THE 5- MIN WARM- UP

FOR MAX RESULTS

IT’S HARD ENOUGH TO overcome the lure of a cosy bed for an earlymorning run, or to squeeze in a four-miler after work. But on top of it, runners constantly hear that they should tack on a 20-minute warm-up, too. That’s not happening: a recent poll of

Runner’sworld Instagramfollowers confirmed that most – 75 per cent – forgo a proper pre-run routine. So does doing one actually benefit your run thatmuch?

It certainly looks that way, according to a study published in the Journal of Human Kinetics. Researchers split a group of 36 athletes into three groups: those who did a 20-minute bicycling warm-up before performing weighted lunges, those who only did a cooldown, and those who did neither. Everyone was given a pain threshold test on the two days following, to determine muscle soreness, and guess what? The group who warmed up had the highest pain threshold and reported relatively ache-freemuscles.

There’s a big difference between that bicycling warm-up and simply taking it slow the first mile into your run, too, says Katie Dundas, a doctor

of physical therapy. ‘Both cycling and running keep blood moving to bigger muscles in the legs, which is important inawarm-up, but the cycling also provides a dynamic stretch to the hamstrings and quadriceps,’ she says. ‘A light jog doesn’t offer that same stretch and response movement.’

Adynamicwarm-up, even one that lasts just fiveminutes, provides the stretch needed to run stronger and help prevent injury.

So if there’s no question that a warm-up gives you bonus benefits, the real question becomes: ‘How long do I need to do it for?’

And it’s a good-news answer: warming up for just 10 minutes maywork aswell as a session lasting 20minutes or more, so long as that time is spent on focused, dynamicmovement. A recent study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that when scientists analysed velocity, heart rate, oxygen intake and rate of perceived exertion in endurance runners, they noted that there were no significant differences inmost categories between the two protocols.

In fact, Dundas says, you can halve that time, if really necessary. ‘An abbreviated version of five minutes of dynamic stretching still provides what you need to help prevent injury.’

That may be themost important reason to warmup. As we age, muscle elasticity decreases, and Dundas says warming up properly expands your range of motion to help counteract those deficits. Performthese six dynamicmoves from Dundas at the start of every run, doing each for 30 seconds to oneminute.

Then consider your running engine officially revved.

A DYNAMIC WARM- UP, EVEN ONE THAT LASTS JUST FIVE MINUTES, PROVIDES THE STRETCH NEEDED TO RUN STRONGER AND HELP PREVENT INJURY