Warming up

Hi,

Im a pretty new runner (October last year) and did my first ever race 2 weeks ago the Llandudno 10k and loved it. Did it in 52mins.

Im training for the Liverpool half and got to 13 miles last Sunday!! whoop whoop!!

I could'nt run for than 15 minutes beforehand so im really chuffed.

Anyway just wondering if anyone can help with regards to warming up?

I try a few streches beforehand and start off at a slow pace, but for the first 15-20mins of any run i do is totally eratic and hardwork!!

Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

Loving this sie by the way.

David A. Lally, Ph.D., an exercise physiologist at the University of Hawaii-Manoa completed a careful study of 1543 individuals who participated in the Honolulu Marathon, and his investigations actually link pre-workout stretching with a higher risk of injury.

In Lally's survey, 47 per cent of all male runners who stretched regularly were injured during a one-year period, while only 33 per cent of male runners who didn't stretch were hurt, a statistically significant difference

Lally's analysis did yield one fascinating bit of information. Those marathoners who stretched before training sessions had higher rates of injuries, compared to runners who didn't stretch. However, athletes who stretched after their workouts actually had lower frequencies of injuries.

Make of that what you will, I personally never stretch pre-workout and even if doing an event warming up is a brisk walk at most. I only stretch after running

I always say my warm up is my first mile, its always hard to get going so I take it slow.

I find if I warm up I just get knackered and have not gone any distance.

After a run I  do a couple minutes of walking and a minute of stretches to warm down, nothing mad.

Squeakz thanks for that information - I had no idea about that. Up to now I had actually been doing the complete opposite - no wonder I buggered my ITB a couple of weeks ago.

It always takes me about 15-20 minutes to warm up when I start running and that is usually when I feel my worst and feel like packing it in!

Agreed.... on a training run the first mile or so is the warm up.  You could even start by walking then break into a slow run and gradually get faster over a mile.  Don't stretch before you run as it's counter productive.  You're relaxing your muscles just before asking them to work hard.  You want to relax them after running.

If you're racing then you need to consider warming up before the start.  On anything less than a marathon I'll do some warming up.  For a 5k I'll probably run a couple of miles to get my legs in good shape for the race but for a half marathon it'll be a 5 minute jog just to get the blood flowing a bit.

There is some information relating to the research I quoted and other research at the following URL, which gives you a wider perspective on it.

http://www.sportsinjurybulletin.com/archive/stretching-exercises.html

Im not claiming anything other than the full research paper is very interesting and that its worth a read imho and most certainly help me decide personally on not to do streching prior to running 

I might have made the wrong choice though and just lucky I have no injurys, guess time will tell.

I think there's a difference between stretching and warming up, but I've no idea if it's an important difference. A slow walk/run first mile will warm you up but does it really achieve the same thing as a good set of stretches?

Static stretching while cold is generally a bad idea and most stretching should be reserved for after a run.  But some dynamic stretching will help to liven muscles up and release oxygen into the muscle fibres to give you a strong start.  You can enter dynamic warmups into YouTube to get some ideas.

I often do this: hand on head, take a long step/ lunge forward, and let my front knee bend to a right angle, with back leg/ knee almost touching the ground. Then I take a large step forwards and repeat with the other leg. 10 of these on each side is a good start for a warm up. Small two footed jumps on the spot will warm up the Achilles. Standing on one leg and gently swinging the other leg, knee almost outstretched with warm up the hamstrings.  When swinging the leg, swing the opposing arm to keep your whole body in balance. If you are nimble, you might be able to touch your foot on the oustretched hand.

Good luck with your running.

I do as well believe that stretching beforehand (even after warming up) might lead to injury.. You might find interesting ideas for warm ups (if you can be bothered to read it) in the following article:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/warm-up-exercises.html

Cheers