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Are You Warming Up The Right Way?

Bike speed killers you need to eliminate, and ten strengthening exercises for your next-level run!

Author

Matthew Sharpe
January 07, 2025

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Good morning everyone,

As the snow falls here in Boulder I can’t say I’m especially sad to be flying out to Chile for this weekend’s IRONMAN 70.3 Pucon! I have a lot of fond memories of last year’s race and look forward to reconnecting with the incredible Chilean triathlon community.

  • What I’m not looking forward to? The brutal hills on the run! But when the view at the top is a panoramic vista of Lake Villarica and the Villarica volcano, then at least I’ll have a beautiful distraction from the lactic acid bath!

In today’s edition:

  • 🤸 Are you warming up the right way?

  • 🚴 The bike speed killers you can eliminate.

  • 🏃 And ten strengthening exercises for your next-level run!

Thanks for being here.

-Matt Sharpe, newsletter editor

Headshot of Matt Sharpe

Have a triathlete in your life who can't stop swimming, biking, or running? Fire this off to them. Forwarded from a friend? Sign-up for free.

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TRAINING THOUGHT

Are You Warming Up the Right Way?

Coaches the world over have pleaded with us to do a good warmup before starting training - especially for harder workouts.

And for good reason! Warming up well allows for increased performance, and will reduce your risk of injury.

  • But why is this the case? What does a good warmup look like? And what’s actually happening in your body during it?

The physiology of warmup - what’s happening in your body?

🩸 Increased blood supply to the muscles 

  • Some blood vessels do not function at rest - warming up opens up these vessels and supplies nutrient and oxygen-rich blood to the muscles.

  • The increase in blood supply literally “warms up” the muscles due to the increased enzyme activity within.

💪 Improved muscle contraction, speed, and force

  • Enzymatic activity that warms up your muscles helps increase muscle temperature.

  • Studies have shown that higher muscle temperatures (to a point) result in faster muscle contraction and force production. 

Why should we warm up?

🤕 Injury prevention

  • Getting into the meat of a workout too quickly can result in acute injuries like strains, tendonitis, and sudden cramping!

  • Consistently not warming up well could also contribute to overuse injuries like rotator cuff impingement and the dreaded runner’s knee.

🏆 Improved performance

  • In this meta study, athletes who warmed up improved their performance over 79% of performance-specific criteria.

  • This is most likely due to improved muscle contraction and force production.

  • Warming up well also improves nerve conduction - which helps your body move more effectively.

So, how should you warm up?

🔍 All about context 

A good warmup depends on the context of the training (or race). Easier aerobic training might require a shorter warm up period as the physiological demands are lower. 

  • A harder session - think running track intervals, or a hard swim set - will require a longer warmup with some short, sharp efforts to hit that ideal muscle temperature and optimal nerve conduction.

🔥 Working out in the heat: If you’re going to be doing a session in the heat, consider lessening the total warmup time. It will take less time for your muscles to warm up.

  • If it’s a hard workout you’ll still want to activate properly. But that could also include more neuromuscular activities like these. 

Now, go make your coach proud!

Do you always warm up properly?

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FAVORITES

🚴 Bike speed killers: If you’re looking for a faster bike split in 2025 it might be time to adjust your training. But free speed can also be found, especially when you take control of these six brutal bike speed killers! [MOTTIV Method]

🏃 Strengthen your run: Strength training can help elevate your running to the next level by improving force production to help you run faster, and strengthening key tissues to reduce the risk of injuries. Find your next-level run with these 10 running-specific strength exercises!

