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...
Former Member
We were talking about this at the GMU lunch workout on Thursday. I just hopped out of the pool after the 50 AFAP, and Fort was kinda shaking her head at that.
Former Member
This is something I've been wondering about for a while. I don't always cool down after a workout, but I've never noticed any difference whether I do or not. I know one person's experience doesn't really prove anything, but I'd still expect to feel some difference. (Maybe I'm just not working out hard enough to need a cooldown :dunno:)
For me it depends on how hard the work out has been. Or at least the last set. Today's last set was 12x50 on :50 so it was fairly easy. I could have gotten out then and been fine but I decided to get in a bit more yardage and do 150 cool-down. But if I'm doing something faster and working harder, I definitely need a cool-down.
And I think the older you get, the more the body needs the cool-down.
We were talking about this at the GMU lunch workout on Thursday. I just hopped out of the pool after the 50 AFAP, and Fort was kinda shaking her head at that.
I still think yes. I did not warm down after my 200 free race this weekend and I definately felt it that afternoon and the next morning. Now would I have been sore even if I had warmed down?? Probably but I don't think I would have been AS sore.
Interesting article, thanks for posting. It does square with my experience that recovery from practice doesn't seem to depend on how much warmdown I do. It also made sense to me that LA levels will recover to normal by the next practice whether or not one warms down.
Then again, maybe I'm just looking for something to excuse my poor post-practice warming-down habits.
Meets are a different story though. There are a number of studies showing that LA levels recover significantly faster with warm-down (eg, in 30 min as opposed to 60 min). I don't think it is a good thing to begin a 2nd race with LA levels already elevated if you can help it.
If I don't warm-down enough (200-300 yards, generally as a minimum), I most definitely feel a difference at the next workout if the next workout is within 48-72 hours. Without the warmdown, I'm very stiff, and it takes a lot lot longer to get warmed up the next time.
After 2-3 days, that wears off, and general "walking around in life" serves as an extended warmdown.
-Rick
Former Member
Hmm...I always thought the warm down was to stretch out and loosen off the muscles post workout to help prevent injuries...I always felt that you get intrinsic stretching from swimming anyhow.
Meets are a different story though. There are a number of studies showing that LA levels recover significantly faster with warm-down (eg, in 30 min as opposed to 60 min). I don't think it is a good thing to begin a 2nd race with LA levels already elevated if you can help it.
I found that out first-hand when I first joined Masters. In high school and college, I could get away with not warming down. But I did that my first Master's meet, and my second race swim involved a piano dropping on my back, followed by the rest of the orchestra.
Former Member
My coach used to say that if you don't cool down you might get a heart attack but I'm not sure how much truth there is to that.
