The Warm Up & Cool Down: Why They Matter

Carrie Tollefson: Hey everybody, welcome to the RunDot Podcast. Today we are talking about how to do a proper warm-up and cooldown. And we'll learn do we do this for every workout or just for some workouts? Fan favorites, Coach Ryan and Coach EJay, are here to help us nail the front and back end of our runs. Coach Ryan is the founder of Ascend Multisport and has a BS in biomedical sciences from Texas AM University and respiratory care. Respiratory care from UT Health Center at San Antonio. I say it every time. Say that 10 times. It is a tongue twister. Also with us is professional triathlete and coach Elizabeth James. She has been coaching runners and triathlete since 2014. Welcome back, friends.

Ryan Tibball: It is. Thank you. Thank you, Carrie. Great to see you again. I almost say long a long, long time no see, but you know, it was about seven days, so does that count?

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Mean, you know. What is that saying? The days are long but the nights are no, what is that? Days are long but the nights are short or something like that. So it goes by quick regardless. EJay, how are you?

Elizabeth James: just gonna say time flies when you're having fun. So you know, we're having fun. It feels like we were just together. So yeah, we'll go with that.

Carrie Tollefson: Wow, I like that one too. Yeah. Awesome. Well, I'm Carrie Tollefson. If you guys are new to the show, I'm an Olympian broadcaster and your guide to the world of RunDot. We treat the show like any good workout. We'll start with our warmup, which we're gonna do today. We're gonna talk about warm-ups, but we'll start with our warm up question, settle into our main set conversation, and then we'll wind things down by having our coaches answer an audience question on the cooldown. Lots of good stuff, so let's go. Get after it. Okay, the warm-up question today. I like this one a lot. And I think we're gonna have different answers. So from all the events you've raced at, what's the weirdest item you've ever received in a race swag bag? Yee, you start.

Elizabeth James: Kick us off for this one. Yes. it was so weird. It was a mini bottle of hot sauce. And I mean, not like the sample size of what you'd recognize, like not something that you'd see in a grocery store. It was just some local brand that apparently decided that like this is exactly what runners need in their swag bag. And I have no idea why somebody thought, like, yeah, like let's put in some like scroll. It was like Scorpion Pepper Reserve. And there was no context for it at all. Just this tiny little bottle of hot sauce. No like food adjacent items. No explanation. Just like this little bottle of heat. random. I don't know. That that's gonna go down as the weirdest for me. No. No. I d I didn't. I think I brought it home with me and it like sat in the pantry for like three years. But it I was like, I'm not sure if I trust this. And

Ryan Tibball: Did you try it? At least?

Elizabeth James: I mean, I got it, I think it was like before a marathon. And I was like, that's the last thing that I'm gonna do is like try some random hot sauce before I go try to run like a PR marathon. So also, I mean the context of it didn't fit. I was like, who's gonna eat a hot sauce? I I mean, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe I missed out. Yeah. I d

Carrie Tollefson: Maybe that's the trick though, just to like Yeah. Spike the heart rate. Yeah, I don't know. Wake ya up. It's like not a caffeine shot, but a little bit of spice out there might do the same thing. I don't know.

Elizabeth James: Me I guess so. I I don't know. I wasn't willing to big gamble with it.

Carrie Tollefson: That's awesome. How about you, coach?

Ryan Tibball: Well yeah, for me, it was an extended warranty offer for my car, but no, ser seriously, i it was not. I little Debbie snacks. I little Debbie snack I I seemed contradictory as well, you know, like the hot sauce thing. and I'm waiting, it's like why did I get you know, all these little Debbie snacks? I mean I race to be healthy, right? Or maybe it's a I race so I can eat those. I well I don't know.

Carrie Tollefson: Mmm. I don't know. Those are pretty dang good.

Ryan Tibball: So yeah, that was it, yes. I I was like, I don't know what to do with these. because it wasn't in my it's not even in it ever in my pantry ever. So, you know, so but it and it's just it was just the funniest thing. I was like, Well, it makes sense for the race because it was the sponsor, but at the same time it made no sense from a perspective of healthy. So

Elizabeth James: that at Iron Man Chattanooga? Did you get like a box of nutty bars and

Carrie Tollefson: Sure. I love that though because my daughter has a little Debbie. what are those what are those rolls called? Like the Swiss rolls are they called? So the and they're not Swiss cheese. Why are they Swiss? Like Switzerland? Is that where they're from, maybe? I don't know. But anyway, yeah, I guess. I don't know. But anyway, they have a Swiss roll, little Debbie run.

Ryan Tibball: Yes, Swiss rolls. Yep.

Elizabeth James: I think it's like Swiss chocolate.

Carrie Tollefson: So their coach actually plants these things and it's like they have to find the little Debbies all around town, which I think is great. Like I actually think those kind of sugars are good for us here and there, and maybe not every day, but here and there it's good for us to have a little bit of fun. My Weirdest, funniest thing in my swag bag. We used to race, race in Providence, Rhode Island called the CVS 5K, and CVS was the main sponsor. And so we would get everything from like band-aids to deodorant. It was actually like the nicest swag bag because you got all the travel accessories that you would need as an athlete, but also just to have, you know, in your bag. It was probably worth quite a bit. And then also the last few years at the New York City Marathon, Maybelline has been one of the sponsors. And it's been fun. Some of the elite athletes who don't typically wear like a s lip stain will have like Dakota Popeine will actually have like a bright red lip because she's probably, you know, paid a little extra to make sure that she's got her Maybelline like bright on her face. So, or maybe she's just pulling a little Taylor Swift because she loves Taylor Swift, but I love that as well. So maybe it's not weird, but different and super appreciated. So those are my two thoughts when it comes to swag bag. hear from all of you too. So let us know what is the weirdest, most fun object or product in your swag bag. Okay, we are heading into the main set. And I'm excited about this topic: the warm-up and the cooldown. Let's start with the warm-up. And one of you two can answer this right away. But physiology. I think this is important for all of us to understand. the importance of what goes on in our body and in our muscles and all of that when we are actually doing a proper warm up. Who wants to take this question?

