Is the Exercise Cool-Down Really Necessary?
Full article here:
www.nytimes.com/.../15best.html
Excerpt:
The idea of the cool-down seems to have originated with a popular theory — now known to be wrong — that muscles become sore after exercise because they accumulate lactic acid. In fact, lactic acid is a fuel. It’s good to generate lactic acid, it’s a normal part of exercise, and it has nothing to do with muscle soreness. But the lactic acid theory led to the notion that by slowly reducing the intensity of your workout you can give lactic acid a chance to dissipate...
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Former Member
I'm religious about warming UP, but horrible about warming down. I tend to forget to even leave myself enough time for a warm down. Whatever my last set is, many times I'll hop straight out of the pool soon after I touch the wall, still panting. How bad is this for me? Do I need to change my ways? Would a warm down just prevent some soreness? When I do a really hard workout, seems like I'm sore whether I warmdown or not.
I'm religious about warming UP, but horrible about warming down. I tend to forget to even leave myself enough time for a warm down. Whatever my last set is, many times I'll hop straight out of the pool soon after I touch the wall, still panting. How bad is this for me? Do I need to change my ways? Would a warm down just prevent some soreness? When I do a really hard workout, seems like I'm sore whether I warmdown or not.
