Getting Warmed Up: Part 1
Like many others who start running right out of a dead start, you might have also not realized that this could be the reason for unnecessary soreness after your run. It has been generally established that this is also the reason for many sports related injuries. Stressing your muscles immediately off the block is harmful for athletes. To get the most out of your muscles, it would be best to ease in them into activity.
Here are a few great exercises for you to get started with your warm up regime.
Lunge walk – this exercise is perfect for loosening hip joints and improving leg drive. It will also strengthen your glutes and your quadriceps. To perform this exercise, get into a lunge position and do lunges, moving forward at the same time. When doing this exercise, keep a straight upper body and look ahead. Repeat this six times for three sets.
High knee lift – this exercise improves ankle strength and improves hip flexor performance. Walk forward while keeping up on your toes and marching your thighs up high. Your thighs do not have to be too high. They only have to be parallel with the floor.
Elbow-to-inside-of-ankle lunge – this exercise improves hamstring strength and improves hip flexor performance. It also works well with stretching the lower back. It is very similar to the lunge walk, except that you have to stretch forward to touch your elbow to your ankles while doing so. This exercise is pretty challenging, you will need good balance to pull this off.
There are lots of other exercises that focus on the running muscles, and you may want to consult with professional trainers to learn of them. Make sure you take the time, no matter how tedious it may seem to warm up before you start running.
