Treadmill: Start Slow, or Start Fast?

Opticreep said:

I run on the Treadmill for 30 minutes every morning before breakfast.
I start off slow and work my way up. Generally speaking, I jog about
5.5 mph in the first 10 minutes, then 6.0 mph in the next 10 minutes,
and finally 6.5 mph in the last 10 minutes.

Now, I'm thinking of just gradually phasing out this "slow build-up"
technique, and eventually do a constant 6.5 mph from start to finish.
Are there drawbacks to doing this? Do I really need a "warm-up"
period
before I settle into cruising speed? What about a "cool-down" period?

It's up to you -- you get to decide. When I'm running on the road, I
often do the first mile or so pretty slowly if it's the day after a tough
workout. It sometimes helps to loosen up, especially if you're stiff and
sore. I'm usually warmed up after 10 minutes. I usually don't do a
cooldown unless it's a tough workout.

On the treadmill, I'll sometimes about 0.5mph slower than the pace I use
for the rest of the workout (and I use a relatively slow pace on the treadmill
compared to my outdoor pace)

Cheers,
--
Donovan Rebbechi
http://pegasus.rutgers.edu/~elflord/

maybe you can reduce the amount of time at 5.5 mph now that you have some
fitness developed?

Eventually one should become faster so that what was a top speed becomes
your normal speed.

"Opticreep" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

I run on the Treadmill for 30 minutes every morning before breakfast.
I start off slow and work my way up. Generally speaking, I jog about
5.5 mph in the first 10 minutes, then 6.0 mph in the next 10 minutes,
and finally 6.5 mph in the last 10 minutes.

Now, I'm thinking of just gradually phasing out this "slow build-up"
technique, and eventually do a constant 6.5 mph from start to finish.
Are there drawbacks to doing this? Do I really need a "warm-up"
period
before I settle into cruising speed? What about a "cool-down" period?

[email hidden] (Opticreep) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I run on the Treadmill for 30 minutes every morning before breakfast.
I start off slow and work my way up. Generally speaking, I jog about
5.5 mph in the first 10 minutes, then 6.0 mph in the next 10 minutes,
and finally 6.5 mph in the last 10 minutes.

Now, I'm thinking of just gradually phasing out this "slow build-up"
technique, and eventually do a constant 6.5 mph from start to finish.
Are there drawbacks to doing this? Do I really need a "warm-up"
period
before I settle into cruising speed?

Do you "need" it? No. When I run on a treadmill, I start out at full
speed and stay there. I don't think I would have a more successful run
if I started out slow and gradually sped up.

What about a "cool-down" period?

Can't hurt, but not necessary.

[email hidden] (Opticreep) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I run on the Treadmill for 30 minutes every morning before breakfast.
I start off slow and work my way up. Generally speaking, I jog about
5.5 mph in the first 10 minutes, then 6.0 mph in the next 10 minutes,
and finally 6.5 mph in the last 10 minutes.

Now, I'm thinking of just gradually phasing out this "slow build-up"
technique, and eventually do a constant 6.5 mph from start to finish.
Are there drawbacks to doing this? Do I really need a "warm-up"
period
before I settle into cruising speed? What about a "cool-down" period?

An alternative might be the following:

2 minutes 5.5
30 seconds 6.5
1 minute 5.5
30 seconds 7.0
1 minutes 5.5
20 minutes 6.5
5 minutes 7.0

Substitute 6.5 for 7.0 depending on how you feel. 20-30 seconds of
faster running signals the body to perform without pushing it too hard
in the beginning. After a rest, you have recruited more fibers in the
muscle when you speed up again.

You can even use this technique to do sprints on a soft surface.
Repeatedly including 10-30 fast strides every few minutes will loosen
up the legs, eventually allowing you to sprint without that feeling
you will suffer for it.

"Opticreep" <[email hidden]> wrote in message

Quoted message said:

I run on the Treadmill for 30 minutes every morning before breakfast.
I start off slow and work my way up. Generally speaking, I jog about
5.5 mph in the first 10 minutes, then 6.0 mph in the next 10 minutes,
and finally 6.5 mph in the last 10 minutes.

Now, I'm thinking of just gradually phasing out this "slow build-up"
technique, and eventually do a constant 6.5 mph from start to finish.
Are there drawbacks to doing this? Do I really need a "warm-up"
period
before I settle into cruising speed? What about a "cool-down" period?

A favorite Kenyan-style training run is to run about an hour,
starting very slow and ending up at all-out speed. Although
what you are doing isn't quite the same, I believe it is close
in the idea behind it.

Most people like a warm up, particularly people like myself
who believe that stretching is to be done after runs, not
before. A gentle 2 - 3 miles before training speed loosens
the muscles up and gets the blood flowing better, in my opinion.

Another plus of a slow start is that you heart rate will be more
stable and "predictable" during the training period, be it a normal
everyday run or fast speedwork.

I think a cool down is not as important. Others will disagree,
and I'm not saying people should abruptly stop after a run, but
I think that walking and a gentle stretch routine is the ticket
for after, unless it was a race or very hard effort in which case
some actual cool down jogging is in order.

cheers,
--
David (in Hamilton, ON)
www.allfalldown.org
www.absolutelyaccurate.com

[email hidden] (Bill) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

[email hidden] (Opticreep) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

I run on the Treadmill for 30 minutes every morning before breakfast.
I start off slow and work my way up. Generally speaking, I jog about
5.5 mph in the first 10 minutes, then 6.0 mph in the next 10 minutes,
and finally 6.5 mph in the last 10 minutes.

Now, I'm thinking of just gradually phasing out this "slow build-up"
technique, and eventually do a constant 6.5 mph from start to finish.
Are there drawbacks to doing this? Do I really need a "warm-up"
period
before I settle into cruising speed? What about a "cool-down" period?

An alternative might be the following:

2 minutes 5.5
30 seconds 6.5
1 minute 5.5
30 seconds 7.0
1 minutes 5.5
20 minutes 6.5
5 minutes 7.0

Substitute 6.5 for 7.0 depending on how you feel. 20-30 seconds of
faster running signals the body to perform without pushing it too hard
in the beginning. After a rest, you have recruited more fibers in the
muscle when you speed up again.

You can even use this technique to do sprints on a soft surface.
Repeatedly including 10-30 fast strides every few minutes will loosen
up the legs, eventually allowing you to sprint without that feeling
you will suffer for it.

You'll need to print this, take it to the gym with you and tape it to
the wall in front of the treadmill.