How to warm up before running

Is it necessary to warm up before running? Absolutely yes. Perform a proper and good warm-up before running it is always beneficial.

In the world of running It's easy to listen to people who say “I don't waste time warming up; I start running and that is already warming up”. Not warming up before running is a mistake, especially when the excuse is "lack of time" (10 minutes is enough for a correct general warm-up) or, much worse, "because it's boring" (more boring and sad is not being able to running because of an injury that could have been avoided, right?).

Warming up before running will only bring you benefits and no harm (as long as the warm-up exercises are carried out correctly).

A good warm-up before running always brings benefits

The runners or runners who do not give importance to warming up before running is perhaps because they do not know what warming up is really for and the benefits it brings.

Before starting an aerobic exercise such as running You have to prepare the body and especially the lower body: feet, ankles, knees and hips. Warming up before running is vitally important to activate muscles, tendons and ligaments and be able to perform optimally.

But also, and this is the most important thing, with the proper warm-up risks are avoided which can range from minor discomfort to fairly serious muscle or joint injuries, including cramps, contractures, fibrillar tears... Actually, there are numerous risks faced by any runner who ignores or despises the importance of warming up.

Running, unlike other sports practices, decisively involves the feet, ankles and knees in movement, parts of the lower body that are especially sensitive to injuries if subjected to stress and demanding effort from a resting situation or semi-rest without the necessary prior heating.

Logically, the warm-up must be adapted to the needs of each person and to the intensity at which they are going to run; In other words, if we are going to run a 5K and the idea is to start 'strong' from the start or we are going to do series training, then we will have to do a different warm-up (more intense) than if we are going to do progressive training at the that we start with a calm rhythm and little demanding for our muscles and joints.

Benefits of warming up before running

Warming up should be part of every runner's sports routine.

We have already indicated that a good warm-up before running will always bring benefits to any runner, but we are going to list the most notable benefits of a good and correct warm-up:

• Avoid injury thanks to a greater elasticity of muscles and tendons. There is a varied list of injuries that can be caused by not warming up (or doing it incorrectly) and that can interrupt training for a longer or shorter time: Cramps, Contractures (cramps may go away with cessation of activity, but the contracture may last for hours or days), fibrillar breaks (for performing a sudden muscle contraction without the muscle being ready and elastic enough for the effort), joint injuries (sprains, Sprains...), Plantar fasciitis, muscle injuries...
• Increase the heart and respiratory rate. This will mean more blood pumping through the muscles and joints and, therefore, a greater amount of oxygen available.
• Improving flexibility.
• Improving concentration to carry out the planned activity, be it a race or training.

What warm-up exercises before running?

For popular runners and runners, a good warm-up before running can be based on a routine similar to the one below:

• circular ankle movements. This exercise is done by resting the toe on the ground and making gentle turns in both directions (10/15 seconds with each ankle).

• Hip warm up. After warming up the ankles we proceeded to do the exercise of hip circles. With the hands resting on the hips, we place the feet with a separation similar to that of the hips, we bend the legs a little and contract the abdominal area (10/15 seconds in each direction).

• After having activated ankles and hips we perform five minutes of easy jogging to wake up the muscles.
• Abductor warm-up with side lunges quickly and in both directions (10/15 seconds in each direction).
• Hamstring warm-up using high kicks with straight leg towards the hand opposite the raised leg (8/10 raises with each leg).
• Quadriceps warm-up through strides. For the quadriceps lunge we place one foot in front of the other and perform a basic stride making sure to keep our back straight; With this exercise, in addition to activating the quadriceps, we also activate the hamstrings when we get up (8 with each leg and maintaining the position for ten seconds).

• Squatting in order to finish warming up the legs globally and also activate the abdominal belt (3 series of 10 repetitions).

• Lastly, run on site bringing the heels to the height of the buttocks (10/15 seconds).

This is a good example of warm up before running. Obviously, the intensity of the warm-up will also depend on the demand of the exercise to be performed.

Don't stretch in a warm-up or before your run

In the warm-up before running we are going to focus on dynamic mobility exercises because we want to stimulate the ability of the muscles to contract. The purpose of stretching is to relax the muscle (and therefore in the loss of its ability to contract), which is just the opposite of what is intended with the warm-up.

Is it good to stretch before running? The answer is no, since muscles and tendons are cold and they are not ready to withstand the tension that stretching requires and the stress that they suffer with this static movement. Stretching must be left to finish training or after competition, but never before training or competition.

Some runners perform short sprints as a way of warming up and this is highly inadvisable, unless an adequate warm-up has been previously carried out; doing sprints, even short ones, is very dangerous because it places a very high demand on the muscles and injury can easily arise.

Text to 42K of :

Jaume Albaranez

Physical trainer

Athlete from the CD Metaesport team. She is studying Physical Activity and Sports Sciences at the University of Valencia.
Jaume Albarañez, physical trainer

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