Ryan Tibball: I I'd love to. I love the sciencey things, of course, you know, being medi medically related and I say it this is gonna get bit it's bit sciencey for the moment. So, you know, our listeners need to understand that I'm gonna try to keep it very common language a as much as I can, but I also it's important that you know that I do mention some of these terms. but It does help to understand why a warm-up is so critical, and that's why I want to explain it this way. So let's start with the easy part: the increased blood flow. This is one of those things that you have to do. This it is critical because it actually helps dilate the blood vessels in the muscles to increase the blood flow. So therefore, what happens, and everybody's gonna love this part, this is that respiratory thing here, deliver more oxygen to those muscles. more efficiently. And so basically it kind of kick starts your aerobic engine and and gives that your muscles that energy it needs, the oxygen it needs. But also while doing this, it does increase the temperature in s in your body, in the muscles, which also in turn, here's that sciencey part, improves the extraction of oxygen more efficiently to the muscles. Now this is this is really is RT 101, respiratory therapy 101. The oxygen hemoglobin dissociation curve. Now say that three times fast. It shifts to the right. And what does that mean for all our listeners? Just because it shifts to the right, so what? It just means that hey, your temperature is increased, therefore, it allows your muscles to extract that oxygen more efficiently. I have said it three times already, but also on top of that, the nervous system. it is critical to get that nervous system fired up. And this is during that time of warm up that you wake it up. And I think a probably I mean I've even heard this personally was that a lot of our listeners probably heard it too is that your glutes are not firing. I've heard that from a PT before. Your glutes are not firing. Your glutes are asleep. Well, we need we need to wake those up too. So that nervous system is a big piece of this. And so that neuromuscular system was what fires off the coordination. And coordination is important when it runs, guys, and in your muscles and directly affects the performance. And on top of that, injury prevention. Your muscles are there to protect you as well, not just for performance, but protection. So warming up your nervous system is critical to wake those muscles up when it's time to fire them off. There's your sciencey answer. it is it is a lot, but at the same time, I think our listeners can understand the value there, right there.

Carrie Tollefson: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and I think sciencey is good for us as athletes to kinda understand what is going on. You know, they tell us all the time, listen to your body. And sometimes when you don't quite understand the science, and it's not that you need to know all the big words, but I think when you understand what we're trying to do, that gives us that that trigger or that sense of like knowing what is happening if we feel sluggish if we need to do some more strides if we need to run a little longer if we need to walk into the run like all those different things in a warm-up. EJay I know that you have some other things to add to it. So what do you think?

Elizabeth James: gosh. I mean, honestly, there's not much to add because Ryan did such a great job covering the science. the one thing that really stuck out to me it was a few years ago and Bobby McGee was talking about like the run warm-up. And if you don't know Bobby McGee, he is a just fascinating human being, so knowledgeable, wonderful coach. And he was talking about, you know, people's perception of like feeling creaky as they get started. And he's like, it's not just something that like is like a feeling. There's really things that are happening. And so I mean, again, we're kind of digging into the science of that. He's like, but you know, if you're if your ankles or your knees or your hips are feeling just kind of like they're rubbing against each other and not very comfortable, he's like, that's because the synovial fluid, and this was the first time I'd ever heard that term. And I was like, wait, what's that? Like, I d I need a little more information. So There's actually fluid that's in your joints. And as you warm up, it spreads more evenly to reduce the friction. And so it kind of cushions like the ankles, the knees, the hips. And so you need to be warming up so that you kind of get rid of that creaky, like grinding feeling that's in the joint. And so that that's the only thing I would add. Everything else that I mean Coach Ryan mentioned about. the blood flow and the muscles being more pliable and the nervous system firing. Like all of that is key. And I think the big thing to emphasize here is like you're gonna have better power output. You're gonna have better range of motion, you're lowering your injury risk, and you're just facilitating a much more smooth transition into the pace that you want to be doing in the workout than heading out and feeling creaky, tight. Like that that's not just a feeling. There's things chemical reactions that are happening in the body that are gonna help facilitate a better workout if you take your time for the warm-up.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, that's brilliant. It's a good add on there. Do you think that we should do this before every single run or just before, you know, those tough workouts where we're doing intervals or hill repeats or something intense? EJay, you wanna take it?

Elizabeth James: Well, I'd say yes. Like you need to warm up every single time. Now, the type and the length of the warm-up, that that can scale a little bit for the intensity of the run, but the warm-up for every athlete that I coach is a non-negotiable. Like you have to do that. Now, if it's an easy recovery run, maybe you don't need like a dedicated, scheduled out. warm-up routine. You know, you can ease in to that. You can take the first five to ten minutes of that as the warm-up itself. but if we're talking about like a hard workout, intervals, speed work, I I mean race pace type effort, that's where the warm-up really matters. And skipping it has real cost. So yes, always warm up. We can scale that a little bit. I'm sure we'll get into more detail, but Always, don't skip it.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. It is something that you want to do sometimes. Like I just want to get out the door and go. But you will feel so much better if you just do a little bit of warming up just to ease into it, clear your brain. You know, a lot of people forget, like, obviously getting up, you're still you're fresh from a night's sleep, but you're sluggish. Or if you wait till the end of the day, you've had a long day. And not only is it physical stress, but it's mental stress, especially at the end of a day, that I sometimes think, like, and I always laugh when I say You gotta dump it out. Yes, we gotta dump out a lot of things maybe before we have to go on a run. But if you dump that mental luggage, baggage, whatever you want to call it, I think that's really important. That for me is really what a warm-up does as well. It just like clears my mind and gets me ready to focus. Ryan, what do you think?

