Did you run right? If you want to jog more smoothly, you must know these warm-up and cool-down exercises

Warm-up exercises

Warming up is a light exercise and an indispensable part of all major sports, especially warm-up exercises before running, which has three main purposes.

First, in order to run smoothly after starting, increase muscle temperature and heart rate in advance.

Second, in order to prevent sports injuries caused by "high-load running", expand the range of motion of joints and tendons in advance.

Third, some light exercise beforehand will help the trunk and core muscles that are beneficial for running.

Specifically, start by circling each joint from head to toe, gently stretching the muscles that connect the joints. It is important to note that if the lower limb muscles are stretched too hard or for too long, it may cause muscle relaxation, which is not conducive to running.

Next, gently move your trunk and core muscles to properly activate the muscles that are beneficial to running.

Finally, run fast for a few minutes, jog 5 to 15 minutes, and do a few sets of light sprints to get your heart rate up. After completing the above warm-up sequence, change into competition clothes. When on standby, be careful not to let your body cool down before the start of the competition.

However, for citizen runners who need more than 4 hours to complete a marathon, excessive warm-up can easily cause them to feel light-footed at the start and run too fast without realizing it. It is recommended to only do joint gymnastics, stretching, trunk exercises and brisk walking, and it would be better to omit jogging and short-distance sprints.

Closing Exercise

Cool down exercises are light exercises performed to "cool down the excited state of cardiovascular organs and muscles after engaging in intense exercise such as running" and to "restore the body to its normal state before running." Unlike warm-up exercises, closing exercises will not cause immediate problems if you don't do them. However, omitting the closing exercise can easily lead to sports injuries, especially during intense training to improve speed, which can easily cause excessive fatigue even the next day.

The key to training is "continuation", that is, accumulating practice every day. It is recommended to do the closing exercises and not skip them because they are troublesome. Although there are various ways to close the exercise, the following order can bring better results.

First, walk slowly for about 10 minutes at a speed slower than training running and lower than jogging. Soil, lawn, etc. are ideal, as the soft surface can absorb shock (you can also try jogging barefoot on the lawn).

Then do warm-up exercises, starting with joint-circling gymnastics.

Then, slowly spend time stretching your quadriceps, calves, hamstrings (muscles on the back of the thighs), waist, ankles, back and other muscles that have accumulated fatigue after training. It is recommended that the stretching time be longer than the warm-up time.

Finally, if conditions permit, it is recommended to cool the area below the waist with ice and to rinse the lower limbs with cold water for 1 to 3 minutes (see the next section). After a series of contraction exercises, the pulse in the arteries, veins, capillaries, etc. will gradually slow down, and inflammation can be avoided.

This article is from "The Science of Running Training" published by Shimao Publishing