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?
The link to the article that was not attached to my message is below:
www.nytimes.com/.../15best.html
Below is some text from the article you mention. The redistribution of blood flow is reason enough for me to cool down and for me to recommend this to others. I have very low blood pressure anyway and I don't like feeling dizzy after my workout. Also a little "practical application." I also swam a 1000 m open water race once, exited the lake without cooling down and couldn't raise my arms a half hour later (lats so tight). So I had to get back in the lake and swim a little so I could drive home...
Exercise researchers say there is only one agreed-on fact about the possible risk of suddenly stopping intense exercise. When you exercise hard, the blood vessels in your legs are expanded to send more blood to your legs and feet. And your heart is pumping fast. If you suddenly stop, your heart slows down, your blood is pooled in your legs and feet, and you can feel dizzy, even pass out.
The best athletes are most vulnerable, said Dr. Paul Thompson, a cardiologist and marathon runner who is an exercise researcher at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.
“If you are well trained, your heart rate is slow already, and it slows down even faster with exercise,” he said. “Also, there are bigger veins with a large capacity to pool blood in your legs.”
That effect can also be deleterious for someone with heart disease, said Carl Foster, an exercise physiologist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, because blood vessels leading to the heart are already narrowed, making it hard for blood to get in. “That’s always a concern,” Dr. Foster said. “But to my knowledge there is not a wealth of experimental data.”
The link to the article that was not attached to my message is below:
www.nytimes.com/.../15best.html
Below is some text from the article you mention. The redistribution of blood flow is reason enough for me to cool down and for me to recommend this to others. I have very low blood pressure anyway and I don't like feeling dizzy after my workout. Also a little "practical application." I also swam a 1000 m open water race once, exited the lake without cooling down and couldn't raise my arms a half hour later (lats so tight). So I had to get back in the lake and swim a little so I could drive home...
Exercise researchers say there is only one agreed-on fact about the possible risk of suddenly stopping intense exercise. When you exercise hard, the blood vessels in your legs are expanded to send more blood to your legs and feet. And your heart is pumping fast. If you suddenly stop, your heart slows down, your blood is pooled in your legs and feet, and you can feel dizzy, even pass out.
The best athletes are most vulnerable, said Dr. Paul Thompson, a cardiologist and marathon runner who is an exercise researcher at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.
“If you are well trained, your heart rate is slow already, and it slows down even faster with exercise,” he said. “Also, there are bigger veins with a large capacity to pool blood in your legs.”
That effect can also be deleterious for someone with heart disease, said Carl Foster, an exercise physiologist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, because blood vessels leading to the heart are already narrowed, making it hard for blood to get in. “That’s always a concern,” Dr. Foster said. “But to my knowledge there is not a wealth of experimental data.”