Ryan Tibball: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean E EJay coach EJay nailed that pr pretty darn well. You know, just you know, I would say if I said no, I you know, I know that would be the wrong answer. I like her, I'm the same way. I'm like, guys, you cannot skip this from the simple standpoint of muscle activation, injury prevention. Yeah, you know, I want I use the term bulletproof and I got that from Dr. B J Leaper. You know, it's like I wanna make my athletes bulletproof and warming up is a critical part of being bulletproof. And so it's a it's a a great reason to never skip one. but you know, like i coach E J said, you know, it depends on, you know, the intention of the work outcoming. And I I like what you said too, Carrie, was that you know, it it's it sets you up to kind of start the that release and get ready for the run and being more intentional into it. And which, you know, funny thing is like, yeah, now I'm warming up, I'm being intentional, and then, you know, the mind is clearing and then I get out on the run and I start thinking about a whole lot of other things as I'm running too. So it it seems like where I get the most of my coaching business happening while my runs are happening, but that's a side note. So yeah.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. And also on a side note, have you guys ever remembered like if you've lost your keys or you've lost your phones or whatever and you're out for a run and you remember, like there's something about whatever chemicals in your brain, it helps you remember things. So that's just like a little tidbit. I'm going off track here, but if you ever forget where you've put something, go for a run. And usually you remember where it is. Okay, back to warm-up. What should we actually be doing in a warm-up? Like and especially when you think of an easy run where you're just going for a run, like not necessarily gonna go and crush a bunch of eight hundreds or whatever it is, like kind of can you walk us through what the different types and proper warm-up would be?

Ryan Tibball: Absolutely. Coach EJay you want this or I'll run with it. I don't mind. Pun intended. Look at that. All right.

Elizabeth James: Fun intended, yeah. Well, Ryan, how about you run with this one? I'll add on.

Ryan Tibball: All right. Well, you know, what should we do for a proper warm-up? Now, the I I call it priming the engine. And as I always say, and the warm-up will vary depending upon the kind of workout or race you're gonna do. I'll keep it simple with some baseline movements and then we'll add more depending upon the workout or race, but it should start you know, honestly nicely with an easy two to three minute, you know, jog, super, super light jog. kinda just kind of getting the muscles warm. I mentioned this in the very start, is like that's the point. It's starting to raise that little temperature in the body, the muscles, the blood flow to increase that. But you know, again, something that you might just get a little beat of sweat going, but nothing crazy. and then and then at that point, now is your time where you can start adding in the dynamic warm-up movements. and getting into those kind of deeper, more specific things. Like again, the dynamic warm-ups, like you see a lot of people doing these like leg swings, hip openers, various things. And I know we might probably get into these more specifically here in a little bit, but I do will say, and I here's a here's the huge thing that I tell all runners, do not static stretch cold ever. It's something that is I see it very commonly you know, at races where I've seen an athlete, I know they haven't warmed up at all, they haven't jogged around at all, and they just start immediately grabbing for their toes and stretching it trying to stretch out their hamstrings. That is a bad, bad, bad idea. because honestly your muscles aren't ready for that that kind of static stretch. So jog around nice and easy, get and then move into a dynamic warm-up. Leg swings. Now This is one of my things. Now I don't know about you guys with leg swings like frontwards and sideways, I don't hold on to anything. And I see it a lot when athletes are doing it is they're just going or holding on to something, going to full ex full range of motions, huge range of motions that they have n really, in my opinion, no business going into at that moment. they're just getting warm. And so they're throwing their they're holding on to something stabilizing themselves. Instead, stand on that one leg and do the leg swings. That's gonna help activate the smaller muscles in the lower leg, the in the ankle, the calves, in your feet, and start waking them up. So you're kind of knocking out two, three birds in one stone by doing this and not holding on to something with the leg swings sideways and frontwards. Now, hip circles. it external internal hip circles and you can look these up pretty easily, but those also the hips are such a critical piece of our run and technique that it you gotta wake them up too. And those hips if they're more mobile, that's gonna be huge, huge, huge, huge to light up those being able to utilize your glutes better during your runs. High knees, butt kicks. We've all heard of those. Activating those hip flexors and those hamstrings. Huge things as well. That's what you're using primarily in your runs. I like little hops, little doing little hops, just real quick little hops to start opening and waking up the calves and the and the lower legs. But all of the I I name off a bunch of things and to be honest with you, these only take like just a few minutes to knock out. And so it and it depends. We'll go into deeper with the race or the workout, the type of workouts, and that will change things and how long you do certain things. but again, all these things are starting to add into that muscle activation, neuromuscular work that and like EJay Coach EJay was saying earlier, that getting the joints lubricated, getting them ready for that that kind of stuff. man How much time do I got, Carrie? So I mean

Carrie Tollefson: I know, I know. I was just thinking of that. I'm like, all the drills that we can do. But I think the key that you had said is, you know, when you're thinking about these warm-ups, whether it's, you know, the dynamic stretching or the dynamic drills, we don't have to be so intentional like intense when we're doing that. Like you do look at those the leg swings and a lot of people are like, just swinging away, you know? And I think we have to remember that sometimes it's just a small swing. It's just moving the leg through, getting the muscles warmed up, getting the hip loosened up. You know, when we're going, I call them around the world, but when we're doing hip when you're kind of moving your hips all around the world, you know, they don't have to it doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to be all the way out and just movement is what's activating the brain and the mind and the muscles to get going. but one thing that I think EJay will we can talk about with EJay is after you do your dynamic stretches and your Drills, there's still something that I think a lot of people skip out on. And this was what in my mind when I wanted to do a podcast about this is elevating that heart rate and getting a little bit of speed before you do a real hard workout or a race. Those are like strides or a little bit of a buildup. Some people do a little tiny touch of threshold in at the end of their warm-up run. So what do you recommend, EJay, when it comes to kind of getting that heart rate up and touching a little bit? bit of that pace that you're gonna get ready to do in the workout or the race.

