I have been doing TrainerRoad plans since about 5 months. One thing that seemed interesting is that TR workouts have a quite short cool down, most of the VO2 Max workouts have 5 min or less cool down. Is this to keep the duration short? It seems Pro Riders are also doing a proper cool down ride after a stage or TT. Would it be beneficial to have longer cool downs if you can spare the time? Interested about your thoughts. Thank you!
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There is an option to ad time to the cool down if you want
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Warmup/cooldown is very individual and what works for some does not work for others. If you find you feel better with a longer cooldown do that, as long as you are keeping it chill itās not going to impact future workouts.
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I appreciate the very short cooldown when Iām riding at lunch and then have to go straight to a meeting. A one hour ride is doable, and often a 1:02 ride is also doable, but a 1:10 usually not. I appreciate the option to decide for myself.
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If you go settings/workout options on the app, you can toggle on āpedal to extend workoutā which automatically gives you another 10 minutes of cooldown after the workoutās allotted time if you need it.
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I absolutely do not want extended cool downs included as standard in the workouts. Short and sharp works great for me. Iād rather spend workout time getting the work down. Time is tight in the mornings.
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Almost always extend my interval cooldowns by continuing to pedal.
If you are time limited, cool downs should be the first thing to go. TR is generally optimized for the time crunched athlete and the training benefits of a cool down are debatable. If you enjoy winding down for a bit, thatās probably the best reason for doing/extending a cool down. If Iām extending a workout, itās to add on some endurance work (which is quite different than a cool down in my opinion).
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I appreciate the longer/better warmups in TR compared to some other apps where Iād often increase/redo the warmup on harder workouts. If feel itās way more important than the cooldown, so better to spend limited time on a warmup than cooldown.
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Thanks a lot, appreciate all the comments. I am wondering though about lactic acid buildup, as far as I understand, a longer cool down should help remove that speeding up recovery. Any thoughts on this?
First, current thinking on lactic acid/lactate is considerably different than it was. Iām definitely not an expert, but I think cooldowns are more significant in things like pro stage races where there is very little recovery time between very hard stages. Outside of that, I think it makes little difference.
I have never seen a study that shows any significant benefits from a post workout cooldown. Maybe they are out there, just havenāt seen any. āremoving lactic acidā sounds like google perpetuated bro science (not saying itās wrong, I just donāt believe it unless there is some basis).
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I only do a ācool downā after racing because Iām an introvert and itās an excuse to get out of a post race conversation with someone. My anecdata doesnāt show a difference (except maybe making me more tired?)
But Iāve also noticed that I donāt need a physical warm up either, just a mental one. If I show up late for a race, totally unprepared, scrambling to get to the start, I can launch right off with zero warmup. But when Iām going into a workout, I need all the time in the world to feel like Iām ready for the first interval.
if youāre wondering if the cool down durations for each workout are as long or short as they are for a specific reason that is not the case. I believe Coach Chad said at one point when he was constructing workouts he mainly sought to include a certain amount of āworkā and that if needed cool downs and warm ups might be shortened/truncated to fit the chosen workout duration. He said that anybody wanting longer could add it. Itās why some workouts have as short as a 1 minute cool down where others seem to be up or over 10 minutes long.
One can rely on the fact that our muscles are bad at removing byproduct on their own without motion or gravity and itās good to utilize the muscle pump to transport the post-workout byproduct out of the legs. Itās why super easy recovery rides serve a purpose in spite of the fact they donāt āhurtā. No real duration prescribed for any of this so do what feels good. For myself, Iām always adding time to make a cool down no shorter than 4 minutes because that feel good to me. Occasionally and depending on the workout I can deal with 3:30 but if it was a hard one Iāll feel better with 4:30.
In short, cool down as long or as short as feels good to you. Itās personal.
Is it in fact a fact? Whatās your source for that fact?
I canāt quote you a white paper but it was said on the podcast so hearsay but reliable. Based on how blood pools in your legs when you stay stationary for a while like on a long flight, car ride or movie/office work/video game session which is why your legs feel like crap when you get up after a long time of being sedentary. Likewise, last time I got surgery they put the equivalent of normatec boots on my legs for just such a purpose as to keep blood from pooling. Also normatec boots and tens units are meant to stimulate your muscles to contract and relax simulating movement while remaining stationary. One could infer that lactate would move with said blood so as to be used by the heart. Sure, walking around might be almost as good but doing a light spin would be more specific to the muscles used when cycling. If you want sources Iād suggest the google as I didnāt come here to write a paper on the muscle pump effect in our legs.
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I mean venous blood return and lymph drainage are both helped along to various degrees by your muscles contracting and relaxing. This doesnāt really help with lactic acid since the local cells can do a good job of absorbing that. but there are certainly things that are moved better by you moving. Like @funkinslick 's example of long plane rides where youāre stationary.
But that movement occurs as much from you walking upstairs after your workout to change and around your house that evening as it does in the extra 5 minutes of cooldown.
However, IMO, the cooldown is as much (or more) mental as it is physical. Giving yourself a moment of easy pedaling after a hard workout brings you out of that sympathetic state and makes you more relaxed. And that alone can have a decent affect on recovery.
But it would also be the first thing that I would shorten or remove from a workout if I was short on time.
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Right. It likely helps to keep moving to clear byproducts, but what I question is whether muscles are actually ābadā at removing byproduct without a cooldown. I mentioned in a previous post that I think a cooldown can help speed recovery when necessary , but is it helpful otherwise? Then I wonder if hurriedly removing byproducts is beneficial for post workout adaptation. For example, the stress of hard workout causes inflammation in the muscles, which is a natural and necessary part of recovery and adaptation. Suppressing it with anti-inflammatories is harmful to the desired adaptation.
I canāt say for sureā¦But most of what Iāve seen seems to point to the general rule being āany ānaturalā way of removing inflamation and exercise by products doesnāt blunt adaptations but āunnaturalā ways canā.
Natural meaning:
- cool downs
- antioxidants from berries and such
- massage
- etc
Unnatural meaning:
- ice baths
- anti-inflammatory drugs
- etc
Iām sure there are exceptions and whatever but from what Iāve seen/heard that seems to be a decent rule of thumb.