Cool Down - YES You Need It!

[Johndoe]

Did they intentionally apply a cooling mechanism to the connective tissue or did they just allow the heat they applied to dissipate naturally as they held the stretch and deem that as "cooling"?

[Stretch Armstrong]

Did they intentionally apply a cooling mechanism to the connective tissue or did they just allow the heat they applied to dissipate naturally as they held the stretch and deem that as "cooling"?

Good question, I was thinking the same thing. I have done traction wrapping after my PE, and attribute some of my gains to it.

[eternia]

I think I might cool down for a while to see what happens.

[LilSlugger]

Quote:
Lehman and associates (1970) studied the effects of heat and stretching on rat tail tendons.6 The results indicated that heating alone produced no significant elongation and that stretching alone produced no residual elongation. Significant elongation occurred if heat and stretch were combined. A greater increase in length was maintained if the stretch was held during the period of cooling since “reorganization of the tissues is thought to occur during the cooling period.”6 Overall, the most effective method of producing a plastic deformation of connective tissue was to apply a sustained stretch during the application of heat and to maintain the stretch during the period of cooling. (Italics and bolding mine)
For the full article: http://www.activebodyclinic.com/core_Physio_heat.html
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The "maintain the stretch" makes me think they continued to stretch the connective tissue into the cooling phase and not just stopped pulling.

[Iguana]

Quote:
Lehman and associates (1970) studied the effects of heat and stretching on rat tail tendons.6 The results indicated that heating alone produced no significant elongation and that stretching alone produced no residual elongation. Significant elongation occurred if heat and stretch were combined. A greater increase in length was maintained if the stretch was held during the period of cooling since “reorganization of the tissues is thought to occur during the cooling period.”6 Overall, the most effective method of producing a plastic deformation of connective tissue was to apply a sustained stretch during the application of heat and to maintain the stretch during the period of cooling. (Italics and bolding mine)
For the full article: http://www.activebodyclinic.com/core_Physio_heat.html
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ..........

The "maintain the stretch" makes me think they continued to stretch the connective tissue into the cooling phase and not just stopped pulling.

Yes, I would agree with that.

[Trippy Dippy]

thanks for the info.. Ive been pretty lackadaisical in my stretching.. whereas i just stretch throughout the day no matter what im doing... computing, driving, etc... but im going to go back to dedicated workouts with the heat and cool down now while stretching and see if that helps change things up..

Thats whats great about this site.. just a bunch of people all trying to listen to their bodies and share their knowledge... good stuff

[LilSlugger]

Yes, I would agree with that.

Cool down doesn't seem like the appropriate name for it then. It's more of a part of the stretch exercise. When I read Cool Down I was thinking the topic was about using a cold wrap or equivalent after the stretch.

Guess I'm going to need to take a cup of ice water with a wash cloth in it into the bathroom. Not going to look suspicious at all.

[vankush]

Would there be any benefit to wrapping a cold towel around your member when its erect? Or could that be potentially harmful?

[E_Weazy]

Quote:
Lehman and associates (1970) studied the effects of heat and stretching on rat tail tendons.6 The results indicated that heating alone produced no significant elongation and that stretching alone produced no residual elongation. Significant elongation occurred if heat and stretch were combined. A greater increase in length was maintained if the stretch was held during the period of cooling since “reorganization of the tissues is thought to occur during the cooling period.”6 Overall, the most effective method of producing a plastic deformation of connective tissue was to apply a sustained stretch during the application of heat and to maintain the stretch during the period of cooling. (Italics and bolding mine)
For the full article: http://www.activebodyclinic.com/core_Physio_heat.html
.................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ..........

The "maintain the stretch" makes me think they continued to stretch the connective tissue into the cooling phase and not just stopped pulling.

You can simply try to warm down and continue stretching, as a comparison for the results if you were worried about this one issue.

That way you can accurately compare the effects of maintaining stretch during a cool/warm down.

[bgstick18]

I've tried the whole cool down thing, didn't work for me, I have personally seen more gains keeping things "heated".