Elizabeth James: Yep. honestly, just that. Like we want to touch on like some faster turnover. We want to touch on like some speed that we want to be holding for the workout. And I think strides are an excellent way to do that. they also just reinforce all of those activation drills and the dynamic warm-up movements that you've been doing. And so you're really like getting the muscles warm. Teaching them, hey, this is how we need to be firing. This is what we want to do. And then you're putting that in place with strides or kind of these building efforts to then transfer into the workout. And that's the way that I really coach my athletes to think about the warm-up is in those four sections. It's like, let's get the body warm. That's step one. Two, let's do those dynamic movements. Then three, let's kinda put in some of those activation drills. So like more of the skips and the bounds and the hops, kind of those like mini plyometric movements. And then let's go into the strides. And so there's a there's a progression there from just moving, getting things nice and warm to like, all right, let's move through a good range of motion. Let's kind of get the muscles woken up in a way that they're going to be running. And then let's put that into a little bit more of a running pattern, little plyometric moves, and then let's put in some strides, get ourselves going. And then it's time to go into the main set. And so I'd I really break it down into those four categories and those can be expanded or shortened depending on the workout that you're doing. And so do you need a whole bunch of strides before you go out for an aerobic run? Not necessarily. Typically, I have my athletes do strides at the end of those aerobic sessions because they're already getting nice and warmed up. And so I don't have them do a whole bunch of building efforts or strides if they're going out for a 30 minute aerobic run. but they they're still thinking about those four components and what do I need to do and how am I gonna best prepare myself for the work that's ahead in the main set of today's workout. So yeah. So, so many good things. And it's

Carrie Tollefson: Okay. So if somebody says if Yeah, but if somebody says to you, AJ, I just don't have an hour today, but my workout is forty five minutes, how do you what do you say to them then? Like, do you say, Well, we still need to get in that warm up? Like is the is the warm up the most important thing before they do the workout, or can they cut it short?

Elizabeth James: This is where I feel like coach-athlete communication is so critical. And for athletes that are not working with a coach, making sure that you really look at the time demands for the workout on a whole. I know that, you know, if I look and I've got a main set that's gonna take me 45 minutes, I know that that's not a 45 minute workout. For me, I mean that's at least 75 minutes. I take a good half an hour. To warm up for like a tough mindset. I mean, it takes me quite a while to get warm, to get moving, to feel like I'm ready to go to conquer that. And so I think if athletes go in with a reasonable expectation of how much time they need to really budget for the entire workout, including the warm-up, then then they don't struggle as much with like, but I don't have time for that, or they feel like they've got to skip it because they're jamming it into a specific time. there are many times where I'll chat with an athlete and they're like, yeah, I've only got an hour to do everything here. And it's like, all right, like let's talk about the non-negotiables. Again, going back to you've got to get the body warmed up. We've got to do some dynamic movements before this. Maybe we won't do seven exercises. Maybe we'll do four. But we're still making sure that they're ready to go. And then if we have to cut out one of the intervals, I would much rather do that, cut out an interval than have them go in in in a state where they're risking injury and could be sidelined for the next two weeks. it's much better to cut back on like an interval or two and make sure that the body is really ready to perform.

Carrie Tollefson: Sure. Yeah. Like you say that. That's great. Ryan, I want to ask this because you kind of talked a little bit about static stretching already. So, like, that's what most of us were taught, right? Is before an activity, you sit down and you stretch, do the old school hurdle stretch, which we don't do anymore. Like you, you know, would just make sure your calves are warmed up. I don't know if we ever did anything for our glutes back in the day, but there you so you've talked a little bit about static stretching, we've talked about muscle activation, dynamics. make warm-up drills, like these bigger words and some people know that, but we also have some people that are newer and don't understand all these different terms. So what's the difference between some of these things that we've already talked about and, you know, what do we need and not necessarily need before a run?

Ryan Tibball: Yeah. The you know, I'll start with static stretching. I mean, you know, like you said, i i it's something that was something we I mean I can look back thirty years ago and like, yep, coach said s you know, bend over, touch your toes, stretch your calves on that curb. You know, I'm like a and we just did it, but we didn't know the effects that it has, but over time and a lot of things have been studied over these last thirty plus years is that That is definitely not a good a good thing to do on cold muscles at all. And where you put a static stretch in is like not to say you don't do them. It's just you do insert those beyond after the warm-up, the nice easy jog to get the muscles going, dynamic stretching, the dynamic movements, and I'll talk on those. And then also on the muscle activation. Now You could probably go ahead and do a little bit of static stretching for fifteen, you know, fifteen seconds, you know, fifteen, twenty seconds. That's in the warm up section. You know, we can we can talk when can you can you do static stretching and the cooldown? Absolutely. That is a good place to do it right there where you can hold them for thirty seconds. And but that's those now 'cause you're hot. You're warm. You y yeah.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Cause why? Why is that? Tell us, Ryan, like what is the difference? Okay. Good.

Ryan Tibball: Yeah, your but your muscles were ready for that. They've gone through everything. They've they now got tons of blood flow into And so they're ready for that sort of reaction of a static stretch. you know, and and it's actually really good for your recovery.

Carrie Tollefson: And a static stretch is where you hold it for f fifteen to twenty seconds. That's what a static stretch is. Yep.

Ryan Tibball: Hold. Yes. Yeah. Exactly. and then, you know, going into the d dynamic stuff, that's when you're actually it is a movement like I I ex I say this a lot and I I talk about windshield wipers. So I'm sitting on the ground, I'm I I'm sitting, you know, on the ground and I'm windshield wiping my legs back and forth. That's kind of getting that's that dynamic movements I'm adding to now a warmed up body. And those are really, really good. And so there's a lot of variations. A lot of coaches have different things that they like their athletes to do. I mean, you can use a band to do around your ankles to do kick outs as well and lighting up the glutes. There's again, you've mentioned it too, Carrie, with the hips, you know, standing there and doing the hip motions back and forth or rotating your hips around. And not to ignore our even our upper body for that matter. You know, really getting those shoulders loosened up and actually doing, you know, some shoulder shrugs and some movements up and down, you know, those kinds of movements will anything arm circles, yes. Yeah, exactly. asymmetrical arm circles too, which are fun to watch when people try those. So and those are you know dynamic movements and then adding in again, like I said, using bands to muscle activation, like I said, for the around the ankles to do glute activations. you can do some light lunges to kind of open up some more things in that dynamic world of warm-up. So the and I want to go back a little bit here real quick and talk about that static stretch one more time and saying the reason the other the deep down reason is again it doesn't raise the muscle temperature the temperature in the muscles. It doesn't actually increase blood flow. And again, it actually in turn, what can happen if you just do a static stretch before a run, it actually is going to blunt that reflexive contraction of your muscles. So it's actually going to be setting you up for injury potentially. How critical the warm-up is. So proper warm-up is about not just performing well but injury prevention. take those fifteen minutes, twenty minutes, just depends what you're doing to warm up properly or not and decide you get hurt and now you're taking three weeks off, four weeks off of running. So you have a decision to make warm up or not. What's your call, right?

