Running Without Injury: Warming up and Cooling down

Ellis, Joseph. Running Injury-Free: How to prevent, Treat, and Recover from Runner's Knee, Splints, Sore Feet, and  Every Other Ache and Pain. Rodale, 2013.

I'm sure that no matter what kind of physical activity you've done before, there was always someone (usually the person facilitating the activity like your gym teacher or your coach) that told you to warm up and sometimes even cool down. 

Most of us, I imagine, thought that the warm up session is tedious because it's the same thing every time, it takes away time from the main activity, or it takes up our energy and by the time we do the main activity, we're already gasping for air. Some people don't like doing physical activity in general but at least do the warm up when you have to participate in physical activity such as in gym class. From reading the book, "Running Injury-Free: How to prevent, Treat, and Recover from Runner's Knee, Splints, Sore Feet, and  Every Other Ache and Pain" by Joseph Ellis, I learned that the warm up session is very important as well as a cool down session.

I learned from the book that cold muscles (your muscles before you warm up) are more likely to get injured than when you warm those muscles up. The book says," As you start moving around, your muscles stretch to their normal resting length,..., A longer muscle is much less likely to become injured than a short, tight muscle,...,Through basic laws of physics, a muscle is more efficient and much less likely to become injured when it is longer, since it can exert more force with less effort" (Ellis 240).

As important as a warm up session is, cooling down is equally as important. The book states," Many runners try to get the most out of their runs by sprinting the last couple hundred yards or so. Then they stand and try to catch their breath. This is asking for injury. It is also the time when susceptible individuals are most at risk of having a heart attack,..., This is because when you exercise, your body relies on your muscles to help pump or push the blood from your legs to your heart and brain" (Ellis 240). When I first read this, I was really worried because I am guilty of coming to a complete stop after a long run. Then I remembered my gym teacher from a couple years ago telling me to keep walking after a long run. This shows how people can easily look over very important stuff that might be tedious but is keeping you healthy and potentially not dead. 

So what should you do as your cool down? The book says,"Keep walking for a few minutes, at the very least, after every run until you have cooled down" (Ellis 241)

Warming up

Cooling down

Are you guilty of skipping the warm up or cool down sessions too? What warm up or cool down routines will you try to do next time you do a physical activity?