More on the Warm Up (Part 7)

This really isn’t Part 7 on the Warm-up, but it could very well be. 

Here are 4 previous articles on the warm-up, in case you missed it:

1. Should Sprinters Warm-Up Less, not More? 
2. Ian Jeffreys and the RAMP Warm Up 
3. Dynamic Warm Up vs. Static Stretching Controversy
4. Valeri Borzov – An Hour Before the Start (A MUST READ!)

Plus I wrote 2 articles on running TWO races back-to-back, using the first race as a warm-up for the second race, and why I like it:

1. Running 100 Meters before your Big Race – Thoughts on Shawn Crawford 
2. 2011 Rome Golden Gala – Women’s 400 meters

The Warm-Up

As a recap, here is my common sense tips (and benefits) to the warm up.

1. The longer the activity, and/or the less intense the activity, the shorter the warm up.  Less intense generally means longer duration, with the exception of Rugby 7.  Seriously, for a marathon, do you really need to jog a mile beforehand?  Yes, if you are a 2:03 marathoner averaging 4:50 per mile.  No, if you are a recreational 4:40 marathoner.   For a sprinter with a duration of 10 or 20 seconds, an hour is reasonable.
2. (For running events) start with general activities, like jogging, skipping and shuffling, and progress to more specific activities, like drills, lunges and hurdle mobility exercises.  This a great time to test the neural response and biomotor capabilities, like Gerard Mach’s A skip, B skip, C’s (or butt kicks) and Powerspeed drills.  Or a 150 meters at 95% speed 20 minutes before your race.  Throwers and jumpers will have their own warm-up.
3. The warm up is PART of the workout.  (I can still hear Dennis Barrett saying this over and over)  Thus it can be used as conditioning for newer and out-of-shape athletes.
4. Always take in account of the ambient temperature and humidity (see the Valeri Borzov article)
5. In short, just do what you gotta do to be ready when that gun goes off.