Saturday, February 13, 2010
Warm-up
Someone ( maybe Tara?) please explain to me the process/style of a good warm-up. I usually spend 5 minutes warming up with a brisk walk, and usually a little incline, before starting to run (on a treadmill). I still seem to struggle a bit for my first mile, then walk for a few more minutes, and then it seems like from that point on (we're talking nearly 10 minutes into my workout) I can then run quite a bit with no problems or stops (30-45 minutes - hey, that's good for me!). What's the deal? How can I warm up faster or more efficiently? Do I have to spend this amount of time warming up on race day too? Ugh.
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I'm not Tara but my answer would be you need to spend 5-7 minutes warming up. It's a big shock on your body if you go from nothing to full speed all at once not to mention you risk injury that way. In every aerobic or group fitness class or sport you ever play you spend the first 5 -10 minutes warming up. You want your warmup to be long enough to get your heart rate up. Once your heart rate is up you can transition to race speed if that's what your working on. Sounds like your warming up correctly. Yes, you should do this on race days as well, that's why you see lots of the racers running a bit then stretching before the race....don't overdo it but enough to get your heart rate up. Hope this helps.
ReplyDeleteSusan--you are right on track. Jen and I had this same conversation the other day. Usually it does take about 1 to 1.5 miles to really find your rhythm. And unfortunately, if you want to run your fastest on race day, you should go through the same routine. Warm-up is a CRUCIAL part of exercise if you want to stay injury free. I don't think you need to stop and stretch after a warm-up (but please stretch at the end), but, like Adrienne said, 5-10 min is a good goal.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you've also heard of "hitting the wall." I think the first mile is like a mini wall--once you break through it you're good to go.