Essential Warm Up Drills Before a Club Session

By Trail Running Safety Tips for Short Winter Days
Comments 35
15 Sep 2026

Essential Warm Up Drills Before a Club Session

Why the Warm Up Sets the Tone for the Session

Arriving at the club meet point, chatting about the weekend, and then launching straight into a set of 400s is a familiar scene at many running clubs. It is also a reliable way to feel heavy-legged for the first ten minutes and to leave yourself more exposed to niggles. A proper warm up raises your core temperature, increases blood flow to working muscles and primes the nervous system, so the body is ready for the demands you are about to place on it.

For amateur athletes training two or three times a week, the warm up matters even more. You are asking your body to switch from a day at a desk or on your feet into quality running with very little build-up. Fifteen minutes of dynamic work before the main set can transform how the session feels and how well you recover from it.

Start with Easy Movement and Leg Swings

Begin with five to eight minutes of easy jogging, ideally on grass or a soft path if one is available. The pace should be conversational — enough to feel warm, not enough to tire you before the session proper. Follow this with some gentle skipping and side-to-side shuffles to introduce lateral movement that straight-line jogging does not provide.

Leg swings come next, and they are one of the most valuable drills for runners:

Front-to-back swings: Stand tall beside a fence, holding on lightly. Swing one leg forward and back in a smooth arc, keeping the torso upright. Ten to twelve swings per leg.
Side-to-side swings: Facing the same way, swing the leg across the body and out to the side, controlled rather than forced. Ten per leg.
Walking knee hugs: Step forward, pull one knee towards your chest, hold for a second, release, and step through. Ten steps per leg.

These movements open the hip joint through a full range and gently load the hamstrings without the static stretching that can dampen power before a hard session.

Open Up the Hips with Dynamic Mobility

Tight hips are common among runners who sit for much of the day, and they limit stride length and force the lower back to compensate. A few targeted drills before the club session can make a noticeable difference.

Walking lunges: Step forward into a lunge, keeping the front knee over the ankle and the back knee close to the ground. Add a gentle twist towards the front leg. Eight to ten per side.
Lateral lunges: Step out to the side, shift your weight over that leg, and push back to standing. This targets the adductors and glutes. Eight per side.
Hip circles: Standing on one leg, draw slow circles with the opposite knee, five in each direction, then swap.

Keep the movements deliberate. The aim is control and range, not speed. If a hip feels particularly stiff, spend an extra few repetitions on that side rather than rushing through.

Wake Up the Ankles and Calves

The ankle is often the forgotten joint in a warm up, yet it absorbs a huge amount of force with every stride. Stiff ankles can alter your gait, increase ground contact time and put extra load on the shins and knees.

Ankle bounces: From standing, bounce lightly on the balls of your feet, heels just off the ground. Twenty to thirty seconds.
Heel walks and toe walks: Walk twenty metres on your heels with toes lifted, then twenty metres on your toes with heels lifted.
Calf raises with a hold: Rise onto your toes, hold at the top for two seconds, and lower slowly. Twelve repetitions.

If you have had calf or Achilles trouble in the past, this section is non-negotiable. It takes three minutes and pays for itself many times over.

Prepare the Hamstrings and Glutes

The hamstrings and glutes drive your stride, and they respond well to being switched on before faster running. A few drills here help you run taller and with better form when the pace lifts.

Single-leg glute bridges: Lie on your back, one foot planted, and lift your hips until your body forms a straight line. Ten per side.
Leg swings with a pause: As before, but pause briefly at the end of the forward swing to challenge control.
A-skips and B-skips: Classic drills that reinforce quick, low ground contact and encourage the hamstrings to work through their full range. Two sets of twenty metres.

Keep the volume low. This is activation, not a workout. You want the muscles awake and responsive, not fatigued before the main session.

Building It into Your Club Night

Most club sessions allow fifteen to twenty minutes between the meet time and the start of the main set, which is ample for a well-structured warm up. A simple order works well: easy jog, leg swings, hip mobility, ankle work, then hamstring and glute activation. Finish with a few short strides at roughly your intended session pace, around sixty to eighty metres, to link the warm up to the work ahead.

If the group is large, split into pairs so one person holds a fence for leg swings while the other moves through hip drills, then swap. This keeps everyone moving and avoids standing around in the cold on winter evenings.

Remember that the warm up is not a fixed routine to tick off. As you learn which areas need an extra minute, you can tailor it to your own body. Done consistently before every club session, it is one of the simplest ways to stay healthy, run well and enjoy the training alongside your teammates.

Training

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5 Comments

Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply
- John Abraham says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
  
  I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
  Reply
  - Robert Sonnysays Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am
    
    I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
    Reply
Robert Sonny says Jul 21, 2024 at 10:00am

I must explain to you how all this mistaken idea of denouncing pleasure and praising pain was born and I will give you a complete account of the system
Reply

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