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'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?
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?
