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?
Parents
Former Member
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.
Interesting. When you're running, it seems like the cool down flows naturally. You finish the intense part of the run, slow your pace, and keep on going. When you're swimming intervals, there will always be a stop before the the cool down. Does that still count as a "sudden" stop?
I have two (unscientific) reasons for always doing a cool down, even after an easy practice: 1.) It's a good excuse to stay in the pool for a few more minutes 2.) I could use the extra yards in my GTD bucket.
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.
Interesting. When you're running, it seems like the cool down flows naturally. You finish the intense part of the run, slow your pace, and keep on going. When you're swimming intervals, there will always be a stop before the the cool down. Does that still count as a "sudden" stop?
I have two (unscientific) reasons for always doing a cool down, even after an easy practice: 1.) It's a good excuse to stay in the pool for a few more minutes 2.) I could use the extra yards in my GTD bucket.
