Warm‑ups aren’t punishment laps. They’re your chance to arrive in the first work set already moving like yourself. Fifteen calm minutes beats thirty frantic ones. Open the ranges you’ll actually use, wake up the trunk, and lightly rehearse the first station.
Begin with easy movement to mid‑Zone 2. Six or seven minutes of relaxed jogging or cycling is enough to raise temperature without spending money you’ll want later. Breathe through the nose as long as it feels natural; it’s a built‑in pace governor.
Open hips, ankles, and upper back with a short sequence. Think lunge rocks, ankle knee‑to‑wall pulses, and a few thoracic rotations or wall slides. Two minutes each is plenty. If your ribs flare during overhead positions, slow down until they don’t.
Activate, don’t annihilate. Use a set or two of light wall balls, ten smooth Ski or Row strokes, and a handful of lunge steps to remind your body what’s coming. The aim is coordination, not fatigue. Finish with three short strides at race cadence and the first ten strokes you plan to take on the erg—exactly as you’ll take them when it counts.
If nerves spike, your breath is the reset button. Two deliberate exhales before you start a set settle the system faster than any playlist. Hold onto that habit; it travels from warm‑up to transitions to the final station.
You’ll know you nailed the warm‑up when the first work set feels familiar and boring in the best way. Save heroics for the race. The warm‑up’s job is to make good movement automatic.
