When you have little time to go for a run in your day, it can feel like an internal battle to use a few of those precious minutes for a warm-up. But having some time to warm up before you start running is an important piece of the puzzle. Think of your heating as your oven's preheat setting. Set the scene for your body so it won't be a complete shock when you take off from zero to 100.
What exactly is a dynamic warm-up?
This dynamic involves movements that faithfully replicate the demands of the exercise you are about to perform. Compared to static stretching, dynamic stretching better prepares muscle tissue to support loads in specific movements , such as running. (Static stretching is meant to induce some change in muscle length and is best for recovery after training.)
When warming up before a race, your dynamic warm-up should include exercises like knee high walking, which mimics the act of running rather than standing still and hugging the knee to your chest for a few seconds at a time.
Dynamic race warm-up in just 5 minutes
If you are a runner who has not yet incorporated a specific warm-up regimen or are looking to update your current routine, consider introducing this dynamic warm-up to help prepare for your next run. Although if you are interested in a warm-up tailored to your specific running goals, consider hiring a certified running coach to help you come up with an individual plan.
Movement 1: Walk with elevated knees
Do 20 reps.
- Start to stand up and step forward with your right leg and bring your left knee toward your chest.
- Pressing your right foot firmly into the ground, step forward with your left leg and repeat the movement.
- Repeat for a fixed distance of 10 meters or 10 repetitions per leg.
Movement 2: Single Leg Walking Deadlift
Do 20 repetitions.
- Begin to stand up and step forward with your right leg.
- Maintaining a flat back and a gentle knee bend, roll forward at your right hip, allowing your left leg to shoot behind you. Keep your hips square throughout the movement to avoid rotating your pelvis and torso.
- Squeeze your right glute so that your torso returns to the vertical position and the left leg forward to the starting position.
- Repeat on the opposite leg at a fixed distance of 10 meters or 10 reps per leg.
Movement 3: Twisting Walking Stride
Do 20 reps.
- Start standing up and step forward with your right leg. Lower into a controlled stride, making 90-degree angles with both knees.
- In the lower part of your stride, turn your torso to each side, initiating the movement from the middle of your back instead of turning your pelvis or hips.
- Press your right foot firmly into the ground to stand up and step forward with your left foot.
- Repeat for a fixed distance of 10 meters or 10 repetitions per leg.
Movement 4: A skip
Do 20 repetitions.
- Begin to stand up and step forward with your right leg.
- Immediately move your left knee toward your chest. Keeping your right leg straight, push with your calf muscles to jump.
- Gently land your left foot toward the ground and straighten your leg before bringing your right knee toward your chest. Push with your calf muscles to jump.
- Repeat for a fixed distance of 10 meters or 10 repetitions per leg.
This move requires some coordination, so if you feel challenging, first consider walking with your knees high while pushing your toes up between each step.
Movement 5: B Skip
Do 20 reps.
- Begin to stand up and step forward with your right leg.
- Drive your left knee toward your chest. Keeping your right leg straight, push with your calf muscles to jump.
- As your left thigh reaches waist height, forcefully extend your leg down, using the coordinated extension from the knee and hip, and pull it back. It should feel like you are cleaning the sole of your shoe on the floor or pulling the floor back like you are on a treadmill.
- Repeat with the opposite side and continue jumping a fixed distance of 10 meters or 10 repetitions per leg.
Together, these last two exercises help to tie the individual movements together to exaggerate the running movement. The B Skip takes the anterior A Skip and adds a powerful "kick" of the foot from a more explosive hip extension and knee flex movement. As a result, it can be challenging to get this right until you perfect the A Skip.
What are the benefits of this warm-up before a race?
Doing a dynamic warm-up before a run offers a host of benefits: injury risk management, better blood flow, and better muscle recruitment, among others.
It can reduce your risk of injury
Perhaps the most important reason for heating is that it can mitigate the risk of overuse injuries. Because running is a high-impact sport dominated by the same repetitive motion, you have a higher risk of developing overuse injuries compared to another sport with more varied movements.
Unlike an acute injury, which is often related to a singular traumatic event such as an ankle sprain, overuse or chronic injuries develop gradually over time and are often the result of poor management of load and / or inadequate body mechanics when performing a certain exercise.
Do you think you are safe from this? An October 2012 systematic review in Sports Medicine found that chronic overuse injuries accounted for about 80 percent of running injuries.
Some common overuse injuries associated with running include patellofemoral pain syndrome , also known as runner's knee (pain in the front of the knee or patella) and medial tibial stress syndrome , also known as shin cramps. (pain along the shin bone).
However, overuse injuries are not limited to bone and joint pain, and classic muscle strain is also an injury risk to consider, especially if you accelerate your runs too fast.
It can improve your performance
Although the science connecting warm-ups and performance is mixed, there is some data that shows that a good dynamic warm-up can give you a little more energy in your stride.
According to a January 2016 review in Applied Physiology, Nutrition and Metabolism, dynamic stretching showed greater performance benefits than static stretching and proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF), a form of rehabilitation stretching.
And in a January 2012 study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, performing just 1 to 2 sets of 14 repetitions of active dynamic stretches before a run improved sprint performance. But, as the study points out, doing more than the two recommended sets of dynamic stretches can be detrimental.
While the physiological mechanism for how a dynamic warm-up affects performance is still being debated and not well defined by current research, there are a variety of explanations for how it might work.
A February 2018 review in Sports Medicine highlights how dynamic stretching has a potentiation and temperature effect , meaning that the muscle unit is literally "warmed up" and ready for exercise. Furthermore, rehearsing specific movement patterns is believed to improve coordination and therefore performance.
