Why Your Sprint Warm-Up Might Be More Important Than the Workout Itself

Why Your Sprint Warm-Up Might Be More Important Than the Workout Itself

There’s a ton of attention placed on speed training these days – and rightfully so. But one critical piece that often gets overlooked is how you warm up for those sprint sessions.

As a performance therapist and strength coach, I can confidently say that your warm-up can make or break your sprint session. It’s not just about getting the heart rate up — it's about prepping your muscles, tendons, joints, and nervous system to handle high outputs.

Start with Circulatory Prep

Before anything else, we want to elevate heart rate and temperature. A light jog, a few minutes on a bike, or even an elliptical can be enough to get things going. This step increases blood flow and makes the tissue more pliable for movement.

Mobility & Corrective Work

After increasing tissue temperature, we shift focus to mobility and individualized corrective work. This includes hips, hamstrings, low back, and calves — key areas in sprint performance. Foam rolling, banded mobility drills, or dynamic stretches all have a place here depending on the athlete's needs.

Activation Phase

This is where we turn the brain and body on. Isometric holds and low-level muscular engagement drills stimulate the glutes, core, and calf and other key movers. For athletes with cranky knees or past tendon issues, this step is essential to mitigate pain and build resilience.

Sprint-Specific Movement Drills

Think of this phase as your technical rehearsal. A-skips, B-skips, marches, lateral shuffles, or bounding drills teach body control, rhythm, and sprint posture. We’ll adjust these based on whether the day’s focus is on linear acceleration, change of direction, or top-end speed.

Time Efficiency

From start to finish, your full speed session could take anywhere from 30-45 minutes, depending on the phase of your programming — yes, that long. But remember: sprinting at full intensity without prepping the system properly is a recipe for underperformance or injury.

If you're training for serious speed, your warm-up IS your performance prep. Invest the time, follow the steps, and you’ll notice better sprint technique, faster times, and fewer tweaks or strains.

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How To Properly Warm-Up For Sprinting To Optimize Performance & Decrease Injury RIsk

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