Very popular, running has the advantage of being accessible to all: a good pair of sneakers and a good dose of motivation are enough to get started. However, to run as efficiently as possible, it is essential to think about warming up before the session and to plan some recovery and stretching exercises after the race. To take stock of the right actions to adopt to optimize his running session, we met Ameline Vincent, sports coach at the Aquatonic de Nantes.

Rotation exercises, knee climbs ... Basic warm-ups

When planning a running session, you often block one hour of sport in your schedule. The ideal would be to provide fifteen minutes extra to have time to warm up. And no, we do not start our session with the race. Ameline Vincent explains that good warm-up exercises depend on the pathologies of each: "If you have painful ankles, you can start with rotational movements on the spot, which will heat the joint and protect it for the next effort. . "

In the same way, if your shoulders hurt you during the effort, make rotations to warm them up. For running, the warm-up is classic, some exercises of rotation, wrist, legs, shoulders, then some climbs of knees while you begin to walk. "The secret is to go step by step, start walking, then trot for five minutes, before you actually start running." insists Ameline Vincent.

After the running: walking, hydration and flexibility to avoid aches

To finish your running session, slow down the pace gradually, until you walk. This is called active recovery. It allows you to quietly lower your heart rate. Keep hydrated, but, says Ameline Vincent: "drink in fits and starts, it is useless to drink 1 liter of water at once, your body does not assimilate it".

After the session, stretches and relaxation exercises are essential, they allow you to avoid too much muscle soreness . Standing up, grab your ankle behind the glutes to stretch the quads. It is a classic exercise but relieves the muscles stressed during the effort. "If you have a bench, stretch your hamstrings by putting your foot on the bench and tilting slightly forward," advises our sports coach.

Finally, you can stretch your upper body to relax and your waist. To do this, grab your elbow above your head and bring it back with the other arm towards the center of the body. For the back, join hands behind your back, feet slightly apart and lean forward keeping your back straight. For the waist, stretch your arms over your head, grab your wrist and gently pull to tilt your entire body to one side, and stretch your waist.

Ameline Vincent also stresses the stretching of the flexors of the legs: "these muscles are never stretched and our sedentary lives do not improve anything.It is the muscles at the junction of the waist and thighs, which are very solicited during the race. . " To relieve them, tilt the weight of your body forward by pressing your foot on a bench. You must flex well.

Pool and sauna after the running session: a must to relieve the muscles

If you have the opportunity, treat yourself to a relaxing moment in the pool after a running session. Water has a relaxing effect and if there are massage jets, it is ideal to relieve the arches, often painful after exercise and difficult to relax otherwise.

The sauna is also your number one ally for eliminating toxins, which is facilitated just after an effort as intense as running. For a recovery more and more effective, the secret of Ameline Vincent, it is above all the perseverance: if the first sessions are difficult, it is necessary to force oneself to return to run and little by little, the sessions will be more pleasant. Start slowly, at your own pace, then extend the session. The ideal being to run for about 45 minutes, with 15 minutes of stretching, to recover well.