My coach today told me that cooling down at the end of practice was not good for the body. He said it could rip muscles that were just worked. I have always been taught that the cool down was important, especially after working hard and getting the heart rate up.
Keep in mind that this is an USA-S practice and those I'm swimming with are teenagers.
I'm curious what others think?
I don't see how using muscles less is risking tearing them. Not sure if I'm on board with the weight lifting analogy either since they tend to be completely different types of exercise. I have no idea if cool down is good or bad - it might be bad - but I don't follow the logic for why.
For myself, I don't cool down after a soccer match (unless drinking a beer in the shade is considered cooling down) but I do cool down after I swim. 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.
I don't see how using muscles less is risking tearing them. Not sure if I'm on board with the weight lifting analogy either since they tend to be completely different types of exercise. I have no idea if cool down is good or bad - it might be bad - but I don't follow the logic for why.
For myself, I don't cool down after a soccer match (unless drinking a beer in the shade is considered cooling down) but I do cool down after I swim. 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.
