Originally Posted by
Someday_RN
So when you finish your set you stop, or slow down the muscle pump that returns the blood to the heart. So now the heart has lost one of the signals to pump faster, but the effect of the catecholamines may last for a few minutes after their release because they have to circulate through the liver to be broken down. This means that there is still a larger volume created in the arterial system that the heart is not filling as well as it once did.
That's pretty good for Anatomy 101! I guess a heckuva memory is a requirement for med studies.
So the catecholamines are still there, doing their job, when I start the next set. As the next set starts, everything goes more or less back to exercise-normal. Got the big arteries, got the HR up, got the catecholamines, everything is fine again.
So back to the OP's question: I guess that on the bike if you keep spinning easy until the catecholamines have been neutralized, your leg muscles will assist in the pumping action. After a heavy gym set, there's not much one can do except put one's head between one's knees. If I go by what happens at the gym, I'd say about 2 minutes of cool-down will mitigate against postexercise peril.
But how about the effects of a prolonged cool-down on recovery? Any studies to support this? I don't notice anything, but it's hard to control for the variables.
It's hard to separate out the real stuff from the Old Coach's Tales. I remember so clearly how we were told that if we drank water during a game, it would give us stomach cramps. There's a lot of that still around.