Training & Nutrition - How long does it take you to warm up

Since I managed to get a rear wheel sensor and heart rate monitor this year I have been paying a lot of attention to how I feel, my heart rate and breathing rate while riding my trainer (boredom is a *****!). I have learned that it take me about 40 to 45 minutes to get all my systems going at their maximum efficiency. How long does it take you all to warm up? I wish I had known this years ago when I would warm up for 10 minutes or so before getting dropped in races.

about 45 mintues is good for me. if it's before a race, then you need to open up the legs a little by doing some short intervals. racing on cold legs is really really painful.

i tend to get really tight in the winter, so nowadays i'll ride for about hour, stretch, and then continue on.

About 75 kms.


:lol:

Well, that's when my heart rate settles down and I start feeling really comfortable on the bicycle!! :D

Well, that's when my heart rate settles down and I start feeling really comfortable on the bicycle!! That's when you ran out of most of your muscle glycogen and "settle in" to a nearly steady-state fat-burning intensity.......

This is a great question. When I was in the Army, a couple jumping jacks and and a few sretches was all I needed to be "warmed up" for a long run. I also rode a bike virtually everywhere I went when stationed in SE Asia in the early 70's.

I returned to cycling several years ago after nearly a 30-year hiatus. It took me nearly 2 years to learn or realize that I wan't warming up until about 40 - 45 minutes on the bike. Once I accepted that fact and acknowledged some physiological differences between being 20 somethng and fifty something, I learned to enjoy cycling again.

5 miles, no breath, no legs, after that, Im good

Takes me about 30-45 minutes to warm up. I've got a bit of asthma and it takes me that long to warm up gradually and it goes away. If I try to push it harder, faster than that, it triggers an attack and I pretty much have to quit and walk home.

I guess i'm in that "years ago" catagorie you used to be in, cause i usualy only spend 10 minutes warming up, once i start to break a sweat i'm good to go. I'll admit though, i have been playing with the idea of doing a good solid 5 minute Threshold interval after 10 mins of spinning, then do another 10 mins for a total of 25mins and it tends to feel a little better, but i'm only riding 60-70mins right now so long warm up's are kinda a pain in the ass. Local rides here usualy start with a firm dropping of the hammer within the first 5 minutes so maybe it's just me.

10 minutes.

I would say about 30 minutes before all systems are a go.

I have learned that it take me about 40 to 45 minutes to get all my systems going at their maximum efficiency. How long does it take you all to warm up?Warm-up requirements vary by age and training status of the individual. Furthermore - the time of day as well as the ambient temperature and humidity contribute to warm up needs.

At room temperature, most people should be able to warm working muscles in15 minutes. Whether that's "perfect" is anybody's guess.

The older you get the longer it takes. At least it feels that way. In high school we would spar for about 10-15min before are wrestling matches. Now I need at least 25min of warm up before I make toast in the morning.

I take 45 minutes minimum, and most days I feel much stronger after 90 minutes. I work with both younger and older athletes and the general trend it seems is the older the athlete/more experience, the longer the warm up needed to have a solid performance. There are exceptions of course, but this i have noticed.

I used to only need about 10 minutes, but the "better" I get, the more of a warmup I need. Nowadays I need about 30 minutes to really get going.

8-10 miles and I start to warm up.

i feel like i'm good after about 30 minutes-- after that i kinda feel like i'm ready to go-- problem is i only have a little less than an hour to ride in the mornings :( so i warm up ride a little then head back in. weekends, of course, are a different story!

I say there are stages to being warmed up.

5 minutes to have loose and warm muscles
15- 20 minutes to have lungs warmed up and working efficiently
25- 45 minutes to be in the zone where you are feeling at peak performance

20 minutes

my warm-up time also varies with how fatigued I am. On fresh legs, I can feel great in 10 minutes. At the end of 3 hard weeks of training I sometimes won't feel warmed-up until about 90 minutes.

30-60 minutes for me

At least 20, and sometimes as much as an hour, depending on terrain, intensity, etc.

For me, going hard right out of the gate does not accelerate the warmup (probably even delays it and causes a bunch of other problems). A somewhat gradual build of intensity is usually the ticket. It is for this reason that I like to "ride to the ride"...that is, if I'm doing a group ride, I usually try to ride over to the start rather than drive up and start cold.

10 miles-ish. Its funny, everytime I start riding and get to like 8 miles I think "damn... im never going to get through this ride" and then 2 miles later I am in full effect and no problem. Samme with running and swimming when I start.

3-4 miles of flat or 1-2 miles of good 6% grade. I try NOT to start at the base of the mountian, I'd rather ride a few miles to it so I get my legs and lungs opened up.

At least 30 minutes before I'm ready to put in a good effort. Maybe even longer if the temperature is bitterly cold.

About 200 yards or so. I'm pretty slow, so going a few hundred yards so that my lungs are hot, blood is moving through warm legs, the heart is where it's going to be for the next hour, doesn't take much effort and is far from overexertion.

Some of the above seem like obscenely long warm ups. Are we laregely a geriatric crowd here? Do pro riders put in hour long warmups? Do swimmers, runners or triathletes put in this kind of warmup?

I tend not to ride starting cold ever. I bundle up in the house and am heavily armored from head to toe so that I never feel cold ever. If I'm driving to a ride, I keep the heater on if it's cold out.

my commute is 10.5 miles and on days like yesterday (25*) I warm up about 10-15 min after I walk in the door.

...seriously, 30min minimum, so, in winter I'm feeling strong/nimble just before I get to work/home. This is really frustrating most days.

I notice there're lots of folks on this thread who are BF50+ escapees, like me. As such, I'll another 30-45 minute warm up requirement data point for that dempgraphic.