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. EJay, does Run Dot give instructions on how to warm up? Like what does the app do to teach people if they don't have a coach like you and you and Coach Ryan?

Elizabeth James: Yeah, I love the way that RunDot structures the warm up sections. And I think that this is a huge, huge benefit for all of the athletes that are using the app and the workouts. And honestly, like it's there. And so we just need to make sure that we don't skip over it. I have always been impressed with the way that RunDot outlines the warm up because it very much goes in line with what Ryan and I were saying of like, The warm-up's non-negotiable. Now, how much and what you're doing in it is probably gonna change workout to workout. And that's already written out there for you. You don't have to guess and say, this is an easy run. Am I supposed to do the dynamics or the activate or where do I do the strides? Like it's gonna tell you right there in the warm-up section. It's gonna say, do a light, easy jog for five to seven minutes, and then like build into like your zone two effort for you know the rest of this aerobic run. If you've got something like threshold repeats on the track, you're gonna have a significant amount that's already written out for you in the warm-up. And it's gonna say, start with your easy jog, then let's do some dynamic movements. Hey, guess what? You don't even have to like guess what those are. They're written out for you. There's a link to a video you can watch. So if you're like, I think they were talking about something with dynamic movements and there were butt kicks. Like, I think I remember what to do for high school, but let's make sure there's a video. You watch it, 20 seconds later, you're doing what you need to. Walking lunges, hip circles, hip openers, it's all outlined there for you. And so there's not this guesswork of okay, they said I've got a warm-up and they listed like 15,000 things that maybe I should incorporate. What do I need to put in for this specific work? It's all outlined there. So Runout does a fantastic job of not only emphasizing the warmup, but making sure that there's very clear instructions that is gonna make sure that you're going into that session prepared for the work in the main set.

Carrie Tollefson: Love it. How yeah, go ahead.

Ryan Tibball: Yeah. I I love the videos that's in there too. I say the videos like EJay is saying, it's outlined, but it not only is outlined, there's videos to watch. They're super short and there actually is a familiar face in some of those, Coach E J. So and yeah. Yeah.

Elizabeth James: Mm-hmm.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, that is nice. Ha ha ha.

Elizabeth James: Yes. We had a great time filming all of those. I've never been so sore. my gosh. yeah. Talk about five hours of filming run drills. I I did not run for like three days after that, but hey, it's worth it. There's good examples.

Carrie Tollefson: yes. So tune in, right? Make sure you go and watch those videos 'cause EJay, she was, you know, doing it for the team.

Elizabeth James: Yes, there is a sacrifice there, so please watch them and do them.

Carrie Tollefson: how do you know when you're warmed up? Like is there something that you feel like? I mean, I can remember feeling especially like on warm days. It was almost like, ooh, I don't wanna be too warmed up. I don't want it to be, you know, I don't wanna be too loose because you do kind of still wanna have some tension when you're getting ready to do a workout. But I don't know. There is that feeling of calm. Okay, I think my body's ready to go. Let's just hammer this thing and get it over with. But maybe Coach Ryan, you wanna take this? Is there a certain feeling that the athlete should look for?

Ryan Tibball: Yeah, I I think so. I mean, really, you know, assuming you have f you know, prepared yourself, fueled properly, hydrated yourself. I mean, as I'm drinking a glass of water here, I'm fixing to go out in this hundred degree Texas temps in just a moment. I didn't have a choice, guys. I did not have a choice, but I love that RunDot has already adjusted my zones for it, so that's great. But assuming you've done the right things, fueled, hydrated, you should at least feel ready. And certainly with the range of movements feel better when you've gone through the warm up and you're like, Yep, okay, those hips were tight this morning, I got out of bed. Now they they're wow, okay, there's they're moving better. Everything's, you know, lubricated well. So and you should feel like you're not sluggish anymore. Are you gonna be ready to win gold? that depends. But I really think the important thing to say here is that you have optimized yourself. You've set yourself up for success and readied yourself as best as you can. But also again, besides that optimally set yourself up for success is you've hopefully started that process of injury prevention. And that's a you know, I I harp on that so much. It's just because it's so important and I hate it to hear runners that are getting hurt. So yeah. Absolutely. You should feel like, hey, yeah, I'm ready to do this. I'm ready to do this. I you and set your mindset. You know, Carrie, you said it earlier. I love it. It's like you've got your mindset ready to run.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Yeah. We don't ask for a lot of that real intense time in in our week, right? I mean, there's just these few workouts, two workouts, whatever it is in your plan. And we wanna just make sure that you all are ready to go and nail it. You know, you look at times of how long we're actually doing hard intervals or hill repeats or temple runs. It's not that long. So you wanna feel good doing it. You wanna be able to turn your brain off or turn it on, whatever you're trying to whatever the objective is. But I can remember thinking The workouts are my dress rehearsals for my race. The workout is also a time for me to get my brain right, to train my brain to be able to handle the intensity and the workload that my coach is asking me to do because he wants me to be the best I can be. So this is why we wanted to introduce or maybe, you know, accentuate the importance of a warm-up. But now, after that hard session or after that run comes the cool down. So let's talk about the property. cooldown for our body. EJay, why don't you start with this one?

