It’s race day, or maybe it’s a big workout day for you and you want to make sure you can give it all you got! Well, in order to do your best, you need to make sure you are prepared to do your best. Today we discuss how to properly warm up and cool down before and after any big effort.

If you don’t already have a proper warm up and cool down routine, you should. Not only will a proper warm up prepare you to smash your next race or workout, but a proper cool down can also allow your body to start the recovery process so you can reap the benefits of all your hard work!

Warm Up

So let’s assume you did all the proper training, ate well, got plenty of sleep and now it’s the day, time to put in some work! There are a million ways to the same end. Finding the right warm up routine will ensure you can perform to your full potential.

Some people like a quick 3-5 minute jog with some light static stretching and they feel ready to go. Some people need a good 15-20 minutes with a grocery list of stretches before they feel ready to toe the line. I will be providing my warm up routine before any workout or race.

The key is consistency. Never switch things up on the day of an important race. You need to be as efficient and streamlined as possible. You don’t want to have to think about anything rather than the performance. Having a consistent warm up routine that you know works for you can help eliminate some of the nerves you may feel. So here’s my routine.

I start off with an easy 10-15 minute  jog (or about 2 miles). Afterwards I follow up with some dynamic stretching. I finish up with 3-4 10 second strides.

Example of dynamic stretches:

• High Knees
• Butt Kickers
• Drum Majors
• High Knee Skips
• Side Shuffles with Sun Salutations
• Backwards Strides and Quick Feet
• Frankenstein Kicks
• Knee to Chest Pulls
• Leg Swings (Front and Back;Side to Side)

I choose to do dynamic stretches because I’m firing up the muscles I want to be activated and ready to go when the time calls. Static Stretching will cause the muscles to relax when I want them to still have a little bit of snappiness in them. I usually start my warm up about 40 minutes before my workouts and races to allow ample time to get through everything, lace up, and use the little boys room one last time.

Cool Down

PHEW!!! Now that all that hard work is over with, it’s time to get those muscles recovered so that you can reap those benefits and make sure your body can continue on with its normal training tomorrow. How do you do that? By having a proper cool down, you allow yourself to flush out all the lactic acid from pushing them to their limits and promotes healing of your muscles by pumping new oxygenated blood to them. This is my cool down routine; nothing fancy, keep it simple.

I jog very easy, and I mean EASY, for another 10-15 minuets or up to 2 miles. This allows your calves, hamstrings and quads to gently push out all the lactic acid build up and allow new oxygenated blood to them, which is what helps heal those broken down muscles. Too long and fast of a cool down will cause more harm than good, so keep it short and slow.

Afterwards I finish up with some static stretching. As I mentioned earlier, static stretches help to relax the muscles. Now that we’re done with our training session, we need our muscles to loosen up and relax. Otherwise you’ll find yourself stuck on the couch or gently lowering yourself down onto the toilet after eating your post workout pancakes…or is that just me?

Example of Static Stretches:

• Flamingo (Quad) Stretches
• Toe Touches (Hamstrings)
• Hip Flexor Stretch (Holding a Lunge position)
• Calf Stretch
• Soleus Stretch
• Butterfly Stretch
• Glute Stretch
• Trunk Rotations (Low Back) Stretch

Summary

Having a proper warm up and cool down routine will allow you to perform at your best and promote recovery afterwards. Never try anything new the day before a big race. Practice what works for you on workouts to fine tune your own routine. Depending on your goal weekly mileage and any physical limitations your mileage and choice of stretches may very, so make it your own.

If you have any questions or comments, please list them below. And continue to follow for more info on training and what it takes to become a better and stronger runner!

Until next time.