Warming up before running
Whoever wants to do a running unit should warm up sufficiently beforehand. When running, the whole body is stressed and must therefore be well warmed up. A loose trot, which initiates the running, only warms up the leg muscles for the time being.
Therefore, you should also do exercises for the upper body to prepare the trunk, arms and back. The upper body is very important for the running style. And the running style in turn has an effect on energy consumption. The more economical the running style, the more energy is saved. Therefore, you should always warm up the upper body during a warm-up program.
Warm-up exercises ̈bungen
Hip circling is a simple exercise to loosen the trunk and increase mobility in the hips. A hip-wide stance with slightly bent knees and hands on the hips is the starting position. Now you start to circle the hip slightly and over time you will draw bigger and bigger circles until you have reached the largest possible radius at the end.
The pelvis should therefore be pushed all the way forward, to the sides and all the way back, whereby circular round movements are optimal. You should complete about 10 to 15 circles and really work from very small to very large. Furthermore, the circles can be performed in both directions.
Another exercise is the upper body rotation, where the whole upper body is activated and warmed up. The feet are again hip-width apart and the upper body is leaned forward with a straight back until a horizontal position. The arms are in a stretched position next to the shoulders and the palms of the hands point down to the floor.
Now the right hand begins and swings to the opposite left foot, rotating the hip with it and with the other arm pointing upwards into the air. Then the left hand is led to the right foot. The exercise should be performed slowly and very controlled until you have gained some confidence and practice.
If the safety is there, the exercise can also be done faster. The exercise ends after ten repetitions per side. Then the upper body is straightened up vertebra by vertebra in middle position until you are back in the starting position.
For the shoulder girdle and arms, the exercise Shoulder Circles backwards is recommended. The starting position is again a hip-wide stance with the upper body straightened and the sternum raised. The shoulders are pulled back slightly and the arms hang down next to the upper body.
With both shoulders now simultaneously, first small, then in ever increasing strong circles backwards. From this exercise one can smoothly change into another exercise, the arm circling. During arm circling not much changes to shoulder circling, only the whole arm is moved backwards in a circle, not only the shoulder. The circles should be as large as possible to cover the whole range of motion. The body remains stable in its position and the exercise is finished after 10 to 15 repetitions and the warm-up program is continued.
