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?
That's not been my experience. I definitely remember being encouraged to warm up and warm down as a 10-year-old. But the number of such swimmers I see doing that at local USA-S meets is quite small.
Keep in mind that when I do USA-S meets, I'm with kids who are 13 and older. The kids, at that age, also know what they are supposed to do at meets and generally warm-up and cool-down.
That's not been my experience. I definitely remember being encouraged to warm up and warm down as a 10-year-old. But the number of such swimmers I see doing that at local USA-S meets is quite small.
Keep in mind that when I do USA-S meets, I'm with kids who are 13 and older. The kids, at that age, also know what they are supposed to do at meets and generally warm-up and cool-down.
