There are plenty of ways to warmup before you hit the road for your run. In this article I’ve narrowed it down to some of my favorites, but more importantly I make the case on why we need to warmup even if that means cutting the workout short if you’re in a time crunch.
Warmups should last at least 5-10 minutes. There are three warmup routines below, each with 5 exercises, and they are run-specific but can also be used for other workouts if you want. Do as many sets as you need to get the time you need. Combine routines if you want!
Does Walking Count?
Sure, I walk all the time before I run, and in fact when Dr. Phil Maffetone was advising me for marathon training in 2015 he had me walk 20 minutes pre and post each long run! That was hard to get used to (I just wanted to RUN!), but it paid off tremendously and I recovered much faster with these walks—and ultimately I got a BQ (5 min faster than my BQ time in fact). If you walk to warmup, that’s fine, but I still suggest always adding some dynamic movement (like the exercises below) to walking as well. No matter what, we all need a solid dynamic warmup, and some of us need longer so don’t cut yourself short.
7 Reasons to Warmup
- Increase body temperature – consider this the opposite of static stretching in a cold state. We want our bodies to be warm, especially muscles, in order to increase elasticity, mobility and range of motion.
- Get blood moving – Warmups are step one in dilating blood vessels and getting more blood to the working muscles. Blood flow to the muscles is obviously is a key element to exercise, but what you may not know is that by doing this in your warmup you’re helping your heart by not making it work too hard once you get going (i.e. you gradually get the heart going rather than making it go from 0 to 100) and you’re decreasing you’re chances of jacking up your blood pressure too much as well.
- Start your sweat (and avoid overheating) – sweating is our body’s natural air conditioner, it’s how we keep ourselves cool. It’s not the actual sweating that cools us but the evaporation of sweat. If you get this going during a warmup (even in the cold temps) you’ll have a more efficient “air conditioner” operating during your workout.
- Turn on the energy switch – the warmup helps increase epinephrine, endorphins and other beneficial hormones that boost your workout. This makes your workout feel good once you get started, and avoid that heavy, dragging, blah feeling which will happen if you’re been at work all day and try to jump right into the workout—yuck.
- Become a better, healthier athlete – When you warmup properly, in fact up to 25 minutes according to this study, you turn on proprioception and balance, which will not only decrease risk of injury, but will also enhance your athletic skill and make you a better athlete. In other words, warmups activate your neuromuscular control (mind-body connection) and get you to feel your whole self from the bottoms of your feet to your hips to your shoulders, arms and fingertips. Consequently, the other benefit is keeping you healthy.
- Mindful breathing starts here – No matter what your warmup exercises include, focus on your breath. This should happen before you even start moving: Take a few full deep breaths from the belly, and continue quality breathing as you start to do the movements. Don’t ever ever hold your breath during your warmup or workout (you’d be surprised how many of us do when we’re concentrating on something else)!
- Recover better – If you allow the engine and chassis to warmup properly it will thank you by speeding up your post-workout recovery so you can get back at it sooner. I think this is a great tradeoff if you have to make you’re workout shorter, you’ll get to workout MORE if you’re warming up and recovering like a rockstar (of course, cooldowns help too!).
Warmup Routine #1
1. Lunge, With A Twist
Walking lunge, twist torso over leading foot. Pause. Touch opposite elbow to forward knee. Knee behind toe on front leg. Repeat other side.
2. Butt Kicks
Bend knee so that heel touches butt; concentrate on activating gluts, hamstrings and other thigh muscles for stability through the motion. Thigh should be pointing down. Don’t worry about forward momentum so much.
- Key #1: On the landing make sure the foot plants directly underneath your body / under your center of gravity (this mimics where you should strike on the run.)
- Key #2: Maintain a high cadence to represent fast leg turnover during running—almost like a fast shuffle.
- Key #3: when foot is kicking butt, thigh should be pointing to ground with knee facing down; not thigh/knee parallel ground (common mistake).
3. Marching and/or High Knees
Head out doing a high-knee lift with opposite arm thrusting forward. Strong planted leg. Focus on knee tracking and stability.
Increase intensity and progress with high knees, which are more ballistic and incorporate speed/fast leg turnover. Maintain tall/marching-esque form with a very slight forward lean; stay “tall” while rapidly lifting and driving down the knees. Keep hips stable and don’t let them drop side-to-side.
