Warm up & Cool Down

The warm-up and cool-down are in my opinion the most important part of your workout and race that you should be doing every time you lace up your shoes and get ready.

Let’s start with the warm-up. This part of your workout should be used to warm your body up in order to be able to complete your workout at the speed and intensity it needs to be completed and prevent injury. Depending on your level and the purpose of your workout will determine your warm-up. The warm-up can start with anything from a 5-10 minute jog to a 2-3 mile jog. It could also start with a walk/jog or just a walk. After this part of your warm-up I suggest moving into dynamic drills. I like to do leg swings, ankle circles, low skip, high skip, high knees, butt kicks, and hamstring dips. After drills I usually move into a few strides/build ups. This is an example of a warm-up that I would do for a track/speed workout. For a workout like an easy run, a long run, or a steady state, I would just add my easy jog warm-up into the steady state miles. For example, begin with a 2-3 mile jog and then move right into the steady state pace.

Next, we have the cool down. This tends to be one of the more neglected parts of the workout for me. The cool down is so important though, because it can help prevent injury and soreness. Doing a cool down helps to bring your heart rate back down to a natural rhythm and does it in an easy and steady way. Cool downs could be anything from a 1 lap walk or jog around the track to a 2-3 mile jog at the end of your workout. You can also add in some static stretching after your cool down if that’s something you like to do.

These are all just suggestions and examples of things I enjoy doing. There are so many options and research of different activities you can do.