How do recreational endurance runners warm-up and cool-down? A descriptive study on the use of continuous runs

This study aimed at examining the presence of running-based exercises in the warm-up and cool-down routines for recreational endurance runners and to determine the training volume (i.e. time and distance) orientated to warm-up and cool-down. Recreational endurance runners filled a questionnaire through an online Google Docs, which consisted in 12 items referred to demographic information, athletic performance, training contents, warm-up and cool-down routines. Five level groups were determined according to their personal best in a 10-km trial. Out of 1419 athletes, 80.6% were men and 19.4% were women. On average, participants trained 4.1 ± 1.6 sessions per week, with a weekly mileage of 47.3 ± 17.5 km. The 70.5% of participants always included continuous runs (CR) as a warm-up, with an average duration of ~13 min, with longer duration in higher level groups. Regarding the cool-down routines, 45.7% of the participants always included CR as a cool-down, whereas 43.4% just after high-intensity sessions. On average, participants spend ~7 min for cooling-down, ~3 times per week, with greater volumes (in terms of duration and frequency) in higher level groups. In summary, these data indicate that an average endurance runner spends ~18% of his/her total training time per week warming-up or cooling-down.