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What do you do as a Warm-Up (WU) and Cool-Down (CD) before and after your workouts and races?
Perhaps some easy running and maybe a few short sprints to get the kinks out the legs pre-race or pre-workout. Then a 1-2km easy run, if that, as a cool-down after all the hard work has been done.
But is this the right thing to do? Is this too much? Or not enough?
Enter Peter Thompson. A legendary figure in Track & Field who has coached athletes to world record performances for over 40 years. His systematic and empirical approach to warm-up and cool-down prescription has lead to interesting and perhaps counter-intuitive suggestions for WU and CD
It has been said many times that the practice of coaching is always ahead of research in exercise physiology, or in any of the sport sciences for that matter. This is because coaches are always innovating in the field and are concerned with producing direct, visible performance benefits.
Peter John L Thompson – Legendary Track & Field Coach
Coach Thompson has spent decades working directly with athletes as well as lecturing coaches as part of the IAAF (now called World Athletics) coach education program. Heck, he even “wrote the book” on the IAAF Coach Education and Certification System back in 2009.
His resume is far to long to list here. But I think you get the just. When Coach Thompson recommends something, you listen. If you want to learn more about Coach Thompson, check out his bio: HERE
The Warm-Ups and Cool-Downs presented here are most appropriate for middle-distance and distance races 800m-10000m or for workouts that include 800m-10000m paces – maybe even up to Threshold pace. Long runs definitely do not need a WU and CD as described below.
The “Extended Strides” Warm-Up
When it comes to Warm-Up, the fundamental question according to Coach Thompson is:
Think about when you do a repetition session on the track
Peter Thompson ‘Priming for Performance and Recovery’
• How does the first rep feel compared to the second?
• How does the third rep feel compared to the first two?
• If the repetitions feel easier after one or two repetitions then why not ‘prime’ by doing these first?
To add some context, let’s say a “repetition session at the track” is something along the lines of 10 x 400m with a 400m jog in between.
Coach Thompson asks a simple enough question with a simple enough answer. If you feel better in the middle or near the end of a workout than you do at the start, you simply have no primed your body sufficiently for the task.
The Warm-Up Intensity
After much exploration, Coach Thompson settled upon the following Specific WU to add your pre-workout or pre-race routine. This would come after a General WU that include a few kilometres of easy running or progressive running.
- 3 x 200m at 1500m to 3000m pace with 1min Rec
OR - 2 x 300m at 1500m to 3000m pace with 1min Rec
- 4-8min Recovery before starting the workout or Race
If we think about the time it takes an elite runner to cover 200m at 1500m pace, we are looking at around 30s. Similarly, it would take an elite runner about 45s to cover 300m at 1500m pace. So we can break this down further to a time-based guideline of
- 3 x 30s at 1500m to 3000m pace with 1min Rec
OR - 2 x 45s at 1500m to 3000m pace with 1min Rec
- 4-8min Recovery before starting the workout or Race
So even if you don’t have access to a track, simply do 2-3 reps of 30-45s runs at your 1500-3000m pace with 1min recoveries in between. Or let’s say a pace you know you can hold non-stop for 5min.
On a side note, “Strides” are typically 100m or 15 sec runs at 1500m. Since these are 30-45 sec runs at 1500m pace, coach Thompson adopted the term “Extended Strides” for this warm-up.
The Prince’s Warm-Up
Interestingly, after experimenting for over 30 years on Warm-Ups and settling on the approach described above, Coach Thompson observed the Prince of Middle Distance Hicham El Guerrouj (referred to as El G) complete pretty much exactly this WU before his race.
While El G was floating around the track doing 200m repeats at 1500m pace, his rivals were hammering out 30-40m near-maximal sprints as activators. El G would inevitably take the win in the race.
If you don’t know who El G is, check out Of Records & Races and Battle of the Greats. El G is a running legend without compare.
If Coach Thompson and El G have both settled onto the same warm-up protocol, maybe you should try it too.
The “Extensive Reps” Cool-Down
The cool-down is most often neglected altogether. And that’s a real shame. If you want to recover quickly from your hard workouts, the cool-down is the first opportunity you have to promote a speedy recovery.
Even if you know the importance of cool-down and consciously add in extra kilometres of easy running post-workout, you may not be promoting an optimal recovery. It turns out that the cool-down requires a very specific type of intensity.
The Cool-Down Intensity
After a middle-distance or distance race like an 800, 1500, 5000, or 10000, or a challenging fast-paced workout, your body will have an accumulation acidosis. The best way to clear it out of your system is not with easy running, but instead with short work-bouts at an intensity just below lactate accumulation.
What does that mean exactly? Well, 4 to 6 reps of 200m (or 30-45s) at between 10km and Threshold pace with 1min recoveries usually does the trick. Or let’s say a pace you know you can hold non-stop for like 45min.
The thought of doing these runs is, unsurprisingly, initially unappealing to the athlete – “You want me to do what? But I’m shattered, on my knees.”
Peter Thompson ‘Priming for Performance and Recovery’
Typically when a workout or race is done you want to do nothing other than sit down. But resist that urge and do these reps as soon as you are ready and able once the workout is complete. If done correctly by the 4th or 5th reps you’ll feel much better than you did during the 1st reps.
It is crucial that you do not view the specific cool-down as an opportunity to gain more fitness. That is not the idea. The idea is faster recovery. So don’t hammer the reps. Get into a groove at between 10km and Threshold pace. And you want each rep to gradually feel easier and easier.
After your final cool-down rep, add in a kilometre or more of easy running as a general cool-down and you’re done!
In Summary
Warm-Up
- A few kilometers of easy running as a general warm-up
- Extended Strides: 2-3 reps of 30-45 sec at 1500-3000m pace (something you can hold for 5 min non-stop) with 1 min recoveries in between
- 4-8 min rest before starting the session
- For a workout, wait 4min before starting
- For a race, finish your reps 8min before start time. If you have to wait longer than 8min, aim to add in one more 30-45s rep about 4-5min before start time
Cool-Down
- Extensive Reps: 4-6 reps of 30-45 sec at 10km-Threshold pace (something you can hold for 45min non-stop) with 1min recoveries in between. do these reps as soon as you are ready and able once the workout is complete.
- A few kilometres of easy running as a general cool-down
For those that want to learn more, a thorough presentation on these topics by coach Peter Thompson is available online HERE