4. Backwards Jogging
Head back to starting point backwards! Keep body upright (don’t lean too far back or you’ll fall). This is also a great body-awareness drill. Try not to look over your shoulder, and just trust yourself and the path you’re on (whoa, that’s deep).
5. Skipping
Thrust up R knee and L arm while toeing off L foot and slightly jumping upward, repeat other side in nonstop repetitive motion. Be conscious of arm motion—opposite arm forward to knee that’s thrust up, elbows at 90 degrees
Warmup Routine #2
1. Foam Roll
Consider this tissue prep aka movement prep. Before you get up and move, start on the floor: Attack the glut medius, full quads, serratus anterior, T spine and calves.
2. Lying Knee Hugs
Before you get up from foam rolling, lay supine (face up) and bring R knee up to core, holding just below the knee. Give a gentle tug. Keep the other leg totally still and try to avoid having it rise. Repeat other side.
You can also do knee hugs standing and as you do them, don’t let back round out and pelvis tuck under—keep back and pelvis neutral! (If this is hard you have bigger tightness issues to work out). As you do this standing, raise on leg and “toe off” on the other at a slight forward lean—this gets the body prepped for smooth running.
3. Walking Hacky Sacks
This is great for opening the hips especially the adductors (muscles in groin area). In a standing position, raise L leg and bend knee while turning it outward so upper thigh is parallel to ground, and foot is at hip level facing your R side. Tap L foot with R hand without bending forward at hips or rounding back. Repeat other side, and as you do this you should be slowly moving/walking forward. Focus on balance and stability when on one leg. Hacky sack optional 😉
4. Carioca
Fancy footwork! Going in a lateral direction by crossing one foot in front of then behind the other by rotating at hips only, keep head and shoulders facing forward. Repeat on the other side.
5. Leg Swings (Forward/Back + Side to Side)
Stand on one leg, raise other leg and swing forward and back to open up and activate hips. Also do this laterally by swinging leg side to side.
Warmup Routine #3
1. Side Leg Lifts
On the floor, on your side. Lift up in a side plank position but allow the knee of the lower leg to touch the ground. The upper leg now raises in a straight line, pointing toe and do not let leg come forward—keep it back to allow more quad activation. Make sure top and bottom shoulder and hip are in line, and that body is in a neutral position, not overly arched in the back nor rounding shoulders.
2. Walking Lunge With Single Leg Balancing Stick
Forward walking lunges, with toes forward no duck feet, but don’t stop at that. Every time you take a step forward keep the forward foot planted and lift the read leg to form a giant T shape—use glutes and hammys to keep that read leg up! Keep both knees locked. Form a straight line from shoulders to toes. If you can, in the single leg balancing stick position, bring arms overhead and clasp hands. Stretch hands and the rear elevated foot away from the body as if you’re being tugged in either direction.
3. Squatting Sideways Shuffle
Get in a squat position, butt low, hips back, torso up. Shuffle side to side, knees staying over toes, don’t cross feet.
Take is up a notch: For a more ballistic movement try doing lateral bounds, side to side. Same concept as forward bounding (see below), but now your moving laterally side to side. Hands out to sides or above head, not on hips.
4. Single-Leg Hops
Small hops on one leg in one place or controlled movement in various directions. As an alternative, you can do jump roping, both feet and single leg!
5. Reverse Lunge To Knee Drive
Quick motion—go from a reverse lunge position to exploding the rear leg forward into a knee drive and repeat for 30-60 seconds on that side before switching. You can use the assistance of a TRX if desired. Toes stays forward, keep hips open (not bent), with torso stiff and upright. Not slouching.
Once You’re Warmer:
Try these as you get going on your run, incorporating within the first mile or 10 minutes:
Bounding
- Forward: Long leaps forward by thrusting leg into air like an exaggerated skip. Lots of power in the jump, and sync up arm movement.
Strides (aka short Sprints)
- Sprint about 10-20 seconds or 20-30 yards focusing on high knee lift and strong arm motion with elbows always at 90 degrees. Usually do this at the end of WU right before you begin… or include strides during your run at beginning and end!
Hamstring Extension
Kick leg out in front; reach with opposite hand toward ankle/toe out in front but don’t bend forward excessively. Works hamstrings, glutes and hip flexors.
More Options:
Check out this article on Dynamic Warmups that emphasize overall mobility!