WARM UP + COOL DOWN WITH RUN EXPERT KIM MURRAY

Taking care of your body when you are running is essential to help you avoid injury and keep you running for longer (and faster!). We know you’re short on time and just want to lace up your trainers but a warm up and cool down is SO important. Running expert Kim Murray joins The Online Studio this month, providing you with the ultimate warm up and cool down sessions that will help improve your range of motion, running mechanics and reduce your risk of injury and pain.

Your Running Warm Up

A running warm up prepares the body to perform by addressing the tissues and joints and priming the movements required for running. Doing so increases the body and therefore muscle temperature which means the muscles break down glycogen quicker and contraction speed of the muscle fibres is greater. Performing warm up exercises also increases oxygen uptake, closing the gap between demand and availability which occurs at the onset of exercise. In summary, warming up prepares the body for a bout of increased expenditure by enabling it to respond to this demand quicker.

A warm-up should ramp up in intensity, starting low and increasing as you progress through. It should also be specific to the exercise you’re about to perform. A good place to start is to mobilise the key joints involved in the movement. In the case of running: the ankle, hips and spine. Doing some mobility in these areas will alleviate any areas of restriction which could translate into pain during your run. It will also improve your range of motion meaning you are more effective (can produce more force) through your movements. 

Once you’ve done some mobility it is important to prime the body for the movement of running. It is a good idea to include some exercises to activate the muscles in the lower body, improve single leg stability and prepare the feet for loading. Our feet bear all our load therefore it is important to warm them up just like any other muscle. Doing your warmup barefoot can help with this. 

Make sure you check out Kim’s ultimate running warm up routine NOW AVAILABLE ON THE ON DEMAND LIBRARY. Each time you run come back to it!

Your Running Cool Down

You’ve finished your run - congratulations!! Your heart’s still beating like crazy and you have to bend over to catch your breath… Be super proud of your effort but your workout isn’t quite over yet. A proper cool-down after running can speed up your recovery and increase the effectiveness of your training. Just as a warm-up prepares your body for the workout, the cool-down helps your body return to a state of rest. The cool-down relaxes your muscles and lowers your heart rate and breathing.

It helps your body to eliminate lactic acid and other waste products faster and to repair micro-injuries. It also provides your muscles with oxygenated blood, which speeds up the recovery process and helps you avoid sore muscles. All of these positive effects of cooling down help you to recover faster from your training and be ready for your next workout sooner.

Make sure you check out Kim’s ultimate running cool down routine NOW AVAILABLE ON THE ON DEMAND LIBRARY. Each time you run come back to it!