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I swam for a D-III school and our coach insisted on a long cool down after every swim meet. It was just ingrained in me that if I didn't do a cool down that I

by imp 17y ago

I swam for a D-III school and our coach insisted on a long cool down after every swim meet. It was just ingrained in me that if I didn't do a cool down that I would have built up lactic acid or something that would make me stiff and unable to practice well the next day. Then one year we went to watch a meet between Texas and Michigan, two top D-I teams that have Olympic champions. At the end of the meet, both teams just packed up and went home, and not a single person did a cool down. I was shocked! It made me realize that a cool down probably wasn't necessary, but I was still required to do it anyways. Our coach didn't really reply to me when I asked him about it. One thing that those teams did was stretch A LOT before the meet. I think they did something like a full 40 minutes of stretching before they even got in the pool.

gaius 17y ago
I've never seen the point of stretching cold muscles. I don't even warm up before a Marathon. The first mile will be easy anyway as the pack thins out, why waste energy warming up? As for cool down, the key is this: after a long run, your muscles will be weak. If you cross the finish line and just flop down, that's when you're likely to get hurt, there is not enough tension to protect your joints. A warm down forces you to retain your posture while you recover a bit. That is the mechanism for injury prevention, not flushing lactic acid or whatever.
- ssharp 17y ago
  A lot of young people don't bother stretching at all. However, almost anyone who is middle-aged and is capable of doing the same workouts they did when they were young attribute their ability to work to a committed stretch program. Flexibility is one thing I've really been working on as I near the ripe age of 30.
  - gaius 17y ago
    Stretching afterwards can be a part of the cool-down (tho' Runner's World recently recommended against it, as it would cause further damage). How supple you need to be depends on your sport - it's not one size fits all.
  - anamax 17y ago
    > is capable of doing the same workouts they did when they were young attribute their ability to work to a committed stretch program. Said folks may be correct, but that just tells us that stretching is valuable. It doesn't imply that warm up and/or cool down is useful, even if many of those folks do their stretching as part of warm up/cool down.
  - billswift 17y ago
    The stretching isn't important as a cool-down, rather it is helpful to do stretching while the muscles are warm and relaxed (the muscles being tired has similar benefits as being relaxed).
mhb 17y ago
One thing that those teams did was stretch A LOT before the meet Static or dynamic? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=stretching%20the%20truth&st=cse http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pew...
- imp 17y ago
  I think it was some static stretching with some dynamic stretch cord exercises.

by imp 17y ago

gaius 17y ago

I've never seen the point of stretching cold muscles. I don't even warm up before a Marathon. The first mile will be easy anyway as the pack thins out, why waste energy warming up? As for cool down, the key is this: after a long run, your muscles will be weak. If you cross the finish line and just flop down, that's when you're likely to get hurt, there is not enough tension to protect your joints. A warm down forces you to retain your posture while you recover a bit. That is the mechanism for injury prevention, not flushing lactic acid or whatever.

ssharp 17y ago
A lot of young people don't bother stretching at all. However, almost anyone who is middle-aged and is capable of doing the same workouts they did when they were young attribute their ability to work to a committed stretch program. Flexibility is one thing I've really been working on as I near the ripe age of 30.
- gaius 17y ago
  Stretching afterwards can be a part of the cool-down (tho' Runner's World recently recommended against it, as it would cause further damage). How supple you need to be depends on your sport - it's not one size fits all.
- anamax 17y ago
  > is capable of doing the same workouts they did when they were young attribute their ability to work to a committed stretch program. Said folks may be correct, but that just tells us that stretching is valuable. It doesn't imply that warm up and/or cool down is useful, even if many of those folks do their stretching as part of warm up/cool down.
- billswift 17y ago
  The stretching isn't important as a cool-down, rather it is helpful to do stretching while the muscles are warm and relaxed (the muscles being tired has similar benefits as being relaxed).

mhb 17y ago

One thing that those teams did was stretch A LOT before the meet Static or dynamic? http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=stretching%20the%20truth&st=cse http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pew...

imp 17y ago
I think it was some static stretching with some dynamic stretch cord exercises.