Previously I had written about the importance of core strength and stability in the prevention of injury and enhancement of performance. Core strength and stability is one area where endurance athletes, especially runners do not focus enough. Warming up and cooling down when doing a workout, especially a speed workout is another area that often gets overlooked, or skipped. Often times I have had patients and friends that have been in the following scenario:
They want to get a workout in and are short on time, so they cut to the chase. They start running faster to get more mileage in. Or maybe they just jump into the main set of their speed workout. Then, after the hard run they quickly get into their car, or get back to their desk.
Performing workouts such as the one example mentioned above can be detrimental to both performance, and overall health. Both warming up and cooling down are crucial parts of a workout that should not be ignored. Warming up helps to prepare your body for exercise, especially vigorous exercise. Cooling down helps to return your body to its pre- exercise state. Making sure that you incorporate both into your routine can help to make you feel better both during and after your workout. Sometimes people don’t always feel the detrimental effects of failing to warm up and cool down properly right away. However, omitting these two vital parts of your workout can come back to haunt you over time.
The benefits of performing a proper warm up include increasing circulation, increasing soft tissue extensibility (i.e. decreasing stiffness), and activation of muscles groups that are key to the activity that you are about to perform. During exercise, blood flow to the heart, muscles, and skin increases. Blood flow to the kidneys, stomach and intestines decreases (blood flow to the brain remains the same). A warm up period before an activity allows this shift to take place more gradually. Additionally, when there is an increase in blood flow and an increase in warmth, muscles and tendons are more extensible. That is that they become more flexible and move more freely. Activity specific drills where you focus on a certain movement, or aspect of your activity can wake up certain muscle groups.
A systematic review found that warm up routines can decrease the incidence of injuries, specifically knee injuries. This review looked at studies of football (aka soccer players) and military recruits.
A randomized control trial of female soccer players found that the rate of lower extremity overuse injuries was decreased in a group that consistently performed a warm up program.
Additionally, a survey of triathletes found that those who reported that they never, or only rarely warmed up and cooled down had a higher rate of injury during their pre season training.
An example of a proper warm up can be walking and/or light jogging for 5- 15 minutes followed by some drills. Other activities such as cycling can also be substituted for walking and running. The pace of the warm up shoulder feel easy and should be done without a particular target pace (save that part for your workout).
A good set of drills can include the following done 2-4 times for 10 yards*:
Skips: These skips can be done in sequence A,B,C,D for 10 yards each. Then jog back to where you started and repeat 4-6 times.
C skips – A note about C skips: If you look up C skips, you will notice that many runners focus on high knees. The focus of the C skips here is getting good hip extension from the trailing leg. When I originally learned the drill that I am doing in the video, I learned it as a C skip. You may have a different name that you want to call it if you already think of C skips as being a high knees drill. The drill presented here is worthwhile, because as distance runner (or any runner) hip extension is important.
More drills and running prep tid bits can be found at The Natural Running Center
Where is the stretching, you might ask. Well, many studies on the subject suggest that static stretching before an activity does not prevent injury, and does not enhance performance. One systematic review found that static stretching s part of a warm up does not decrease the risk of injury. In fact, some studies suggest that static stretching done before an activity may even be detrimental to performance by decreasing the amount of strength that a muscle can produce. A systematic review from 2004 suggests that stretching does not improve jump force, or jump height. The review also found contradictory evidence, that stretching improved running speed. If you are not familiar with he term contradictory evidence, it means that some of the studies in the review suggest that stretching does improve running speed, while other studies do not.
The tricky thing with studies of stretching is that they all use different protocols. Some studies have participants hold stretches for 90 seconds, other hold stretches for 15 seconds. Others look at stretches that they call dynamic, where the muscle is put on stretch very briefly (and sometimes that quantify what briefly means, and other times they don’t). Perhaps I will look into this more, and write another post on stretching.
As stated before, the goal of a cool down is to return the body to a pre-exercise state. Many coaches, trainers and health professionals (including myself) have claimed that cooling down can help to prevent muscle soreness. Unfortunately, I have yet to read a study that suggests that this is true. In fact, one systematic review suggests that there is little difference in muscle soreness between those who stretch and cool down after exercise, and those who do not.
With a warm up and exercise, I discussed how blood flow to the heart, muscles and skin increased, while the blood flow to other organ decreased. A cool down can help to redistribute the blood flow so that your kidneys, stomach and intestines are receiving the same blood flow as they were before your workout. If one were to stop their workout suddenly, and sit down they might feel lightheaded, dizzy, or nauseous. They might faint. Performing 5-10 minutes of easy jogging or running can help to assist this redistribution of blood flow and return the body to its pre exercise state.
By warming up, you allow your muscles to receive adequate blood flow and increase their extensibility before doing the more stressful part (the main set) of your workout. A cool down can help to transition the body back to its pre exercise state by slowly lowering blood pressure and body temperature.
So, before you jump into your workout, or hard run headfirst because you are pressed for time, realize that you are doing your body a disservice and increasing your chance of injury. You may also be hurting yourself by jumping back into the car, bus, or office and sitting after a workout. If you are tempted to cut out a warm up and cool down because you are short on time, consider either doing the hard workout on another day, or shortening the workout. Your body will thank you.
*As always, please consult with a healthcare professional before doing these drills if you have an injury, or are unsure if these drills are appropriate for you. Do not continue performing the drills if you experience any pain.