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
Half of my own warmdown is in the hot shower; if we had a hot tub, I'd probably use that for the entire thing. :) I'm in your camp. 50m wdown for me is enough, then the rest of the wdown is done chatting, relaxing, shower and hot tub.
But between the hard reps I do appreciate ez swims for the reasons you mentioned.
Half of my own warmdown is in the hot shower; if we had a hot tub, I'd probably use that for the entire thing. :) I'm in your camp. 50m wdown for me is enough, then the rest of the wdown is done chatting, relaxing, shower and hot tub.
But between the hard reps I do appreciate ez swims for the reasons you mentioned.
