Hi there, and welcome back to the Mohsin Salya blog.
You should take care of your body if you’re a runner, to avoid getting common running injuries, such as stress fractures, which can damage your performance. Today, I’m going to look at this topic in more depth, by explaining how to warm up and cool down after a run.
Keep in mind that if you start running without warming up first, you’ll be inflexible and stiff, limiting your natural stride, so it’ll take you some time to get into optimum running mode. By warming your body up, you can get yourself into the right mind set, so you can really get the most out of your run.
There are various warm up techniques that you can do in just five minutes, like the ‘knee lift hip rotation.’ Start by standing on one leg and then you raise your non-standing knee up to your hip height. You should keep your knee at this level and move your leg out from your body as far as reasonably possible, before slowly lowering it to the ground and repeating this process 15 times for each leg.
You should also remember that running can place a lot of stress on your body, so you may want to try some cool down techniques, giving your limbs the chance to readjust to normal movement. There are a range of cool down exercises that you can use, depending on the time you spent running.
One way to cool down is to gradually bring your body to a standstill, according to Runner’s World, an industry portal. The technique you should use depends on how hard your run was. If you went for a gentle jog, doing five minutes of brisk walking should do the trick. However, for harder workouts start by doing around ten minutes of easy running and then transitioning to brisk walking for five minutes.
It is also key that you stretch out your muscles after running. This allows them to recover from the demands of running and replenish both vital fluids and energy. Do some of the same stretches as you would before running, like working your hamstrings by bending your knees for 30 seconds, while lifting your toes up. Again, vary your stretching times. For an easy run, five minutes of stretching will do but if you’ve just completed a marathon, you should stretch for a minimum of two hours.
Finally if you’ve just gone on a long run, especially a marathon, you should also take some time to rest in a cold water bath. With this tactic, you can improve blood circulation, reducing the soreness in your muscles, allowing them to recover from the stresses of hard running. To do this, you should buy three bags of ice, fill up your bath tub to about the half way point with cold water and then pour the ice in. Don’t spend too long in the bath however, as long-term exposure to extreme cold can harm your body.
Think of your body as a tool, if you want to establish a regular running schedule – treat it with care. As well as warming up and cooling down, you would be advised to get regular sleep, follow a healthy diet and maintain your mental health, so you can get the health benefits that come with running.
Until the next time,
Mohsin Salya.