NY Times Article on Cool-Down a BUNCH OF BS

[quote]Caveman wrote:

However, I've had 2 friends die right at the end of races/workouts. They both sprinted hard and came to an abrupt stop and promptly died. I think that the blood pools in the lower legs and feet as a result of a sharp drop in blood pressure when you come to a sudden halt in a run. Consequently, there is insufficient blood being driven back up to the heart which then becomes starved of oxygenated blood. The heart cant operate without sufficient blood, it seizes up and you die on the spot. Mother Nature doesnt like to be shocked.

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You just brought up another myth of distance running that you shouldn't lay down right after a race. If you lay down, the blood can make it's way to the heart much easier. After you catch your breath, you can get up and still not do a cooldown.

Of course we all know this will make no difference unless you take an adequate supply of bee pollen. If you aren't taking your bee pollen, you will never reach your potential.

This is mentioned in the article. "Exercise researchers say there is only one agreed-on fact about the possible risk of suddenly stopping intense exercise. When you exercise hard, the blood vessels in your legs are expanded to send more blood to your legs and feet. And your heart is pumping fast. If you suddenly stop, your heart slows down, your blood is pooled in your legs and feet, and you can feel dizzy, even pass out.The best athletes are most vulnerable, said Dr. Paul Thompson, a cardiologist and marathon runner who is an exercise researcher at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut.“If you are well trained, your heart rate is slow already, and it slows down even faster with exercise,” he said. “Also, there are bigger veins with a large capacity to pool blood in your legs.”That effect can also be deleterious for someone with heart disease, said Carl Foster, an exercise physiologist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, because blood vessels leading to the heart are already narrowed, making it hard for blood to get in. “That’s always a concern,” Dr. Foster said. “But to my knowledge there is not a wealth of experimental data.” "

It's probably NOT a good idea to stop immediately at the end of a hard run or race. Beyond that, there really is very little known about recovery. Most of what we runners think we know is just old habits passed down from 100-year-old coaches. It's perfectly reasonable to think the best cool down is: eat (to replenish glycogen), rest (for the next workout). After all, a few extra slow miles doesn't do anything about lactic acid, which isn't an issue anyway, and doesn't heal any micro trauma in muscles.

Cool down bogus? wrote:

It's probably NOT a good idea to stop immediately at the end of a hard run or race. Beyond that, there really is very little known about recovery. Most of what we runners think we know is just old habits passed down from 100-year-old coaches. It's perfectly reasonable to think the best cool down is: eat (to replenish glycogen), rest (for the next workout). After all, a few extra slow miles doesn't do anything about lactic acid, which isn't an issue anyway, and doesn't heal any micro trauma in muscles.

It does do something about lactate, whether it is worthwhile or not, we don't know. But if you do some workout that gets high lactate levels and then do nothing but sit there, lactate levels won't come back down to normal levels for about an hour. If you go run easy, things will be normal within ~15min depending on how high they were.

Remember, lactate correlates with pH and H+. So, does clearing the H+ and returning pH to normal quicker do anything?

We don't know.

Maybe the increased blood flow and circulation during a cool down initiates the repair process earlier? That's what all the hoopla about taking carbs/protein immediately after a workout is about. Is it not possible that clearing out the H+, returning pH to normal, etc. would result in a quicker shift to the adaptation period.

As said already, you also have to take into account hormones.

It's easy to come up with theories why cool downs would be beneficial after hard workouts. It seems like the scientists in this study just didn't feel like doing that, or Gina Kolata didn't like the sound of them.

The purpose of the cool down is active recovery. To get the waste products flushed out with increased blood flow. Call it a cool down or whatever, skipping it and then doing an easy 20 minutes of "active recovery" a few hours later will be just like you had done it right after the hard work.

notthatmushccc wrote:

Jack Daniels says it does not matter what you do after a workout. Within 24 hours the lactic acid in your muscles is gone whether you jog afterward or not.

When did he say this?

He must disagree with his own Running Formula when he refers to Easy Pace as being the preferred pace of all warm-ups and cool-downs (as well as all the other things Easy pace is useful for).

There are articles out there that say that a cool down isn't necessary...refueling the body is more important.

It's the same as ice baths...do you prefer it?

There is a very successful coach that once told me that anytime someone says "Science tells us.............", He stops listening. Good scientists are never good coaches.

there's nothing wrong with the article. as the article points out there's no universal cool down formula. so arguing the effectiveness of a "cool down" is pointless until we define what exactly a cool down is. personally i would still consider a 15-20min jog part of my workout. and my experience is that these jogging "cool downs" do nothing for recovery... i do think literally cooling down is helpful. i try to hit a cold lap pool (<80F) after workouts or a cold shower if i don't have access to a pool. i took ice baths back in my college days but that probably hurt more than it helped, because i never got in above the thigh... the key is getting your core temp down in my opinion.