Waking up early to fit a run in on busy day takes some effort, and the last thing you want to do is add more time to the session with a warmup. But you don’t actually have to carve out a ton of time to prep your muscles for action. Just five minutes is enough to make sure your miles are smooth and you stay injury-free.
Emma Coburn knows this. She has found success as a steeplechaser in part by warming up for her training runs the right way. The eight-time U.S. champion and 2017 world champion in the event won a bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics and a silver medal at the 2019 World Championships.
In the video above, which can be found on Fleet Feet’s YouTube page, Races - Places core, glutes, hamstrings, and hips, CA Notice at Collection better form. Health - Injuries How to Master the 5k How to Master the 5k.
“It’s important to do exercises before I run really to prime my body, so my first mile, I’m feeling warmed up and ready to go instead of feeling kind of creaky and slow that first mile,” Coburn says in the video.
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You can do these moves before every run, whether you’re heading to the track or the trailhead.
- Emma Coburn’s Prerun Warmup Only Takes 5 Minutes
- Standing Banded Diagonal Leg Extension
- Health & Injuries
- Lower Back Exercises to Prevent Pain
- Bird Dog
- Banded Lateral Walk
Danielle Zickl is a freelance writer who has 10 years of experience covering fitness, health, and nutrition. She's a graduate of Ithaca College. You can find her work here on Women's Health, and in many other publications including PS, SELF, Well+Good, Runner’s World, Outside RUN, Peloton, Men’s Fitness, and more.
