Another benefit of cooldowns is that it gets me back to my house from wherever I was running at.

So just gaslight people into another small workout. I love it 😂

The mental decompressing factor is definitely valid even when exercising by yourself after a hard workout

I always neglected cool downs. I started adding them, and if nothing else I’m stacking miles and I like them

I walk after I run and I believe that has improved my recovery

95% of the time I never do a cool down. Never get injuried and my legs are grand the next day.
Eating food more important for me

My friends and I jog around the inside of the track picking up trash. Oh yeah we do it barefoot because we’re on the turf. And yeah I normally don’t feel trashed the next day

sooo true
i’ve enjoyed cooling down in an area that is peaceful
like ensuring i’m in a spot getting good sunlight or a nice view etc just because of the calming of my brain

Working in the high aerobic zone close to LT1 after an anaerobic workout is done in cycling. The theory is that with lactate levels very high you learn your body to recycle lactate working in the zone when it does it at its maximum capacity.

speaking for the bigger people (i'm 240 lbs.), i have found going for a walk works well for a cool down

Been running 20years & can’t remember the last time I missed a warm-up or cool down - I keep it gentle but not rushed see how the body is post session. Also use this time to take recovery fuel and decompress the mind normally around 15 - 20 mins😊

One of my old coaches called it a "warm down," which makes a lot more sense than cool down.  If you want to cool down you should just stop exercising.  By continuing to exercise, you keep the body warmer for longer.

Now your students know what you actually feel every time you ask them to cool down 😂

My warmup and cool downs are usually the distance to the workout spot. So around 1.5 miles away for my track workouts, and about a mile for my nearest park. Cooldowns are great for the speed workouts, but I rarely do them for long run and tempo. I just factor the run home into the workout for those.

I see it more as a safe way to get some extra mileage - especially after speed work which otherwise blocks you from keeping mileage up.

I get post exercise hypotension after doing high intensity, and longer cooldowns seem to help alleviate that.

I appreciate the deep dive.

we are firmly in the era of magness pointing at the text in the thumbnail

Cross training… Your channel is invaluable between the science, your personal experience, coaching athletes.  I’ve used this channel to continuously tweak my training.

Steve if you could do a video on cross training that would be incredible. You’ve definitely touched on it numerous times but an in depth understanding from your Subject Matter Expertise would be very valuable to me and some others in the running community.

Parker Valby, Georgia Bell are just a couple of outliers that have used cross training to take them to incredible heights.

Are they flukes or are they on to something?

Does the percentage of cross training determine the success of an athlete?

Do successful Triathletes have any data that can shed light on how successful a person can be?

Is cardio training via biking (Georgia) or Arc (Valby) make the specific method irrelevant and these are or are not great substitutes for long runs?

Is speed training (fartleks, intervals etc) with running and long distance via biking, arc, elliptical etc a way to vault our performance or is it just for people who get injured with 100% running and not for “serious” competitors?

Did the cross training give them the edge by reducing fatigue on their legs but continued training their heart?

Thank you for continuing to be a source of science backed and experience backed coaching for this community. A video on this topic in the future I’m sure will help many in this running community!

Ultimately these studies , who's existence you alluded to, have to give way to individual experience. Someone who loves doing cool down probably shouldn't stop on account of some inconclusive study