Warm-Ups

The purpose of these exercises is to warm up the muscles and be both mentally and physically ready to run.  Best if done before every run.  Careful not to overstretch.  

These can be done in 5-6 minutes.  Good to do even if it cuts into your running time.

  1. Side to side rolling on back.  Stretch arms above your head to emphasize stretch in the hips.  8-10 cycles 
  2. Back arch.  Rise up on your hands and flex your back.  Move around and feel stretch in hips.  Total of ~15 seconds
  3. Forward lunge.  Very easy and progressive – feel it in the hips and quads.  Do 5-7 on each side
  4. Forward lunge with side twist.  5-7 on each side
  5. Side step.  Bend from the inside and feel stretch in inner part of leg.  Easy does it!   5-7 on each side.
  6. Back step.  Step back at a 45 degree angle.  Flex back leg and feel stretch in calves and Achilles.  5-7 on each side.
  7. Front and side leg swings.  7-10 on each side for both.

Comments are closed.