How do you warm up and warm down?

[jb26]

I'm not sure if I'm doing enough warm up and warm down (apart from the warm up and warm down walks). I don't like doing too much before I start in case I am not ready for stretching - I'm trying to do some yoga sun salutations. And I do some stretching when I come back in but not sure how much I should do. Anyone any comments or advice?

[GoogleMe Graduate]

I do the walks. And that's it. I did have one bad run where I really felt in need of stretching afterwards.

[CaroleC Graduate]

Hi jb26,

I (normally) do a few minutes brisk warm up walk, and then get on with my run, I do a half mile cool down jog/brisk walk, then lots of stretches. I spend at least ten minutes stretching afterwards and I find it definitely helps with post run stiffness.

CaroleC

[Hidden]

I do arm swings, high knees and bum kicks during my warm-up walk and that loosens me up. Afterwards, I walk until my breathing rate is back to normal and then do lots of stretches. If I miss the stretches I pay for it the day after!

It was a bit of trial and error before I found what worked for me.

[Greg_M Graduate]

I do the same as Carole pretty much. usually anyway

[Skandia Graduate]

I just do the walks. If Laura wants me to do more she needs to say so!

[Oldgirl Graduate]

Walk for 5 minutes to warm up, then 5 minutes cool down walk as per podcasts, then I do 4 different leg stretches each leg for a count of 20-30 seconds.

[happierswimming Graduate]

I do my run as the first 30 min session at the gym. I have to walk 2 k to get to the gym so I don't bother stretching although I do the 5 minutes under Laura's instructions at the beginning of the podcast (I'm too scared to disobey Laura!) Then I do some more exercise (swiss ball or cycling) before going for a swim. The baths are 1k walk away from the gym so I don't do any stretching after my run either- the swim is my reward! Nice and relaxing and no sweating!

[jb26 Graduate in reply to happierswimming]

Blimey, what a great workout! Can I have some of your stamina please?

[TJFlute]

I do a 10 minute warm up walk (only to get a few hills out of the way otherwise it would be 5 minutes!) and towards the end of this I do some active stretching. After my run I do a cool down walk home and do 5-10 minutes stretching depending on how long I have run for.

[juicydee Graduate]

To warm up I just do the 5 mins walk, then to cool down I do (at least) 5mins walk then when I get home I stretch all over for as long as I've got, maybe 15 - 30 mins - I usually stop because I have to go and cook dinner, but would gladly carry on stretching for a very long time.....

[jb26 Graduate]

Thanks everyone for the great responses! I definitely pay for it if I don't stretch afterwards. I wasn't sure how much to do. And sometimes when I'm running (or lightly jogging, should I say!) my calves are a bit stiff so I feel I should have done some pre-run stretching. I also can feel a bit 'tense' if I haven't done even a little more than the walking warm up. I'm on week 5 (eeeek!) so want to make sure I can keep going, don't hurt myself by not being warmed up or down properly etc.