Cool Down?

I don't do much of a cool-down, usually 100-200 is all the time I have for. I have to say that Jeremy Linn, my main coach, always has us do some cool down. I should see him tomorrow and I'll ask him what he thinks of his room mate's theory.

I usually do an easy 200 IM focusing on long efficient strokes and mixing in a little bit of drill. So, even if the cool down does nothing for me physically, at least I'm working on improving my stroke in some way. My cooldown has a similar focus. This is when I do my long axis stroke drills (especially catch up) and focus on DPS and technique. (I never swim fly or *** during cool down, because they get my heart rate up to high!)

I've always heard (and seen data to this effect) the the main reason to warm down is to reduce the lactic acid levels more quickly. This is a very solid reason to warm down very well between events in a swim meet, for example. But I think that the difference is something like: it takes 30 minutes (with warm down) instead of 4 hours (without) to reach normal levels. I wouldn't think this would affect recovery between practices, though it might. Like you, I rarely have time to warm down very much, often just 100. But if I've just done a very hard effort, I wouldn't want to give that up. I know some very good swimmers and coaches who believe very firmly that extended warm downs, 500 or more, are a good thing. I am a little skeptical that longer warm downs are necessary, but I have never heard someone saying that warm downs are actually detrimental in and of themselves (other than taking up time that could be used for training). I am having a hard time believing that, after practice, your muscles are so fragile that they can suffer microtears from easy swimming. What about walking to the car? Opening the locker room door?

My thoughts exactly. What if one were to swim a race pace 50 Free from the blocks at the end of practice instead of an EZ 200? Wouldn't the race pace swim be more likely to damage muscle than an EZ swim? That's what I was thinking as well. Today's last set was 3x200 (one kick, one kick/swim, one swim) descend with fins. Then 3x100, same way and then 3x50 same way. So we finished with a very high heart rate. One kid asked if they should do a cool down and Marc said he wasn't giving one and I replied that it was one of the most important things in a practice. That's when the conversation started. No way was I getting out with my heart rate way up and lactic acid in me. I also finish up each practice with a protein drink to help even more.

I need evidence otherwise I consider this complete claptrap. Yeah, this falls under the same category as "if you swim within 60 minutes of eating then you will DIE!!!" :waiting:

I've always heard (and seen data to this effect) the the main reason to warm down is to reduce the lactic acid levels more quickly. This is a very solid reason to warm down very well between events in a swim meet, for example. But I think that the difference is something like: it takes 30 minutes (with warm down) instead of 4 hours (without) to reach normal levels. I wouldn't think this would affect recovery between practices, though it might. Like you, I rarely have time to warm down very much, often just 100. But if I've just done a very hard effort, I wouldn't want to give that up. I know some very good swimmers and coaches who believe very firmly that extended warm downs, 500 or more, are a good thing. I am a little skeptical that longer warm downs are necessary, but I have never heard someone saying that warm downs are actually detrimental in and of themselves (other than taking up time that could be used for training). I am having a hard time believing that, after practice, your muscles are so fragile that they can suffer microtears from easy swimming. What about walking to the car? Opening the locker room door? Actually when you have aerobic training with a heart rate not higher than 70% MHR there's no need in cooling down. Long distance swimmers after having a hard workout might need 500 cool down. Sprinters definitely don't need that much. I've read one man couple times even lost consciousness some minutes after racing - he never did a cool down. After race he felt very well but in couple minutes pain suddenly grew up in muscles and... black screen. That's the first time I've actually heard of someone affected so much by lactate. Heavy weights and general fitness also require cool down. If you google something like "Cool down after fitness" you'll find quite a few recommendations on cooling down after weights. Btw swimmers are advised to finish weights workout with some aerobic training on water - that is considered a cool down.

Actually when you have aerobic training with a heart rate not higher than 70% MHR there's no need in cooling down. Long distance swimmers after having a hard workout might need 500 cool down. Sprinters definitely don't need that much. I've read one man couple times even lost consciousness some minutes after racing - he never did a cool down. After race he felt very well but in couple minutes pain suddenly grew up in muscles and... black screen. That's the first time I've actually heard of someone affected so much by lactate.Sprint events typically produce much higher concentrations of lactate than distance events, so you may want to revisit this theory.

We do a lot of exercise testing on Children and teens in my pulmonary function lab. It became apparent early on that if we let the kids stop (either bike or treadmill) suddenly when their heart rates were up in the 190-200 range, some of them were going to have sharp drops in their blood pressure, dizziness, near fainting and (twice) vomiting. Some of them had a "vasovagal" response with slow heart rate too. Now I don't let them off until their heart rates are under 120. If you stop exercising quickly, all of your blood vessels are dilated and your blood pressure can fall. Seems like teens are more prone to this. This is, I believe, a separate reason for a cool down than the lactate issue (which seems valid as well). I personally had two episodes of brief near loss of consciousness after sudden cessation of exercise in my teenage years. One after trying out for the swim team at 13 -- a hard w/o and then seeing spots in the car; and the second one when I was 17 and trying to beat my dad running through a nautilus circuit (back when those things were new) -- I woke up looking at the ceiling. Doesn't seem to happen the same way now that I am middle age and my arteries are stiffer. Anyways -- not an expert but I can't see that cool down is bad.

I am having a hard time believing that, after practice, your muscles are so fragile that they can suffer microtears from easy swimming. What about walking to the car? Opening the locker room door? My thoughts exactly. What if one were to swim a race pace 50 Free from the blocks at the end of practice instead of an EZ 200? Wouldn't the race pace swim be more likely to damage muscle than an EZ swim?

We do a lot of exercise testing on Children and teens in my pulmonary function lab. It became apparent early on that if we let the kids stop (either bike or treadmill) suddenly when their heart rates were up in the 190-200 range, some of them were going to have sharp drops in their blood pressure, dizziness, near fainting and (twice) vomiting. Some of them had a "vasovagal" response with slow heart rate too. Now I don't let them off until their heart rates are under 120. If you stop exercising quickly, all of your blood vessels are dilated and your blood pressure can fall. Seems like teens are more prone to this. This is, I believe, a separate reason for a cool down than the lactate issue (which seems valid as well). I personally had two episodes of brief near loss of consciousness after sudden cessation of exercise in my teenage years. One after trying out for the swim team at 13 -- a hard w/o and then seeing spots in the car; and the second one when I was 17 and trying to beat my dad running through a nautilus circuit (back when those things were new) -- I woke up looking at the ceiling. Doesn't seem to happen the same way now that I am middle age and my arteries are stiffer. Anyways -- not an expert but I can't see that cool down is bad. Good information, Josh. Thanks.