Elizabeth James: Okay, yeah. And then maybe Ryan will have to give us a little more of the science inputs as well. he's good with that. He's got all that medical background. but yeah, the cooldown is really, you know, the other bookend. you're gonna gradually bring the heart rate back down. I mean, instead of just abruptly stopping, like we wanna do this in a controlled way. now if you stop suddenly, and I see this happen at the finish line of races often. Like if you stop suddenly, the blood is actually still kind of like pooling in your legs. and you can feel dizzy, lightheaded. I mean, some people even start to kind of like go unconscious or feel like they're gonna pass out. And so we don't want that. Like if you're get done with your hard intervals, like we need to gradually bring the heart rate back down, kind of let the body go back to that nice homeostasis, and then you know, the rest of the day will be much better. The other thing here is like easy movement really helps clear like the byproducts of that heart exercise. And so the lactate, the metabolic waste. if we're if we're doing some easy movement, that's gonna clear much better than if we were just to stop and stand there on the track and drink our water bottle. now it doesn't necessarily prevent soreness in the way that people would think. There's some interesting research on this and a very conflicting like a view than what it was before. It was like, you know, you need to keep moving so you're not as sore the next day. Well, a lot of the soreness is just going to come from the intensity of the work and the demand on the muscle, but it's still important that we're moving to kind of clear that metabolic waste and, you know, bring the heart rate down, bring our return to a normal breathing rate. and that's huge. Kind of going back to the mental side of things. I also think of this as kind of the system transition as well back into like, okay, I can kind of start thinking about what else I need to do after the run. That I try, and it's hard. I mean, I'll be the first to admit that I'll, I'll let my mind, you know, think about like, crap, after this run, like I've got to send that email and make sure I call them and do this. But I I try as best as I can to push that to the cooldown. And during the cool down, I will allow myself to start thinking of like, all right, now that I've got that done, like what do I what do I need to do? And so that easy time where we're moving, jogging, bringing the heart rate down, bringing the breathing rate down, kind of helping clear some of that metabolic waste, I think is also a really good mental transition into the rest of the day, what needs to be done.

Carrie Tollefson: Hmm. Yeah, and I think that's so important that you say kind of stay in that workout space mentally for a little bit longer through this cool down because we learn so much about ourselves in these workouts. Like how did we finish, you know, three quarters of the way through when times got tough? Like where did we really turn our brain back on to be able to to get through those hard moments? When was it easy? Like all of those things, that's where the cooldown really lets us kind of go back through that dress rehearsal and figure out what we can work on, what went really well, what maybe didn't go right for the next workout or our race. So I really like that you brought that up. Ryan. do you have anything to add to that or else we can go on to the next one where it's just like the best practices for cooling down?

Ryan Tibball: I mean really just I I think you EJay you did a great job. I mean you got a little sciencey there and that was perfect and you know I I kinda she said that. That was that was a word I was ready to throw out. Get back to that homeostatic static state. and you know and you know talking about you know the also

Carrie Tollefson: She did. Homeostasis, I liked that. Yeah.

Ryan Tibball: That time, that cooldown serves, you know, that active cooldown serves to r help remove that that lactate out of your lymphatic system. Your lymphatic system is the what's responsible. And this is that sciencey part. It's like it, the lymphatic system works with muscle contraction. So while you're moving through your cooldown, you are actually helping your body remove those metabolic wastes that EJay already talked about. And then talking about the sympathetic nervous system transitioning over to the parasympathetic nervous system that that is that's your that's your while doing that is telling your body it's okay now we're done and we can relax and there's methods to start to help with that triggering of that and I think we're gonna talk about that in a little bit too. So yeah, that that that's this is the fun part. We're done, right?

Carrie Tollefson: I know. Well, tell me about the best practices now for cooling down, Coach Ryan. I think that some people don't quite understand. Is it just, you just walk from the track to your car? Or do you just lightly jog? Like there's different ways, there's different things that we should do. And I know that EJay already talked a little bit about these, but let's talk about best practices for a cool down.

Ryan Tibball: Yeah. Yeah, and I think intentionality here has to be just as important as your warm up. So a proper cool down should include, you know, really you're turning the screws the other way and you're slowing down your jog into a super like easy, easy jog into a walk and actively walking and moving. and that that that's important to realize that as we mentioned just a moment ago, it it's important for your body to understand we're done. we're gonna cool down now. We're gonna change from overly active sympathetic nervous system over to the parasympathetic system. So and you really need to spend and I deliberately do this. In fact, I will go out for a run and deliberately like go so far that I go a little extra on the on that side before I make the turnaround. So then when I'm actually done with my workout, I'm still a good mile away from the house. And so it forces me now to walk. And I walk and I start walking along and this is where now I can practice that cool down. I can start working on focusing on my breath and actually taking in those nice slow long deep breaths and blowing it out. And that's gonna start to tell your body it's t it's okay to relax now. It's okay to recover here. So it's a deliberate time. So it in fact it what's funny is if you follow me on Strava or Garmin, you're gonna see a walk almost every single time. Some almost every single time. And so you're like, why did he walk? It's that's my cooldown. That's my time of warmth cooling down. Now, once I have done all of this, I do go into those static stretches where I I can hold them for about 20, 30 seconds at a time. And that's what's all it's really needed. So it only takes a few minutes, calf stretches, hamstring stretches, quad stretches. hip stretches where I actually in my hip stretches I get into a wide deep squat and get down into it and just kinda explore around and move around as I'm into that deep relaxing squat. And so these are things that help again remove those by products, those metabolic wastes. So I think I would be remiss if I didn't mention this is that the importance during this time is you take that opportunity, hopefully you have some water still on you, some sort of rehydration fluids and refueling after your session, you know, while you're walking along or if you're walking into your house. because you know, timeliness is everything as part of this cool down. It is and you need to incorporate this part into your cooldown is getting the hydration, getting the fueling back, and don't delay it. So replace that. Get your carbs, get your protein, get your more fluids. And don't forget about that because you don't want to go in go away from this workout going, I didn't absorb very much of that because I failed to take care of myself during the cooldown. So that is that is such a critical part.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. I love that. I know that EJay you have…

Elizabeth James: Yeah. And if you haven't listened to that recent episode, Carrie, you just recorded one with Jillian. And I mean, that recently came out. So that whole post workout nutrition, like, doesn't always just have to be a protein shake. Like, I would encourage anybody that's missed that episode, go back and listen to that. Cause that just I mean, highlights exactly what Coach Ryan was saying and gives every listener some really good tangible things that you can do. So I'm gonna put a little plug in for that. As soon as he mentioned it, I was like,

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Yes. I love that. Thank you for bringing that up.

Elizabeth James: What a good episode. We got we gotta go back and make sure that we go there.

