What is the purpose of cooling down?

Training
21

To me this is no different than the people who swear by foam rolling or other recovery modalities. If it works for you, then great keep doing it. But as far as I’m aware, there is no science to back any of this up.

22

I’ve always wondered this as well. As time crunched cyclists doing 1-2 hour workouts, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to add one more interval or time in zone, than cool down for 5-10 minutes? It also keeps your average power higher :slight_smile:

23

The human body works best with gradual changes in state, not sudden ones. That would be my general principle to apply.

Here’s a medical opinion on the matter

Is a fit, healthy cyclist going to keel over if they dont warm down? No, thats pretty unlikely.

Personally , the harder the main session, the more appropriate a warm up/down is.

Finally, what are you going to instead of warming down for five or ten minutes? Sit still and sweat? Get changed while youre still sweating? Your body will still slowly move from the high intensity state back to resting so what is it you want to be doing that isnt warming down?

2 Likes
24

Thanks. In that case, my question is: What changes to the design of the human body could mean that cooldown would no longer be required?

25

Thanks. In that case, my question is: What changes to the design of the human body could mean that cooldown would no longer be required?

26

Nothing has changed other than our understanding of human performance. Studies like [Do We Need a Cool-Down After Exercise?] show case that cool-downs are largely ineffective, so I’d rather be showered, feet up on the sofa, and drinking a recovery drink than still spinning on the trainer.

27

Just coming to this as I’ve noticed pretty much the whole covid, I’ve added at least a few minutes in an endurance zone with extend cooldown. I did a search as to whether I am doing harm…

Say this morning on Palisade, I added 7 minutes adjusting the down ramp to hold the wattage. I never repeat the prescribed ramp downwards, generally I do it over a minute or two (rather than the 6 as per the workout).

Anyway, I don’t feel it’s having a negative effect, and to be blunt, straight after the “over” of 105% finish to the interval, 65% seems easy!