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...
Active recovery (swimming warm-down) is helpful for lactate removal. During passive recovery (i.e. sitting on the bench) lactate removal is very slow
The warm-down protocols can also be used for workouts after hard swimming sets. A warm-down will help to recover faster before the next workout
"Very slow" is quite vague. And there is a difference between "recovery" and soreness.
Look at slide #11, which basically shows the effect of active recovery (and note that can include things like active stretching). With warming down, you recover within an hour; without it, LA levels are still slightly elevated even 2 hours later.
But I contend that TWENTY-FOUR hours later, there will be absolutely no difference. In terms of LA levels, you are "recovered" either way.
Now perhaps longer conditions of acidosis can have deleterious effects on muscles; I don't know. But I don't think it causes "soreness."
But this isn't what the authors are talking about: they are concerned with recovering between races. (And I absolutely agree with long & good warmdowns in that situation.)
Active recovery (swimming warm-down) is helpful for lactate removal. During passive recovery (i.e. sitting on the bench) lactate removal is very slow
The warm-down protocols can also be used for workouts after hard swimming sets. A warm-down will help to recover faster before the next workout
"Very slow" is quite vague. And there is a difference between "recovery" and soreness.
Look at slide #11, which basically shows the effect of active recovery (and note that can include things like active stretching). With warming down, you recover within an hour; without it, LA levels are still slightly elevated even 2 hours later.
But I contend that TWENTY-FOUR hours later, there will be absolutely no difference. In terms of LA levels, you are "recovered" either way.
Now perhaps longer conditions of acidosis can have deleterious effects on muscles; I don't know. But I don't think it causes "soreness."
But this isn't what the authors are talking about: they are concerned with recovering between races. (And I absolutely agree with long & good warmdowns in that situation.)