Carrie Tollefson: Uh-huh. Well, and that's what I like about what Coach Ryan said. Like obviously it is the walk, it's the slow jog. It might be some of those strides that you talked about. But then comes the fueling and the rehydration. and also I think like the foam rolling and the static stretching and but one thing that EJay, I think that you added to our outline here was layering back up. And I think that's something that we forget about. You know, it's summer months now, you guys are in Texas, super hot there. It's actually getting a little cooler here in Minnesota now, which I'm not ready for. but that's the other thing too, is like the cooldown, it there's other things to think about. Like, yeah, maybe changing shoes back to your trainers out of your race shoes or your, you know, flats or whatever they are. Like there's more to the cool down than just even the movement that we have to do to come out of the workout.

Elizabeth James: Yeah, a hundred percent. And I always think of the track sessions for me on this because those are the ones where the intensity is varying so much. It's like I will go to the track and I mean, granted, you know, not necessarily now in August when it's 110 degrees, but you know, but by the time that it's fall or spring, I will go to the track in like sweatpants and a jacket and like my shoes that I'd use for an aerobic run. I'm warming up in that until I feel warm enough to start shedding some layers. once I do some of those dynamic movements, I usually change into like the pair of shoes that I usually use for track sessions, do some of my strides in those. yeah, nail the workout, and then when I'm done with the workout, I'll walk back over to where I've got all my stuff by the bench. I'll grab like my protein shake, I'll change shoes, and I'll start to layer back up. Because I as soon as I raise that core body temperature and just start to bring it down, I get so cold. And this is one thing that I think happens to a number of people that we're working at such that high intensity. I mean, sometimes we're super sweaty and it's like you're gonna get chilled if you don't address that too. So having those extra layers to be able to put right back on, that's great for the muscles. It's great for the immune system. So like take care of yourself after those hard efforts too. I and I know the cooldown is so hard. I'll be the first to admit, like I I I'm bad about this. I am. I think a lot of people are because life is busy. I'm like, man, if I can just like okay, I'll quick go out for the run, like over my lunch break, and I'll come back and I've got to sit on a meeting. And okay, like I got the workout in. I think I'm still being good because I've got my protein shake here as I'm sitting on the meeting, but like I didn't do anything to bring my heart rate back down, my breathing rate back down. I'm there on the meeting, like muting the microphone, going, don't call on me yet, I'm still out of breath. Like that was not good. it's so hard to really like make purposeful time for that, but I think it's genuinely like one of the highest value, low effort things that you can do for your recovery. Like to just give yourself even those five minutes to transition from the hard work back to like lower heart rate. better breathing rate. Don't use my example of like still sweating and huffing and puffing, you know, jumping on the one o'clock meeting right after the lunch break. So that's the example of what not to do.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. It happens. Yeah, it happens for sure. But I do think that just a little something goes a long way. And so there's really not a point, Ryan, where we should skip. We talked about we can't skip that warm-up, but you can't skip the cooldown, can you? Like you have to. What do you think is the bare minimum? I think that's a good question. What's the bare minimum of a cooldown you can do?

Ryan Tibball: you know, you know, first off, I mean, skipping it i is like playing with fire in my opinion. you know, I I think more times it w yeah, why? I say think of it this way. You more times than not, you're gonna set yourself up for disappointment if you skip the warmup. And in the workout or race for that matter, and then worst cases an injury. And you know, I mentioned this earlier. You think of it this way. You know, ten to fifty is ten to fifteen minutes worth your time, or is missing three to four weeks of training worth your time? And I you know, it's simply stated that way. But I yes, it depending I think we answered this a little bit earlier too, was like gotta get something in. You know, what small enough as it is, it's still worth it to spend that time to warm up and to cool down. as best you can and allocate that time, be intentional. You're you obviously have a goal, right? You have a race, probably, everyone seems to have one. Well then just be as just as intentional through your workouts, your warm ups, your workout and your cooldown. And that will set you up for success rather than disappointment in the end. So yeah.

Carrie Tollefson: One question that I keep coming back to when I'm listening to you guys is, you know, and I don't want to give away my answer yet. I'll let you guys talk about as the coaches that you are. But ch do you always do, and let's talk about this as if we're doing like a harder workout because we've heard you guys talk about the warm-up for an easier day, but the workout or the race, do you typically do the same one? Every single time? Or do you have variations of a work or of a warm-up for a harder session day? EJay, do you wanna take it?

Elizabeth James: Yeah, sure. I would make the case here for consistency. predictability has a real yeah, okay, glad we agree. but yeah, it has it has such a high value. Like something that's familiar becomes like that mental cue. And I mean, we talked about the mental side of this, but it almost like signals to the body like, hey, this is the routine I do before I'm ready to perform. And to me, practicing all of that in those hard workouts is then what I use in racing. And it just becomes like the body knows what to do. This is familiar. We know what's gonna happen. for me, it also like reduces the decision fatigue. And it's like, hmm, what do I need to do? Should I do that drill or should I not do that drill? It's like, nope, I've got my whole routine. And it's just like check, check, check, get it done. I don't have to think twice about what comes next. What do I need to do? What do I need to change? so you're not wasting like the mental energy trying to figure out what you're going to do for the warm up. And having that consistency, I think also allows you to understand how your body is feeling on that day. And so if I'm always doing the same workout and or warm up and I'm feeling a little more sluggish, I'm like, okay, that's something that I can take in mind when I get to the main set. Like, maybe I am more fatigued today. Maybe I do have more mental stress. And so just even feeling that way in the Warm-up gives me an idea of like, okay, that these are cues to take into consideration during the workout itself. there are times where I am coming back from an injury and I do need to have more specific focus, maybe some specific banded work on the hips. maybe a little bit more glute activation on one side versus the other, but Overall, I would say like 95% of the time my workout is the same. It has been for years. I know it. It's easy to replicate. And it just kind of gives me that mental cue of now, now it's time to go.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah, your warm-up is has been the same. I I really like that. And I obviously think like we have to be flexible. If it's a really, really hot day, then you might have to cut that just a little bit short because you don't want to be out there as long. But again, I think both EJay and Ryan said that's where it really is nice when you have a coach to be able to say, Let's take, you know, this out or let's add in a more strides or whatever it may be. It might be cold that day, so we want to add more to the warm. Up like just those things that you sometimes need extra help making those decisions for you is important. So we do have to be flexible, but I think you're talking about being consistent with the bulk of the warm-up and the cooldown is key. You have to do that because it will help you for race day, especially. Ryan, as we wrap up, I think we've pretty much touched on everything. Do you have any final tidbits on warming up or cooling down for our athletes?

