A Runner's Complete Workout

Often times runners forget that warming up and cooling down are important for any type of physical activity. A warm up prepares your muscles, tendons, ligaments and mind for the challenge ahead. This not only helps reduce the risk of injury, but it also helps improve your performance during the workout.

A cool down is the perfect time to implement flexibility training into your workout plan. Your body is already warm and pliable which is ideal for stretching. Stretching is especially important for repetition activities such as running. Your muscles have been going through the same motion over and over again, and stretching those muscles after a run can help lengthen them out. This in turn helps prevent many common running injuries.

The American Council on Exercise has developed a complete running workout. This workout provides sample warm-up and cool-down exercises, as well as, appropriate strength training exercises for runners to do 2-3 times per week. Visit this site to learn more about this workout program: http://www.acefitness.org/workouts/21/#program