Originally Posted by
PeteHski
From "BritishCycling.org" advice for a hard training session or race:-
"A progressive cool-down will help remove metabolic waste products from your muscles. If you don’t cool-down, these metabolites will ‘sit’ there and potentially inhibit recovery. A cool-down will also minimise the likelihood of you feeling dizzy, nauseous or fainting post exercise. It will also allow your blood to redistribute around the body, preventing blood pooled in your lower extremities."
Can't say I understand what "metabolites" are, but all the professional training programs I've followed in recent years talk the same language. Sometimes you just have to trust other people's day jobs. When you see pro cyclists at World Tour level cooling down on turbo trainers after a 200 km stage you know they aren't doing it just for the hell of it. Every structured workout I've done has a defined cool down period at the end. Usually 5-10 mins of relatively high cadence spinning to get rid of those pesky metabolites!
Check out the link in the post you were replying to. Basically a survey of the scientific literature that pretty much debunks most of the claims you just quoted.
And no, I don't trust other people's day jobs. Trainers are well-known to claim certainty of their methods when none exists. It's basically part of the job description because the one thing any program will definitely need is the active, somewhat enthusiastic participation by the trainee. If the trainer seems at all hesitant about the effectiveness of any part of the program, there's the very real possibility of losing the faith of their audience.
So I think the pro cyclists are doing it it because their trainers say it's good, they've grown accustomed to it, and we'll probably never know whether they would be better off or worse off or none of the above if they hadn't done it.
I put cool-down cycles in the same category as I do warm-up stretching, something I did because I was told I had to, and when I stopped, nothing bad happened. Unlike stretching, the cool down doesn't hurt, but I still don't see the logic in it. Strikes me that I'm getting whatever effect I'm supposed to if I just walk around for a few minutes at the end of the workout.
BTW, did you notice how vague and probabilistic those claims actually are--what metabolites? Sit where? What the hell does "potentially inhibit recovery" mean? It minimizes the likelihood of a bunch of stuff that rarely happens? Who faints after a workout? And the best way to prevent the pooling of blood in your extremities is to lay down with your legs elevated, but if that's happening to the extent that it's noticeable, you better get checked for heart failure because that's a pretty ominous symptom.