60-70 minutes before I feel good. Its also freezing out, so warming up takes a lot longer than normal.

For those who run and ride, the running takes less time to warm up than the bike warm up. By combining the two, run first for a while then ride, then you might shorten the time for the bike warm up. For those who are too old to run or have bum knees, etc. then walk briskly for 10 minutes before the ride.

Then maybe, you will have a better ride with your total time on the bike.

take an hour warm up of varying intensity before a time trial. check with carmichael on the disco team pre trial warm up.

I am usually good to go after between 6 minutes and 20 minutes depending on how cold it is, how early in the morning, and how hard I "warm up," etc.

I have read that it takes a good 10 to 15 minutes for the aerobic system to function well and prevent lactic acid build-up. It's at least that long for me with Asthma.

Al

Im 21, my fitness is reasnable though I have plenty of room for improvement.

I feel I have two levels of warmed up just to complicate things. Theres a point where hard terrain/hills requires concerted work and leaves me huffing and puffing, but I don't feel I am struggling for energy in muscles which are supple and coping. This stage takes atleast 20 minutes and can be up to 40 in colder conditions.

After an hour or so, but up to 2; I reach anouther level where all but the hardest of hills are frankly easy. I experiance only small elevations in breathing rate, I have no lack of energy and generally can maintain a highish relative* cadence (70) when using medium to low gears whilst attacking a hill.

Given my age, does this sound right? Or "normal" (ish)? I must admit I am probablly about 20 pounds over weight and I have a relatively low threshold for the change over from aerobic to anaerobic exercise.

Any thoughts / comments are welcome.

* My cadence technique is low cadence (50-60), max/high gear on the flat or descent.

About 3 to 5 miles.

this seems like the right place for this, does anybody have any tips for improving (reducing) warmup time? I find that it takes me a while and in some situations where there isn't much time for a warmup, I'm trying to figure out things that I can do to expedite it (long race day registrations, traffic, etc)

Thanks,
Steve

Spoke to one pro rider who said before the Philly PRO Race (150 mile with challenging elevation) said 10-15min on the trainer and that he would get more "warmed-up" during the race.

Usually about 20 minutes of riding time.

We have an unwritten club rule - no hills in first 10 miles. I agree with most other posters. About 10 mi. or 30-45 min.

The days that I really enjoy are the ones where I just keep getting stronger and stronger as I ride. They only happen during peak form in late summer, early fall.

I say there are stages to being warmed up.

I definitely agree with that. I can start to up the intensity after just 10-15 minutes, but in order to be warmed up for an all out effort(sprint, short time trial, etc), I need close to an hour.

There are other factors as well. Such as how well recovered you are in the first place, and the temps.

Im 21, my fitness is reasnable though I have plenty of room for improvement.

I feel I have two levels of warmed up just to complicate things. Theres a point where hard terrain/hills requires concerted work and leaves me huffing and puffing, but I don't feel I am struggling for energy in muscles which are supple and coping. This stage takes atleast 20 minutes and can be up to 40 in colder conditions.

After an hour or so, but up to 2; I reach anouther level where all but the hardest of hills are frankly easy. I experiance only small elevations in breathing rate, I have no lack of energy and generally can maintain a highish relative* cadence (70) when using medium to low gears whilst attacking a hill.

Given my age, does this sound right? Or "normal" (ish)? I must admit I am probablly about 20 pounds over weight and I have a relatively low threshold for the change over from aerobic to anaerobic exercise.

Any thoughts / comments are welcome.

* My cadence technique is low cadence (50-60), max/high gear on the flat or descent.Totally normal. I'm the same way and I'm 3 times your age. Except you should try to increase your cadence to 80-90 on the flat and 75-80 climbing.

Answering another question, you can shorten your warm up by warming up for about 20 minutes, then doing a couple of 1.5 minute hard intervals at high cadence with about 3 minutes between them. That way you'll be pretty good after only 1/2 hour.

We often go into a climb right out of the parking lot. Just take that first one easy - keep it under 85% of max.

About an hour for me, at 48.

I'm sure it was shorter when I was younger, but I'm far more in tune to my body now that I was then. Maybe because it's talking to me more :)

Since I managed to get a rear wheel sensor and heart rate monitor this year I have been paying a lot of attention to how I feel, my heart rate and breathing rate while riding my trainer (boredom is a *****!). I have learned that it take me about 40 to 45 minutes to get all my systems going at their maximum efficiency. How long does it take you all to warm up? I wish I had known this years ago when I would warm up for 10 minutes or so before getting dropped in races.

After about 30 minutes of mostly spinning and some sprints.

Spoke to one pro rider who said before the Philly PRO Race (150 mile with challenging elevation) said 10-15min on the trainer and that he would get more "warmed-up" during the race.

If it was a road race, then sure because Pro/Cat 1/Cat 2 races are lengthy (some 100+ miles), so plenty of time to warm up and really race.

Thanks for the input guys. I'm starting to notice it on crits that start fast and stay fast with little room for recovery. I have noticed two different degrees of being warmed up. I feel like I want my body needs to improve my stage 1 warmup so that it performs closer to that stage 2.

I guess these stages improve as your overall fitness improves. I have heard that the shorter the race, the longer the warmup as well.

Steve

Research the phenomena of "second wind". It has to do with aspiration and then oxygenation of your blood stream. I think 20 minutes should suffice.

I think but can't really explain I have two levels of warm up. Initially it's about 30-40 minutes of spinning to get warmed up then I'm pretty good for awhile then around the 70-80km mark I'm really hitting my groove and I can stay there for about another 40-50k before I start waning. I love that 70km mark it's when I feel the absulute best. I have all the power earlier than that but recovery quicker after hard effort when in my zone.