Anyone know of any hard research demonstrating the necessity of a cooldown?
Davids,research has been done for the warm-up and the reverse has to be done for the cool-down.the cool-down is the opposite to the warm-up.
at horse racing look at what happens after the race
in more detail
blood returns to the heart through a system of veins,the blood is pushed along by heart contractions,and the veins’ milking actionis assisted by muscle contraction during exercise.veins contract or squeeze and move the blood forward against gravityy while valves prevent the blood from backing up.
if you stop exerciseing suddenly,this milking action will also cease,and blood return will drop quickly and may cause blood pooling in the legs,leading to deep breathing,which in turn lower CO2 levels and produce muscle crampsat this point BP drops precipitously and causes trouble.
the final 3-8 minutes of your workout should involve a period of slowly deminishing intensity through the use of a slow jog,gradually decreasing in speed
Do you feel that a warm down should include movements which take the limbs through a similar ROM to that of sprinting however at a far lower intensity?
Does the slow jog etc have a greater role than just blood pumping? Low intensity aerobic activity can help remove and process waste product which can damage soft and structural tissue as well as slow recovery (for similar reasons).
What other functions can a warmdown perform in limiting damage and improving recovery?
Is there a thermal significance in lowering body temp slowly?
Does a warm down include stretching? Static or otherwise?
There hasn’t been alot of research into the warmdown, creatine companies don’t like to fund it. All I have is experience, X-man in your experience (or research) does warm down play any of these (or more) other roles?
http://www.thestretchinghandbook.co./archives/cool-down.htm
Dazed all i have have is expereience also,trail and error.i do think that a proper cool-down is a must after every low/high intensity session.what is the purpose of the warm-up? the total opposite is the objective of the cool-down
The warm up does have elements to it - such as the liquifying of the fascial ground - that aren’t reversed during cool down. I aggree that a proper warm down is imperative regardless of session, although is oft neglected.
What responses are you looking for? Most cool downs are for removing waste products…anything in particular?
Coaches have little success prescribing a warmdown, so I used to give a few low intensity runs to finish up with stretches in between. That way it’s perceived as part of the workout and will therefore get done.
most college kids want to get the hell out of dodge as soon as the “workout” is over. it’s harfd to get them to understand that it starts at the warmup and ends at the cooldown… it always a challenge… you do have to pick your battles though. Sometimes they learn from the school of hard knocks (injury, poor recovery, tightness) before they decide buy in and actually listen.
:eek:
X-Man,
you then state
the final 3-8 minutes of your workout should involve a period of slowly deminishing intensity through the use of a slow jog,gradually decreasing in speed
so pretty much the reverse of the warm up?
I hope your warm-up takes more than 6 to 8 minutes!
It does.
What I meant was in the warmup you go slow to fast so in the cooldown it would be fast to slow?
Another question…in the cooldown is it relevant / beneficial to do any drills?
what would you consider the ideal warm-up for a race? HOw much, how long? would you presribe anything different for pre-workout warmups vs pre-race warmups?
You can see a warm-up step by step om the GPP DVD.
Thanks, but my athl. Dir ordered back in early March and we still don’t have it. So while I am waiting, how bout a lil’ help. Thanks in advance