Warming up will help your body start your run with much less stiffness and will enable your heart rate to more gently increase (as opposed to starting the run off without warming up). Having your blood already pumping around your body will allow you to get into your comfortable running rhythm faster.

Cooling down after your run will help to promote a gradual and steady decrease in your heart and breathing rates. When you incorporate an active cool down period your body is also able to manage your body’s temperature and its decrease more easily as the cool down period allows for your blood to continue flowing through your body and to your muscles.

With the help of Hannah Drysdale, KICRUN’s expert physiotherapist we have put together a series of 5 warm up activations and 5 cool down stretches that we encourage you to complete before and after each run. Only 60 seconds for each movements, but it will help to support your running journey immensely!

WARM UP ACTIVATIONS 

1.Elbow to knee taps: Bring your opposite knee and elbow together across the front of your body. Try and use your stomach muscles here and get a bit of a twist through your spine as your move.

2. Dynamic hip flexor stretch: Step in to a lunge position, aim to reach your opposite hand as far down your thigh as you can – maybe even down to your calf. Think about tucking your pubic bone up towards your belly button and squeeze your glute. 

3. Dynamic adductor stretch: Stand with your feet wide, reach your hand to your opposite ankle to stretch down your inner thigh. Move freely from one side to the other. 

4. Calf raises: Stand on both feet, raise your heels up and down, move fairly quickly through these. 

5. Bunny hops: Little jumps, aim to land really lightly on the ground and move quite quickly – try to move at your desired pace. 

COOL DOWN STRETCHES 

1. Static hip flexor stretch: Stand in a lunge position, tuck your pelvis in and squeeze your glutes. Reach your arm up and over head to increase the stretch. 

2. Standing glute stretch: Rest your ankle onto your opposite thigh, sit back and press your knee downwards to feel the stretch around your hip/buttock

3. Static adductor stretch: Stand with your feet out wide. Bend into one knee and shift your weight over the other foot, feel the inner thigh area stretching.

4. Static calf stretch: Face a wall or tree, step one foot back, press this heel into the ground and tuck your pelvis in. Press your hands against wall to increase the stretch.

5. Forward fold: Fold forward bringing your finger tips to the floor, gently alternate bending one knee and then the other to stretch the backs of your legs and your lower back.