For the last three weeks, I’ve been doing the same five-minute warm-up before every run.
Right now, I’m running around 10 miles per week while building my aerobic base. Most of those miles have been in Zone 3. I used to more or less start running cold and trust that I would loosen up along the way, but that usually meant the first mile felt stiff and awkward.
This routine has made that first mile feel noticeably better. By the time I start running, my hips and legs already feel like they have moved through a decent range of motion, and I do not spend the opening part of the run waiting for my body to catch up.
My pre-run warm-up
The entire routine takes about five minutes:
- Leg swings, front to back: 10 per side
- Leg swings, side to side: 10 per side
- Walking lunges with a twist: 8 per side
- High knees: 20 meters
- Butt kicks: 20 meters
- A-skips: 20 meters
- Strides at about 75% pace: 2 x 20 meters
I move through everything continuously without taking much rest. The goal is not to turn the warm-up into its own workout. I just want to open up my hips, get my legs moving, and gradually bring my heart rate up before settling into the run.
The strides are the part that makes the biggest difference for me. They give me a chance to practice a quicker, smoother stride before I slow back down and begin the actual run.
It is a simple routine, but after repeating it before every run for three weeks, it has become part of the process. Five minutes is a small tradeoff when it makes the first mile feel that much better.