Ryan Tibball: You know, I yeah, we did t we touched on so much and again it's probably one of those episodes where you could probably spend three hours on it. But you know, I I think y you know, going in always with intentionality i is i is gonna be the key big key. Intentionality about your workout, knowing what you need to do for your warm up. And the shorter the distance or the more intense, for example, a five K race or you have huge intervals, like really intense intervals in your workout, would ask for you to do a more a longer warm up, so to speak, to in a more intense warm up. And so versus e hey, I'm gonna about to go run a marathon and so, you know, I'm going out for my next two hour half hour, two and a half hour training run. That that warm up is not going to be quite as long. You know, from a standpoint of one, you know, you're trying to yes, you're still trying to get dynamically activated and warmed up, but again, it will be shorter. And cause you wanna kind of protect yourself in in your glycogen stores. You wanna use that energy later into deeper into that run versus that five K and ten K you know, ten K race or that high interval r run where you're like, Hey, I need to be ready to go as soon as you know, I hit the start button and hammer it. So intense warm up for intense workouts or races, not as intense and a little bit a little bit lighter for your longer runs, longer races. And I think that's probably something that many athletes don't didn't realize. And so if you want to perform better and injury prevention, those are good guidelines to start with.

Carrie Tollefson: Perfect. EJay, anything else?

Elizabeth James: I would just echo what Ryan was saying there that like the workout itself, I mean I mean that's what we're really wanting to maximize. And so your warm-up should prime the body for it. The warm-up is not pre-fatigue. We don't want to put so much emphasis on that that we are tired going into the main set, but we want to prime our body to be able to do the best work that it can to improve from the main set that's given.

Carrie Tollefson: have one more question, and that is the cooldown question from the audience. So Jeremy from Boston says, I have a marathon on the schedule, and my long runs are getting. to be closer to two hours and will work their way closer to three hours over the coming weeks. How do our coaches recommend carrying the water and gels and stuff needed to properly fuel that duration of a workout? Great question, Jeremy. Who wants to take this first? Ryan or EJay? huh.

Elizabeth James: well, thank you. first off, Jeremy, I mean, congrats on working your way out to the marathon. gosh, I think that's my favorite distance. I will always love the marathon. So very, very excited for you. for me, for most of my long runs, I use a hydration vest. once I get into that like two to three hour range, the math just works better for all of the stuff that you're gonna carry and the amount of hydration that I go through. you can carry enough water, plus you can have your gels. It doesn't feel super bulky, keeps my hands free. I prefer running hands free versus a bottle. but as I get closer to race day, I actually shift my approach from using the hydration vest to doing something that's either a looped route that like passes water fountains, or I'll set it like my own little self-made aid station, whether that's like at the lake and I'm looping the lake to come back to the car for my little aid station in the car or I have set up the picnic table in the driveway and my neighbors know what's going on. It's like, yep, there's the neighbor doing loops around the neighborhood again. She's gonna grab her water and her gels from the driveway. But to me that works really well to translate all of that into preparing for the race. And so the closer it gets to the race, like I want to mimic race day more closely. On race day I'm not gonna wear a hydration vest. now if you're gonna wear one on race day, great, practice with that too. But if you're not gonna do that for race day, you wanna get used to carrying what you're gonna carry on race day and then maybe utilizing water fountains, aid stations, gas stations for the hydration as well. So most of the time I'm there with the hydration vest, but at least two to three runs as I'm getting closer to race day, I try to make it very race specific. even if that does mean having to like stop in the driveway or stop a little longer at a drinking fountain, just to kind of get used to that.

Carrie Tollefson: Yep. Agreed, Ryan.

Ryan Tibball: Yeah, I I do a lot of what EJay does. I I don't wear necessarily a hydration vest much at all unless I'm trail running. So which in this case, you know, he's training for Boston, right? And or lives in Boston rather, but he's doing a marathon up there. And so I do opt for the central station. So like at my house, yeah, like right now as I get ready for my run, I'm gonna have at least three bottles sitting out for an hour and ten minute run. 'Cause I know my sweat losses. I know what I need and so which is a kind of a key factor of why creating those loops like Coach E J said, it's like e whether no matter where I'm at, I'm like, I know as the temperature rises, I'm gonna have that loop get shorter and shorter and shorter. So carrying my gels, I I have you know pockets in my running shorts, which are great and they're you know they're kind of more like the spandex running shorts, so they're tight so it's not jumping around and things aren't jumping around there. So, you know, keeping my gels, my nutrition in that place. on race day, I actually have a belt as well that I can use and that's been very helpful. I like I prefer a belt that has pocket that is flat against me and so then it's not jumping around and stuff. And I do have one of those. They're very, very helpful in carrying my nutrition. I do have handhelds as well and that's what I will take today. In fact, I have a sixteen ounce handheld. I wish I can't remember the maker, but it's a handheld that The strap goes around my hand. I'm not a huge fan of carrying things like Coach EJay, but it does work for a little wit bit. And then I actually tuck it in my waistband and just continue on because it's a s tall, thin, not really tall, but thin bottle. And so it doesn't bother me when I run tucked in. So it it's just there's just alternatives and you kind of have to find what works for you 'cause some people don't want those things in their hands, some people don't like anything on their back. So it's like, Okay, what are you then? You're a looper, then you're gonna have to go be a looper and just loop back and forth around your house. Yeah.

Carrie Tollefson: Yeah. Yeah. That's a new name and hadn't heard of looper before, but I agree. I mean, just find what works for you, make it work, and obviously the plan has to be practiced. So I think this is smart for someone like Jeremy to ask this question and to make sure he's practicing it before race week, before the race goes off. So awesome. I am so thankful for you both coming here, talking about warming up, cooling down, and all the things that we have here at Ron Dot. And, you know, make sure that the athletes go and check out those videos that EJay has been so kind to film with RunDot. It's really cool that they have that that in there in the app for them to learn how to do the proper warm-up. So thanks you two for your time and keep getting after it.