Do you find yourself stuck in a cycle of running injuries? Are you wondering why every time you finally build up to consistent mileage and workouts that nagging pain starts again?
One of the biggest reasons you constantly develop injuries could be due to the lack of a proper pre-run warm-up routine. It’s easier to simply lace up your running shoes and head out the door and without bothering to warm up those stiff muscles.
You may supplement your running with some strength training throughout the week to help prevent injury, but again when you get that time to run you just go out and do it.
However, if we’re not warming up our bodies properly before a run, we not only could be recruiting the wrong muscle groups to keep us going, but we’re also susceptible to putting extra stress on certain parts of our bones, joints, muscles, and tendons.
This formula not only increases our injury risk from running, it also prevents us from reaching our full running performance potential causing us to be held back by stiff joints, weak muscle-recruitment, and compensations in our running form.
And I get it, we only have so much time in a busy day to squeeze in the opportunity to run, but the benefits of just adding a quick 5-10 minute pre-run mobility and glute-activation routine to your day can completely transform your running– it will not only make you less injury-prone, it will also help you improve your running performance in general.
For example, one of my runners had developed patellar tendinitis in both of her knees because her quads were taking the brunt of her running load. This put increased stress on her patellar tendons leading to chronic inflammation, and running was very painful.
I was able to determine the root cause of her issue– her glute muscles weren’t activating on her runs causing her quads to compensate by doing all the work.
Even though she was supplementing her running by lifting and doing strength work consistently, she lacked a proper warm-up routine before runs to help activate her glute muscles and mobilize her hips.
The three main muscle groups that push your legs off the ground when running are your glutes, your quads, and your calves. So if one of the three isn’t firing proprerly or if they’re being used incorrectly, the others will often compensate and get overused potentially resulting in injury.
The glutes are a more powerful muscle group that enable runners to push off the ground more efficiently. So if a runner has weak glutes or glutes that aren’t firing optimally, they will ultimately compensate in other muscles that can’t handle the full workload and eventually breakdown.
With the patient that discussed previously, I developed a short 5 minute routine consisting of hip mobility and glute activation exercises for her to do before runs to get her glutes firing and ready to perform at her best.
This completely changed her running! She was stuck for years in a cycle of overuse running injuries and had worked with other corporate PT clinics that only offered temporary treatment of the injuries, only to have something new pop up later because the root issue was never addressed.
After I started working with her, she was finally able to develop actual consistency in her running– and consistency is the key to performing your best! This consistency in training allowed her to have several breakthrough running performances!
So where do you start and how do you know what’s best for you? There is a surplus of information out there, and countless possibilities of exercises and dynamic stretches that could be included in a pre-run warm-up.
Because of this, I wanted to share a little FAQ on some of the misconceptions around pre-run dynamic warm-up routines:
Q: Are there specific exercises/dynamic stretches that every runner should incorporate into their pre-run warm-up?
A: Not necessarily, each of us have unique bodies with individual needs! There’s no “one size fits all” routine or “one exercise every runner needs to do”– it’s totally based on which areas YOU need strengthened or mobilized!
Q: Do I have to do the same warm-up everyday?
A: Nope! You can spend some extra time in different areas if you’re feeling stiff there that day.
Q: Should I do long static stretches?
A: Not as part of the warm up! These would be better post-run. Your body needs to warm-up with dynamic movement to loosen up your joints and prepare for the stress of running.
Don’t settle for cookie cutter pre-made plans! If you want to improve your running performance, decrease pain/injury risk, and simply feel better when you start your run, you need an INDIVIDUALIZED plan that addresses YOUR needs– your tight areas and weak areas that need a little extra attention pre-run!
At AWAKEN, we can help! An individualized pre-run routine to your specific needs will always be the BEST way to improve your performance and prevent injury.
Click the link below to learn more, and fill out a form to schedule a FREE phone consultation with Dr. Greg– a Doctor of Physical Therapy who is also a running specialist and runner himself!
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