The most powerful and successful runners know the importance of a good warm-up for both your brain and your body.
A good warm-up gets your muscles, organs, and central nervous system ready to run. When you increase your blood flow and heart rate during a warm-up, you deliver extra oxygen and nutrients to the parts of your body that will be working the hardest.
Also, studies show that effective warm-ups can help prevent injuries.
Here are some tips for warming up successfully before your run.
Adopt a familiar warm-up routine
By having a set routine in place for your warm-up, you help your body and mind. On days when you know you have a race or face other types of extra challenges, having the same warm-up calms the mind. You'll feel as if you're in a familiar place when you go through the same sequence of moves.
Steps to a successful warm-up
Here are some tips to ensure your warm-up works for you.
Light aerobic exercise
Start with light aerobic exercise for 5 to 10 minutes. Examples are: walking quickly, cycling on a stationary bike, or jogging slowly. Take your time with these exercises.
Walk quickly
Walking is a kind of exercise that most of us underestimate, yet it's an ideal form of low-intensity exercise. Walking eases your body out of a passive mode and gets it ready for action.
Another benefit of walking is that the actions you do while walking mimic what you'll do when you run, which is the best kind of warm-up. The muscles you'll be using when running get more oxygen, and your brain gets the message that these parts of your body need to get ready to work.
If you are recuperating from an injury, walking is excellent for you to begin to get mobile again and ease back into running.
Do static cycling
Static cycling is another low-impact form of exercise that prepares the muscles you'll use when running. Cycling helps flush out toxins and reduces stiffness from previous runs, and it also improves your blood flow. It's also a brilliant way to work out any discomfort in your muscles while potentially avoiding injury.
Start at a slow jog
Once you start running, begin at a slow pace and gradually build up speed. If you can feel yourself getting out of breath, slow down till you can breathe easily. Watch your form and posture as you run, ensuring you're using good technique before speeding up.
Beginning at a slow pace will still help strengthen your muscles, and it helps your ligaments, bones, joints, and tendons to adapt to the stress of running. You also get cardiovascular benefits.
Starting with a slow jog and holding yourself to that can also help improve your overall discipline. You can even incorporate some mindfulness time into your jog – being fully present while you jog to your surroundings. Quieting the mind before a run is very beneficial for lowering stress and decreasing the risk of injury.
Dynamic stretches
There is some evidence that dynamic stretches may be beneficial for sports performance. These stretches are done after a warm-up, and they take your muscles through their complete range of motion. These stretches also mimic the actions you'll be doing in your workout – in this case, your running.
Here are some things to remember for dynamic stretches:
- Dynamic stretches prepare your body for action, whereas static stretches calm the body down and are best for your cool-down.
- Make sure you've done the light aerobic exercises (see above) before stretching. You don't want to stretch cold muscles.
- Also, be sure to breathe while stretching, breathing deeply through your belly. Holding your breath while stretching deprives your muscles of the oxygen that they need. (By holding your breath, you can build up more lactic acid, which can cause severe pain.)
- If you feel pain while you stretch, stop and pull back. You don't want to push through muscle resistance to the point where it's painful. Stretch as far as is comfortable for you, with a slight pull.
Examples of dynamic stretches are straight leg kicks, opposite toe touches, walking lunges, or jumping jacks. You can challenge yourself by adding a pull up band to your stretches if you wish.
Other dynamic warm-up exercises are:
- Leg swings (holding onto a wall or chair and swinging each leg forward and back and then side to side)
- Backward lunges
- Side lunges
- Heel to butt (take a step forward, bringing the back foot to your butt, then switch sides)
- Walking knee to chest (take a step forward and hug one knee to your chest, then take another step, switching sides)
