Trail Running Blog

9 Running Stretches to Run Faster

Running stretches are a very important thing to do before you go on any run and definitely before running a race. Other things are just as important, like having the right pair of running shoes, running with good form, and having a good warm-up run. When we used to meet up for practice on the trail at 6AM during the summer, before we started running our workout on the trail, we would start everything out with a good-paced warm-up lap, which consisted of running a perimeter around our baseball fields behind the gym which was about 1,000 meters. The warm-up run was not meant to be so fast that it affected our actual run, but fast enough to start to break a sweat and warm enough to loosen our muscles and relieve any tension, which is what you really want to do.

With your muscles loose, stretching will be a lot easier, and will benefit you in many ways. Stretching before running is definitely important: first of all, as a preventative measure. Runners pull muscles all the time by not properly stretching. Keeping your muscles loose and stretched will also help in keeping your form while on a run or race, which will provide your body a better range of motion and longer strides to help you run faster. Your body won’t be tight and allow you to really focus on running rather than form.

9 Running Stretches to help you run faster.


After a quick water break, we would gather around in a circle and perform our daily running stretches. The following stretches will help you avoid pulling a muscle and allow you to have the best run possible. I have provided example videos of these exact stretches (or equivalent) to help as a visual aid.

Note: All running stretches should be performed for about 10 seconds or so.

Arm Stretches

If you follow these running stretches (more or less in that order), you will help lengthen and strengthen your muscles, allowing a better range of motion for your arms and legs. All this, in turn, helps you perform better and run faster at runs and races, without doing much else.

This is probably not an extensive list of running stretches, but what I learned to do when I first started running. But if done right, you will surely start to see yourself running faster from these stretches. What other stretches do you do before a run?


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