? Not sure ?

[Cadley]

What do you guys do before and after a run ? - I just get the feeling that I'm missing something is my warm up and warm down walk all that I should do? ' can you tell I'm new to this exercise lark '

[Hidden]

I do the 5 mins warm up, and usually 5 mins warm down, then i get extra walking in by taking the dog for a walk afterwards, and then numerous trips to the fridge!!

[Cadley in reply to Hidden]

I'm trying to cut the fridge trips out lol cheers

[Hidden in reply to Cadley]

Me too - im not doing to well though!

[misswobble Graduate]

You can do a longer warm up and cool down I mostly finish always from home and enjoy the walk home as it gives you a natural stretch routine. A longer warm up is a good idea especially in cold weather So you could walk five or ten minutes before starting your C25k app or podcast. I assume you are doing the programme?

Anyway don't worry that you aren't doing enough. Enough is as good as a feast! 👍

[Hidden]

Hi Cadley , that's a good question.

Personally before hand I think "I think I'll go for a run", then afterwards I have a cup of tea

Seriously though(!), regarding warm ups and warm downs, bear in mind it's built in to the programme anyway, with your 5 minute warm up and warm down walks. I found when I got a few weeks in I felt I needed more than that, so I started doing these afterwards:

nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/...

And also before as well actually, though the benefits of a pre-run stretch are hotly debated apparently. What I would say is for me personally, a pre-run stretch seems to help. I suspect it may make your warm up walk more effective, but I'm not a sports scientist.

More importantly is probably what you do on your rest days. Obviously rest, but you could try some stretches, or because I've been flirting with knee issues, I've been using these quite a bit:

nhs.uk/Livewell/c25k/Pages/...

Good luck, and let us know how you get on.

Neil

[Cadley in reply to Hidden]

Cheers any info much welcomed

[MarkyD Graduate in reply to Hidden]

+1 for the post-run stretches.

[Hidden in reply to MarkyD]

+1 for the +1

[Bluebirdrunner Graduate]

I always do some gentle stretching after the warm down walk while my muscles are still warm.

Also found doing some toe lifts and heel drops on a step very effective for stiff calves. Only after exercise though.

[Kimchoc08 Graduate]

Since I have graduated I have started to increase my warm up walks to 8 to 10 mins instead of the recommended 5 mins and I find this is much better for me. My cool down walk is usually between 5 and 8 mins 😊

[Theziggy Graduate]

I use a pre run warm up walk, and stretch post run. I honestly believe that my post run stretches help to keep me pain and injury free.