We all know the theory at its basic level… we should warm up before we run. Simple, right? Well how come so many of us get it so wrong?! We (and I include myself in this) tend to focus so much on the actual run, session or workout, that often the most important part (the warmup) gets neglected. Let’s follow the classic 3 Ws to understand how to do a proper warmup.
Why?
Philosophically, the purpose of a warmup is to prepare the body and mind for the activity you are about to embark upon. At a more practical level, an effective warmup will minimise the chance of injury, make a training session more productive and maximise your performance in a race.
When?
Simply put, you should warm up for every activity you do. But that doesn’t mean all activities require the same type of warmup. An easy road run, for example may require a very different warmup to a hard interval session, a hill session or indeed a race. When to perform the warmup? Well you might think that right before the exercise is the ideal. Not necessarily! For a training session – this is OK (and the most practical). However for a race – the ideal is to complete the majority of your warmup 15-20 minutes before the gun. However, it’s important that once you are warm, you stay warm, so you may have to be creative in colder weather. More on this later.
What?
As mentioned, warmups can and should differ. Specifically, if you are recovering from an injury or have a diagnosed biomechanical deficiency, you should supplement and tailor what’s described here with any specifics directed from your physio or other professional.
Before you start any warmup, preparation is important and a really simple drill is as follows:
- Take a couple of deep breaths (with your eyes closed if you like)
- This helps to separate whatever you’ve been doing before, from the exercise you’re about to do.
- Roll/shrug your shoulders forward and back a few times
- This helps to relieve any tension from (e.g.) sitting at a desk for hours
- Finally pretend you’re zipping up a tracksuit top right to the chin.
- This helps create a good starting posture
What you do next, should vary depending on what type of run or session you’re planning doing.
Easy or steady road/trail runs (e.g recovery, LSR, social chatty runs)
- Use the first mile as a warmup. Start off with a gentle jog (or even start with a walk, getting progressively quicker until you break into a jog)
- Quicken the pace over the course of 10-15 minutes until you reach your steady pace.
- Think about your breathing – suck the air in to warm up your heart & lungs too
- Think about your posture – being balanced and coordinated.
- Monitor how your muscles and joints feel – if something is tight, build in some dynamic stretches for that area.
Harder runs (e.g. tempo runs – those with periods of hard effort – i.e. threshold pace)
- As above plus:
- Some dynamic stretches to activate the muscle groups and mobilise the joints that will be working harder: high knees, bum flicks, A-step, high skips, sidesteps, crossover steps, lunges, gate openers/closers, straight legged run & squats are all good. See the RAMP warmup below for more details.
Track or hill intervals
These sessions are using your muscles in a much more intense way and hence require a more comprehensive warmup. We talk about RAMP at the club sessions. RAMP stands for Raise, Activate, Mobilise, Potentiate. The R-A-M have already been hinted at above and our technical warmup on Tuesday sessions aims to cover the A-M-P.
- Raise is the pulse raiser – the walking into jogging mentioned in the previous sections.
- Activate is some controlled drills or exercises to activate specific muscles.
- Mobilise is more drills or exercises to mobilise the joints so they are working optimally under the stress of the activity.
- Potentiate is where you ramp up the effort to prepare for the intensity of the activity that will follow.
Depending on the type of session you’re planning, you might vary the exact exercises or drills. E.g. for hills you may want to focus on the calves and ankle complex a little more. For longer intervals – perhaps the hamstrings and hip complex are more in focus. This video we put together in lockdown 2 has some more detail and demonstrations.
Races
Again, one size does not fit all. The GB Elite Marathon coach Nick Anderson told me that most people don’t need a warmup before the start of a marathon. “26.2 miles is a long way so don’t waste your energy – just take the first mile or two nice and easy” was his advice!
For shorter distances/higher target pace, the warmup becomes a lot more important, especially if you want to perform at your best. My warmup for 5-10k will follow a similar format to the RAMP warmup above, with a couple of differences: it will end with some priming and finish a good 10-15 minutes before the gun. Here’s my ideal warmup routine for a 5k or 10k race:
| Time (before the gun) to start | Activity | Reason |
| T MINUS 45 mins | Posture, breathing, walking etc. | Prepare for what’s to come |
| T MINUS 40 mins | 10-12 mins jogging | Raise |
| T MINUS 30 mins | Warmup drills – muscles & joints: Focus for me is activating glutes, calves and hamstrings – so squats, lunges, A-step, high skip etc. and mobilising hips, spine & ankles – so gate open/close, hurdle, football kicks/leg swings etc. | Activate & Mobilise |
| T MINUS 25 mins | Strides (drill e.g. A-step or skip into an acceleration up to a short sprints) Priming: ~6 minutes at race pace (e.g. 1km -1 mile). This has been shown to improve oxygen efficiency in the race. | Potentiate |
| T MINUS 10-15 mins | Keep WARM and loose. Hydrate and fuel. Minimise energy use. Mentally prepare | Peak performance |