THE COOL DOWN

by Istvan Bayli 

(Istvan Balyi, Ph.D is on the facility of the National Coaching Institute, Victoria, B.C. Canada. He is considered one of the world's leading experts on periodization (planning) of athletic development and has lecture all over the world on the subject. He is a level 5 coach in the Soccer Canadian coaching scheme and is a training and conditioning consultant for the Vancouver 86'ers professional soccer team.)

Cool down is also an important aspect of training and competition. It is basically a period of down loading following the stresses of training and competition. Light aerobic activity is recommenced at first to remove the by-products of exercise (Fox, Bowers and Foss). For trained subjects optimal removal will occur when the player performs activities between 50 percent to 65 percent of his or her VO2 max, or at about 60 to 70 percent of his or her maximum heart rate.

Stationary bike or swimming can be used as it is a non-weightbearing activity during cool down, which helps removal and recovery. These activities are advantageous because they also are less demanding on joints and tendons. Static and PNF stretching may follow these recovery activities; however, it should be conducted several hours after the other activities are completed. There is a growing trend among sports and athletes toward using separate stretching sessions as full training sessions 40 to 60 minutes in duration (Balyi) when they only stretch and are not involved in any other kind of activity.

As was the case of the warm-up, the cool down should be an integrated process where hydration, nutrition and regeneration processes are fully integrated and sequenced. Optimum hydration, whirlpool, sauna or alternated hot and cold showers can facilitate recovery (Calder). In addition, massage, self-massage, relaxation and stretching must be integrated within the cool down procedures. Rest and sleep following training or playing a match are indirectly a part of the recovery/regeneration regimen. Coren provides an interesting insight into the degree to which sleep is neglected in our society.

In summary, warm-up and cool down procedures must be fully individualized and all players should have protocol to follow when warming up or cooling down. Players warm-up and cool down activities must be tested and proven necessary for the individual when preparing for soccer activity. In other words, these activities must be modelled to suit the individual needs of each athlete. Players should have an intimate knowledge of their warm-up and cool down routines and these routines must become automatic for the players. Players should know what exact activities to engage in for the period before and after a match or a training session. 

Istvan Bayli 

A cool down is important to help prevent soreness and to increase flexibility. It has been shown that flexibility is best increased when working on muscles that are completely warmed up, such as after physical activity. Our cool downs are very simple, with players performing light jogging, skipping, high heels, high knees, side to side movements, etc, at a medium to slow pace. After about 2 to 4 minutes of the light motion, the players spend about 5 to 10 minutes stretching. Although it is easy to overlook, we must always have our players perform cool downs to help their bodies adjust from intense activity to little activity.

FROM: http://www.ntrnet.net/~less/u18/cooldown.htm