Building your own program - Warming up

If you're like me, you've probably heard from a number of people (and are telling you) to warm up well before a workout. What is this recommendation based on? This is what we will see today. First, I'll introduce the science around the warm-up, and then I'll make some recommendations on how to conduct your warm-up. Finally, I will suggest a protocol to use. You will then have the knowledge necessary to build a warm-up that suits you and with which you are comfortable.

In order to lighten the text and because I think it lends itself better to the web form, the references will be in the form of a link, rather than in the form of numbers that lead to the bottom of the page.

What happens when you warm up?

1. Increase in blood circulation and build energy systems

The body is a bit like a machine, it needs time to put in place the various mechanisms that will provide it with energy. When running long distances, most of the energy comes from aerobic mechanism. This system uses blood glucose, mixed with oxygen, for energy and takes a few minutes to set up. If you start a competition without warming up, your body has not yet put in place the mechanisms that will allow it to use this system for energy. So you will use your anaerobic reserves to produce energy. If you are starting a marathon, this is not much of a problem, as you will not be starting fast enough to use up a lot of those reserves. On the other hand, over a distance of 5km, it is important to have these systems in operation if we want to perform well.

2. Increase in body temperature

Our muscles work best when they are warm. Some experiments have determined that an increase of 1 degree in body temperature can increase the efficiency of physiological mechanisms by 13%. Obviously, we do not notice such an increase in the reality of performance. A rise in body temperature has a positive influence on energy efficiency, probably through an improvement in physiological mechanisms and a decrease in intramuscular viscosity. However, it should also be remembered that a high internal temperature is a limiting factor in human performance. We must therefore find a balance between too low and too high a temperature.

3. Improved muscle synergies

The warm-up, especially if it is specific to the sport practiced, allows you to do the movements that will be performed during the event a few times. Practicing them a little before the event allows you to feel more comfortable, especially if the movements are made in a greater range of motion than what you will have to do in competition (for example, ABC exercises, see more far). This allows you to feel more relaxed and "liberated".

Now, why warm up?

Reduction of injuries

It is a little nebulous point. Nothing seems certain. Even literature reviews are contradictory or inconclusive. Even so, it is more and more clear that it is not advisable to stretch before a workout. We do not stretch before, as this can weaken the muscle, does not prevent injuries and could degrade performance.

Does a dynamic warm-up prevent injury? It is not certain, but the trend shows that it does. However, most studies focus on sports other than running. I did not find a literature review specific to running. If you have one, I would be happy to read it.

Performance improvement

It is quite clearly demonstrated that warming up improves performance. In any case, if it does not improve performance, it is certainly not detrimental to performance. This improvement in performance comes in part from a increased oxygenation of the muscle and the effects mentioned above.

The question is how long to warm up. Should we do a light warm-up or rather push ourselves a little in order to increase our body temperature even more? A study suggests warming up a little below the anaerobic threshold (around 80% VAM, usually). Another study suggests that a light warm-up allows greater production of force at the start of a competition.

We must therefore find the protocol that strikes the best balance between improving muscle synergies, which requires a large range of motion, an increase in the temperature of the muscles that will be requested while keeping the internal temperature low enough not to affect our performance. medium term.

Concentration

Warming up is a great time to mentally prepare for competition. It's time to make a race plan if you haven't already. We must also revise our objectives according to the weather and the course. If we do our warm-up before a workout, the warm-up serves as a buffer between the worries of daily life and the training. You have to be able to concentrate 100% on the task at hand in the next few minutes.

Recovery

A good warm-up could help recover and avoid post-workout muscle soreness.

Some recommendations:

- Determine a warm-up protocol that suits you during training and use exactly the same protocol before a competition.

- Warm up longer if the upcoming event is short and intense. You can aim for around 30 to 45 minutes of warm-up for a 5km and less than 15 minutes for a marathon.

- Do a full warm-up before interval training and competitions. Training before low-intensity rides may be limited to starting the workout slowly.

- Prepare keywords during your warm-up that will help you get through more difficult times during your training / competition.

- The intensity of the exercises should increase during the warm-up: light jogging, then specific exercise, then accelerations (see protocol below).

- Reduce the heating according to the temperature. The hotter it is, the less it is necessary to warm up.

Recommended warm-up protocol

1.  Light jogging or alternating between walking and running (depending on your level) from 5 to 30 minutes.
2. Injury prevention and strengthening exercises ( walk on heels,  lunge walk, low intensity plyometry, Rio, etc. )

3. Running specific exercises (ABC for 50m each)

   1. ABC Exercises - Beginner Level

      ABC exercises - Intermediate level

      ABC exercises - Advanced level

      Accelerations

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puNv-c3el_g

4. Gradual acceleration over about 50m. You accelerate very gradually up to 90% of your training / competition speed. On the 2nd acceleration you go up to 100% of your training / competition speed and on the 3rd acceleration you go up to 110% of that speed. For example, if you want to run your 10km run at 10km / h, you do your first acceleration to 9km / h, the 2nd to 10km / h and the 3rd to 11km / h.

I hope these tips will help you warm up better and allow you to build your own pre-workout or pre-competition routine on your own. If this has helped you, we invite you to share this article with your running friends so that more people will benefit. If you liked this article, you can thank us by participating in one of our two events: The Half-Marathon of the Côte de Beaupré or Corporate Challenge. To join the discussion, join our Facebook group. Good race!

Daniel Riou General director

Managing Director of Challenge Group, Founder of Corporate Challenge and co-founder ofAltterre. I love anything related to physical activity and overall health. Holder of a bachelor's degree in Kinesiology from'Laval University Various trainings by The Runner's Clinic Emergence ProgramBeauce School of Entrepreneurship National Coaching Certification Program Level 2 in Badminton National Coaching Certification Program Level 1 in Weightlifting

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