🧁 Ultra-processed understanding: Are ultra-processed foods really the boogeyman that health advocates say they are? Or is it more complicated than that? This (longer) article weaves the story of a contradicted nutrition hypothesis that asks questions of our own nutritional beliefs, and how we can fuel our bodies better. [The New Yorker]

🦾 Ten tips to prevent sore muscles: Staying hydrated, and getting a massage can certainly help you avoid sore muscles. But Epsom salt baths and backing off on the last few miles of your workout can also keep the next day soreness at bay. These six other tips can too! [Women’s Health]

🥶 Cold running pain: It’s cold out but you reaalllyy want to get those miles outside on the run. But is it worth it for the potential strike of “exostosis.” Exostos-wha?!? It’s the ear pain caused by prolonged exposure to cold weather, and this article explains why some ear pain now could lead to bigger problems down the road! [Outside]

REEL TIME

Look, we never said you’d be the most popular for doing triathlons! 🤣🤣🤣

The Sleep App That Forbes Rated 5 Stars 😱

The app Forbes said helps "users achieve high-quality sleep by creating and maintaining effective sleep routines” is back with new sounds and features!

Now featuring over 300 unique sounds to fall asleep to, a personalized sleep tracker and more. It’s no wonder over 65 million people have downloaded this app for better sleep.

Try it tonight 👇

QUICK NEWS

Kiwi kuts: Even with Hayden Wilde’s exceptional silver medal performance, Triathlon New Zealand could not avoid a frustrating cut to it’s high-performance budget. [Tri Kiwi]

Incredible Chris: Chris Nikic inspired the world when he became the first athlete with Down’s Syndrome to complete the IRONMAN World Championships. Now he has his sights set on the jaw-dropping Ultraman! [Triathlon Magazine Canada]

Pembrokeshire proposal: A proposed new route for Pembrokeshire’s Long Course weekend has been announced after local opposition “had reached a breaking point.” [Yahoo UK]

Extreme triathlete: Trevisio native Valerio Dotto has entered the Hall of Fame of the Extreme Triathlon Series after finishign the five punishing stages in six months! [Trevisio Today]

YOU SAID

Here’s what Tempo readers thought about the T100’s recent athlete signings! 

Reader: You seem super down on T100! I thought the coverage was brilliant, along with super tri it adds so much more excitement to watching triathlon and now they have some big names from the Olympics coming in. I can’t wait to watch again!

Reader: High-octane racing at stunning locations with top-notch commentary.

Reader: T100 has just become OD+, or 70.3-- (2 minuses), going away from its original goal which was a combo of 70.3 & Ironman distances races. Then rapidly, it became a combo of 100k & 200k races with a World Championship in both. Which was still ok in order to take away some of the best Ironman athletes. Now it's over: the LD Pro Triathlon World will be 70% split between 2 different Pros Series. And in a year or two, as more and more OD athletes will have submerged the T100, it will be 100% split. Is it the best for Triathlon?

Reader: Hot take: Are established pro triathletes doing enough on their part to help professionalize the sport? The PTO is co-owned by its professional athletes and investors. The investors have raised substantial money to professionalize the sport, gain awareness and ultimately make money -- for everyone. Yet, established pro's are more or less saying "what's in it for me?

Reader: These are the right athletes for the job. No doubt. 2024 proved that 100km favors short course athletes over long course. And I think the athletes they recruited have enough star power. They have created a nice bridge between short course and long course. Giving athletes something to do before chasing Kona and becoming real World Champions. 😜

Reader: There are many more short course athletes that the PTO T100 should sign. I can’t wait to watch it. Draft legal triathlon sucks! (sorry Matt) I am glad to see the long course athletes migrating to the Ironman Pro Series. It is going to be great also. Hopefully Ironman can get Ironman Hawaii to a two day event. Community blackmail is disgusting but maybe Ironman just needs to stop being greedy, buck up and get it done.

Reader: Isn’t even clear if they’re signing 8 more contracts for men and women or if those will all be wildcards who can only make money if they do well.

Reader: I think, who cares? The only people following triathletes are other triathletes and we are out training for our next Ironman. They are throwing good money after bad and will be out of business until and unless they spend their money on the age group athlete experience and can outperform Ironman. You don’t see athletes going out and getting a PTO tattoo.

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