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Lace up your running shoes and off you go! That might work if you start off gently, but with a targeted warm-up, your body performs better. The rule is: the more intense the running session, the more important the warm-up.

As the word "warm-up" suggests, preparing the body for physical activity involves raising the body temperature. Muscle contractions generate heat, warming up the body. This slight temperature increase makes muscles, ligaments, tendons, and fascia more resilient, reducing the risk of injury. Warming up also gets the cardiovascular system going: breathing rate and heart rate increase, and more oxygen is pumped into the muscles. This prepares the body for training by improving both circulation and structural load capacity.

Building tension in the muscles

A good warm-up increases body temperature and circulation as mentioned above. But it also improves muscular tension, especially in the muscle groups that will be used most. When running, these are primarily the leg and core muscles. With optimal tension, these muscles can perform much better. Too little tension is not helpful, but too much isn’t either. Targeted exercises help achieve improved tension without unnecessary fatigue.

Feedback improves feedforward

Another important part of a good warm-up is feeling the movements and the feedback the body sends to the brain. The more the brain perceives a movement, the better it can control it. Increased attention improves motor control in the running motion. This not only enhances athletic performance but also makes running more economical and efficient. Three warm-up exercises for runners:

Hand to foot – and back

Goal: Activate core and hip flexors and improve mobility of the posterior muscle chain.

How to:

1. Stand upright with your torso straight.
2. Swing one straight leg forward while simultaneously reaching the opposite hand toward the swinging foot.
3. Then switch sides: swing the right hand toward the left foot.

Watch out:

• Keep your upper body upright, don’t lean forward.
• Arms and legs should stay straight; hand and foot should meet at about hip height.

Reps: 2 sets of 10 repetitions.

Figure-eight leg swings (single-leg)

Goal: Activate hip and leg muscles. Improve leg axis stability.

How to:

1. Stand on one leg, lift the other leg straight and slightly forward.
2. Draw a large figure-eight in the air with the lifted leg — one loop forward, one backward.
3. Start the forward loop by moving inward and forward, and the backward loop by moving inward and backward.

Watch out:

• Let your upper body move with the motion. Slightly lean back during the forward loop, and lean slightly forward with a straight back during the backward loop.
• Draw the figure-eight as large as possible without losing balance.
• Keep the standing leg fixed, with the knee directly over the foot.

Reps: 2 sets of 10 repetitions per leg.

Single-leg calf raises

Goal: Tone the calf muscles and increase ankle stability.

How to:

1. Stand on one leg. The other leg stays slightly bent behind you, optionally with the toes lightly touching the floor.
2. Slowly lift the heel of the standing foot as high as possible until you are on the ball of your foot.
3. Then slowly lower the heel back down and repeat.

Watch out:

• Keep the knee of the standing leg slightly bent. The foot balances the motion and should not tilt to the side.
• No hip collapse – keep your upper body upright.

Reps: 2 sets of 10 repetitions per foot.