Warm Up & Cooldown for Distance Runners

by Roy Stevenson

Distance runners need a solid warm-up to prepare physically and psychologically for their races and training sessions. The benefits of warming up include boosting the oxygen concentration in hemoglobin and increasing oxygen and blood flow to the working muscles. In addition, the warm up dilates the alveoli in our lungs, increases our heart rate, and facilitates the biochemical cascade in our muscles that enables us to tolerate more lactate and burn more free fatty acids as fuel.

Click here for the rest of the article.

Subscribe to the print edition of Running Journal. Click Here to go to our secure server.