Warm Up Exercises for Running

Warm up exercises before workout are very necessary to avoid any serious injuries, and running is no different. At the beginning of any running session, you can start off with some stretching exercises and then move on to some walking or light jogging. It is advisable, that if you are running early in the morning, you have to do the warm up exercises for a longer time.

Running increases the heart rate and uses most of the muscles of the body. If you start running without any warm up session, you may suffer from a muscle injury and will also experience a reduced stamina as the muscles in our body contract and expand very fast while running. Workouts for running, warm up the muscles and increase the blood circulation. Thus, warm up for running helps in avoiding any muscle injuries.

Warm Up Exercises for Running

Heel flicks: For doing heel flicks, start running slowly and try to flick your bums with your heels. While doing so do not try to jerk your body.

Heel and Toe Walking: Walking on heels without touching your fore foot on the ground. Toe walking is walking on the toes, without touching the heels to the ground.

Forward Lunges: Perform forward lunges with alternate legs and feel the stretch at your hips.

Front Grab: For doing the forward grabs, initially walk as usual and while walking, try to touch the knees to your chest.

Walking: Walking for a few minutes can serve as a good warm up exercise for running.

How to Warm Up before Running

• Stretching exercises are effective for runners. Keep your feet together and bend down. Stretch your arms and try to touch your toes with your fingers. Continue holding this stretch for around 10-15 seconds.
• Cycling is another warm up exercise for running. You can do cycling on a stationary cycle or a bike.
• Light aerobics exercises can also serve as warming up exercise. Aerobics for around 5 to10 minutes
• While stretching and performing these exercises, you should not apply any kind of jerk to your body. There are certain illustrated stretching exercises which will help you in doing a good warm up session.

Muscle injuries or muscle pain during exercises are mostly associated with the lack of proper warm up exercises. Moreover, running utilizes more muscles and the contraction and expansion of muscles is fast. This is the reason that many trainers insist on a good warm up workout before running, which increases the blood circulation in the body. This increased blood circulation is very helpful, especially in running, as oxygen is carried to the muscles even if the heart is pumping fast. This increases the time for which you can run without getting tired. Thus, these are some of the benefits of warm up exercises. Hope, next time when you go for running, you will perform these exercises for sure!