes, it’s so easy to come up with an excuse and talk yourself out of it. Maybe you are negotiating with yourself: next time I will stop my training five minutes early, so I certainly have time to do a cooldown. Or maybe you get away with it logically: I still have to shower, get dressed, then walk to the train or drive to work – isn’t all that movement basically a cooldown?

It turns out that the research is actually a bit mixed on whether stretching after a workout will help eliminate muscle soreness or significantly improve recovery. So in that sense, if you’re looking for reasons to ignore it, you’re in luck. That said, cooldowns can be a good way to make your training easier and allow your heart rate to gently return to normal as you mentally move on from your day. If your cooldown involves static stretching (the kind where you move into a position and hold it), you may also find that you simply enjoy the “it hurts so much” feeling of that tension releasing from your muscles. . But a cooldown can be even colder. It can also be more like savasana – lying flat on your back and relaxing your muscles – or even just slouching on your couch for a few minutes doing nothing.

So this week’s playlist is all about slowing down and taking an extra three to five minutes to stretch after your workout. The songs here aren’t completely silent, but they’re a bit more relaxing than the uplifting music you might have used during your workout. We start with « Flowers » by Miley Cyrus, before moving on to the easy going beats of Phoebe Ryan, Anna of the North, The Weekend and Wizkid. As with some of the other playlists we’ve released, there are a few tracks towards the end that get a bit quieter; this time it’s an acoustic version of Taylor Swift’s « Lavender Haze » and Frank Ocean’s modern classic « Thinkin Bout You. »

Treat yourself to these bits and take the time to appreciate all the sweat and effort you just put in.