“The most important thing is how a guy prepares himself to do battle.” – Hank Aaron.
Let’s talk about what happens right before the action – the warm-up! For some, warming up is simply an afterthought. For others, it’s downright ignored. And for a select few, it’s borderline obsessive compulsive! But the science is clear, a well-thought out warm-up prevents injury and sets the stage for success.
Furthermore, most great performers, non-runners included, have a routine they stick to. Something they can repeat over and over to optimize their performance. It goes to show that warming up may be more than just getting your moving parts moving! So how should we do it? What makes up a great warm-up? How do we find it for ourselves?
WARM-UP THE MEMORY
Okay, this isn’t really part of the warm-up itself. I think this step should happen before you even get started. Often the best way to go forward is by looking backward. Start by thinking back to your best performances or races.
What was your state of mind like? How did you get to that point? Were you relaxed? Amped up? How did your body feel and what contributed to that? Chances are your great result didn’t just happen by chance. You could be closer to your ideal warm-up than you realize.
WARM-UP THE BODY
This is the obvious one! Warming up the body helps prevent injury and gets everything ready for what you’re about to do. I know several different exercises that are good to do this (chances are you do too!) so instead of beating you over the head with something that you might not quite like, I’ll offer 4 suggestions for a physical warm-up routine. You can take it from there!
- Must be PORTABLE. In other words, you have to be able to do it anywhere using practically no equipment. Box jumps or split squats may activate the right muscles, but you can’t very well do that at the start line of a major marathon. Stick with bodyweight exercises and moving exercises.
- ACTIVATE the muscles. Think of the major muscles you want firing while running. Namely, your glutes and other muscles on the backs of your legs. The myrtle routine will give you several exercises to try before your next run. It is a good routine to try as a warm-up or any day of the week to activate and strengthen the muscles in your hips and glutes.
- Get your HEART RATE up. “But won’t I be tired for the actual run/workout?” Simply put, no. You want to raise your heart rate at least enough so that the workout itself is not a total shock to the system. That’s why shorter and faster races like 5k’s require a longer more strenuous warm-up then say, a marathon. I like to include 3-4 strides of 100 meters or so before an intense workout or race. Just accelerating to 80-90% of top speed and slowly backing down will get your blood flowing and also reinforce good mechanics in your stride.
- DYNAMIC stretching. Key word being “dynamic”. Stretch by moving rather than holding something for any length of time. Some of my favorites include leg swings (forward and side-to-side), butt kicks, and walking lunges. You can see more here.
PRIME THE MIND
One often forgotten part of the warm-up is the mental aspect. In their book, Peak Performance, Steve Magness and Brad Stulberg describe how the best performers of anything all have routines that set them up to perform their best. They tell of Matt Billingslea, drummer for famous singer Taylor Swift, who never actually touches a pair of drums during his warm-up.
Ten minutes prior to showtime, Billingslea is visualizing every move. He’s trying to get to a specific state known more commonly as “the zone.” “I’ve done all this work beforehand, but in the moment, I try to get to this sweet spot where I’m not thinking about what I’m doing,” he says.
We’ve all heard of an athlete being in the “zone” before and maybe we’ve even had it ourselves. The takeaway here is to actively seek it out rather than hope or wish it comes to you randomly. If it comes to you more easily in quiet places then seek this out. If it comes to you more easily while listening to music or talking with others, go for it! Think of what you want to say to yourself in those final moments before a race and fine-tune it in training.
CONSISTENCY
Like anything, you’ll get a feel for what you need to warm-up by practicing it in training. Over time and through repetition, you’ll develop a routine that works for you. It’ll hopefully leave your body and mind primed for a great performance in training or in a race.
With consistency comes familiarity and a comfort level. You’ll know on race day – “my body feels good after I do THIS. My mindset is sound when I do THIS.” And you won’t even need to think about what to do because it’s already within you.
AN EXAMPLE WARM-UP
Here’s a peak at my actual warm-up routine to give you some ideas. Not shown here is the actual distance I will jog, which could be 5-20 minutes based on the activity. This routine changes from time to time but here’s where it stands now.
-Before my shoes are on, I work my ankles and toes around using my hands (2 minutes)
-Light skipping 20-30 yds (focus on ankle flexion)
-Marching/Walking High Knees 20-30 yds (focus on balance)
*All while doing these exercises, I’m thinking of the proper way to move. I stay upright and stiffen my legs. I don’t “sit back into my hips” as I see a lot of athletes do. Instead, I keep everything “tall” as I like to say.
-Hug knee to chest/pull back to quad stretch (hold each for 1 count) – about 5 each side.
–A-skips 20-30 yrds (focus on driving the legs down through the ground)
-Hip circles about 10 each side
-Tilt Walks for 20-30 yds
Then I stand upright and still, just focusing on my breathing for probably 60 seconds (longer before races). I put in my head the effort I want the workout to be (recovery, easy, moderate, hard, race) and I prepare my mind to give that effort. I think, “I will run this effort because it will get me closer to my goal. No more, no less.” And I remind myself that I’m capable of whatever I’m about to do (and more!).
And then…I run.
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