Is the Exercise Cool-Down Really Necessary?

I thought cool-down was a form of active recovery, meaning that you are exercising efficiently during a cool-down. In a larger sense, if you aren't sure why you are doing something, why are you doing it?

Chris, I have to admit due to time constraints I follow your blog warm down 100 and out.

Chris, I have to admit due to time constraints I follow your blog warm down . Hey, today I did a whole 200. We'll see if it helps. :)

if you aren't sure why you are doing something, why are you doing it? That's a very good question. First, there's nothing wrong with cooling down swimming. Besides, you're right in thinking that it can often be seen one last occasion in a workout to book quality volume, as long as you make the effort of maintaining a good technique. Sometimes, hard sets leave you with an altered technique. Blood rush may alter flexibility and ability to swim smooth. Fatigued muscles etc, all bad for technique. Using the cooling down set to reshape the technique is smart, especially if you're working on improving some core aspects of your stroke. But the best answer to your question I guess is mostly about enjoying a smooth and relaxed swim, just for the sake of swimming, for sensations etc... Me, like I said earlier, after a tough workout, I like to swim down a little bit then change the environment. I wouldn't want to stick there for half a kilo or something. But that's me.

Yes, As Swimshark said in this thread especially if your older. Feelling a bit sick can occur if you dont cool off and its a common feeling, also more serious arrhythmias (abnormal heart beat) can occur with the heart beating fast for a period of swimming then the effort stopping suddenly. A cool off and slow down is a smart thing to do unless your a young well conditioned swimmer and just set a new world record and can jump right out of the pool looking at the time clock in amazement and excitement!

I basically got in the habit of warm-up and cool-down when I was in the army. We'd always start out with jumping jacks and other stuff like that (but we didn't call them jumping jacks). Then we'd move into the pushups, situps, etc...and then head out for the run. We'd always do some light stretching for about 5 min after we got back before they'd let us go. Since I don't always have even a day between workouts (sometimes just 12 hours), I find an easy 200 cool down after swimming keeps my legs from cramping, eases my arms, etc...so I can run or lift that night. Same thing after a run, I usually like to do a 3-5 min gradual cool down, into a walk (over the summer I even did a 2-300 easy swim after running). After races like the marathon and splash and dash, they usually have things setup to have cool-down almost mandatory. After the marathon, there was a winding fence with different stations periodically (some had bananas, oranges, ice cream, etc)...kept you walking through this before you could connect with outsiders. Whether or not I need it, if it makes me feel good, I'll continue doing it.

This is my understanding, but the information has not recently entered my head, so it is worth double checking. jap.physiology.org/.../758 I double checked. Suddenly stopping exercise will cause a drop in blood pressure.

Here's a good presentation on lactate clearance and recovery swimming by Genadijus Sokolovas, former Director of Physiology for USA Swimming. The conclusions: Swimming at high velocity yields high amounts of lactate in the muscles. This has negative effects on the ability of the muscles to contract. In order for a swimmer to perform at maximal effort again, lactate must be removed Active recovery (swimming warm-down) is helpful for lactate removal. During passive recovery (i.e. sitting on the bench) lactate removal is very slow Duration of post-race recovery should be 25-30 min for sprinters, 20-25 min for middle distance swimmers, and 15-20 min for distance swimmers Swimming intensity during warm-down should be light for sprinters (about 50-55% of maximum 100 m swimming velocity), light to moderate for middle distance swimmers (55-60% of maximum 100 m swimming velocity), and moderate for distance swimmers (60-65% of maximum 100 m swimming velocity) The post-race recovery protocol should include straight swimming. Warm-down can be substituted with stretching if there is no warm-down pool available. Heart rate during stretching should be low (120-140 beats/min or 20-23 beats/10 sec) 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 In a way this is misleading. Lactate removal to the bloodstream is not the only method by which lactate is broken down. Once oxygen is available again it breaks back into pyruvate and is shunted into the oxygen-dependent fuel cycle. So yes, tests show that lactate flow into the blood is slower when inactive, a result that could be just as due to decreased lactate production thanks to the lower metabolic rate of sitting vs swimming. Personally I think that muscle soreness is caused by damage to the cell tissue and that stiffness is caused by not stretching. It's obviously not lactate since even long practices that are swum below the lactate threshold (the point at which lactate in the blood spikes, most likely due to the rate of production exceeding the rate of use in the muscles) cause my muscles to be sore. I think that warm down takes the place of stretching, and thus are interchangeable (as Sokolovas points out). Personally I warm down about 50, sometimes 100, and focus on stretching out everything when I do it. It's hard to match stretching on land to stretching in the water because you don't stretch the exact same muscle fibers sitting on a mat as you would swimming freestyle.

I think warming down is important to return gradually to a normal resting state, versus an abrupt cessation (working hard then getting out of the pool without a warm down). Besides the removal of LA from the blood, for me it helps me stretch my tight shoulders, tris, legs, and whatever else. When I run, I warm down by walking and stretching afterwards. I feel like, if you are questioning the need to warm down, is it because you feel like you don't have enough time (you need to get back to the office), or that warming down is a waste of time? Just my $0.02. I warm down with 4 x 50s after practice, nice and easy, really stretching those arms. After races, I do the same until I feel loose.

In a way this is misleading. Lactate removal to the bloodstream is not the only method by which lactate is broken down. Once oxygen is available again it breaks back into pyruvate and is shunted into the oxygen-dependent fuel cycle. So yes, tests show that lactate flow into the blood is slower when inactive, a result that could be just as due to decreased lactate production thanks to the lower metabolic rate of sitting vs swimming. The bloodstream is just a pathway for lactate to move from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration so that it can be converted as quickly as possible. The amount of lactate in the bloodstream is indicative of the amount in the body, and charting the amount over time gives an indication of how fast the body is recovering. I don't think Dr. G is trying to say that all lactic acid gets shipped to the liver for processing.