How to warm up for Athletics

Posted On Tuesday, 01st February 2011 at 07:58

I was watching 4 of the athletes I train warm up before their track session last week and was amazed by the random and unstructured methodology they undertook.

Track and field athletes are a special breed and don’t mind a chat at every opportunity between exercises, so I do bear this in mind.

I asked one of them why he did what he did “I just copy what I have seen famous people do and mix them together.”

Here are some tips:

• Have a plan. Write it down if necessary. Make it simple.
• Make it personal to you- don’t copy what anyone else is doing.
• Move generally before you get ready for your specific event.
• Use large muscle groups first, get warm and sweaty.
• Introduce technical drills for form.
• Build up speed and intensity.
• Integrate speed work with mobility, so that you don’t get fatigued.
• Practice in training and experiment with what works for you.
• Keep it short- that way if you are called up sooner than expected you won’t panic.

Routine is key, it will be a comfort before you compete.