Warming up in cold weather?

Depends on how cold it is. I usually wear just a drifit hat, with running tights, drifit gloves, underarmor shirt, and a light jacket. I have stayed warm in this in the snow and temperatures in the teens.

Arlitt

My general routine is to walk for a bit, then jog easily for a minute or two and then stretch. I don't really alter that much in the cold although I do probably start out a little slower if it is very cold out and make sure I am completely warmed up before doing any intervals or faster efforts.

wear lots of layers and wear them for a while before you go outside. you can also try some embrocation lotions. road bikers use these a lot to help warm up, and in running times last month they reviewed them for winter running and gave them a thumbs up. here's what i use:

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/za/CCY?PAGE=BUY_PRODUCT_STANDARD&...

I don't really warm-up unless I'm going for a high intensity, short duration workout. I might take the first couple of tenths of mile to get into a moderate pace by using a higher turnover and shorter steps ... but again, if you're not doing a high intensity workout how much warm-up do you need?

If it's cold outisde, and you're layered, your muscles are still "warm" (98.6F *grin*) and your tendons are still lubricated. Many of my runs are moderate effort, so an "easy" warm-up for extended duration (10or15min of a 45min run) doesn't make sense.

I stay warm by layering. Long underwear, sweatshirt, windbreaker, sweatpants, 2 pairs of socks, stocking cap, ear band, and possibly another ear band around my nose (which I pull down to my neck if I get too hot). Worked pretty well on a 8F night yesterday ... although the incheas of snow make it more like running hills or trails than pavement.

Seriously, I've played sports all my life, and studied related fields (Bio, ExPhys, etc) and two of the activities that seem (IMO) over-prescribed are [1] stretching and [2] warm-up. Your body gets warmed up pretty darn quick, and a minimal amount of stretching builds and maintains flexibility.


Edited by TripleThreat 2007-02-08 7:34 PM

We haven't been above freezing here in NYC for at least a couple of weeks now, but it seems that every time I go for a run, the warm up takes care of itself if you start off easy. After about 10-15 mins of easy jogging, my body usually adjusts. The most important part of staying warm for me is a hat. Even in the teens, an under armour coldgear top and a long sleeve t-shirt with running pants has been more than enough to stay warm throughout my workouts.