Are You Warming Up Properly Before Your Run?
It’s a lovely sunny morning with perfect weather conditions. You’re feeling good so you decide to go for a 5km run. Halfway through your run your calves are starting to get sore, your breathing harder, and you seem to be working harder than usual. Something isn’t right.
Did you warm up?
Warming up for a run isn’t something that most runners prioritise. You wouldn’t not warm up before a heavy session of deadlifts, so why not before a run? A correct warm up will get your muscles warm, prepare the body for the movements and stress that’s about to come, and make sure your technique is on point. All this combined helps enhance your run.
How so?
Majority of runs are done on concrete pavement or bitumen, and due to the thickness of the material used in those surfaces, extra pressure and pounding can go through your joints with each step. This is where the sore calves, feet, knees, etc. come in! To help mitigate this pain, warming up your muscles, and preparing your joints for landing will go a long way.
Having better technique makes you more efficient, which decreases the amount of energy you’re using. Better technique gives you a quicker ground contact time (the amount of time your foot spends on the ground), which is the golden ticket when it comes to running faster, in my opinion. We will scratch the surface of what good technique is for running. We want all your leg movements to be in front of your body, so think of your foot stepping over your opposite knee (basically bringing your knees up in front of your body). Remember the butt kick drills you did as a kid? Those probably aren’t the best drill to use to practice your technique. The correct drills are a great way to practice and improve your technique. We will go into more detail for running technique in another blog.
The warm up for different distances, ages, and abilities doesn’t really change. No matter who you are, and what distance you’re running, it’s the same technique that needs to be achieved.
Here's an example warm up routine:
Mobility/Activation:
6 x World’s Greatest Stretch
10 x Cat Cows
8 x Shoulder Swimmers
5 x Thread The Needle Per Side
(see the below video to check out what it looks like)
Drills:
2x Skipping For Height (15 meters)
2x Pogo Jumps (15 meters)
2x High Knees (15 meters)
(see the below video to check out what it looks like)
Running Prep:
4 x 50m run intervals - medium pace.
A good warm up takes 10-20 minutes to complete, and can improve your run and reduce your chance of getting injured. So make sure you start to prioritise your warm up for your runs!
Yours in running,
Coach Cameron
