Any point in warming up on the bike?

[RoboCheme]

In a bike race, I can see why you'd want to warm up on the trainer, but in a tri or a duathlon is there any point? In my duathlon in April, it'll be 45 min to an hour before i get on my bike. By that time, I'll be warmed up cardio-wise, but the only muscles that will be warmed up will be the ones that I use for running.

So, do you warm up on the bike before the race?

[Sprocket Man]

In a bike race, I can see why you'd want to warm up on the trainer, but in a tri or a duathlon is there any point? In my duathlon in April, it'll be 45 min to an hour before i get on my bike. By that time, I'll be warmed up cardio-wise, but the only muscles that will be warmed up will be the ones that I use for running.

So, do you warm up on the bike before the race?
I do. I'm not naturally a morning person so anything I can do to get the blood circulating helps me. If nothing else, I think it helps my swim too because my whole body warms up. And sometimes it's hard to warm up in the water before the swim start because there are too many people around to get into a comfortable rhythm.

[Woden2003]

Also, taking a spin on your bike that morning allows you to make sure EVERYTHING is in perfect working order.

[cslone]

I do, but it's more of a last minute check. I got for a mile or two ride, get a few hard efforts in and make sure my bike is in the PROPER starting gear for the exit of T1(i.e. uphill, downhill).

[Triguy]

Typically, one hour out from my wave I do the standard 10 minutes on the bike and make sure everythings in working order, maybe a little bit of race pace but mostly just shifting/standing/double checking everything. Then about 15 minutes of running easy. 15 of stretching and 15 minutes swimming/in the water. Come to think of it it's almost 30-40 minutes of warming up, but it's all done fairly easy.

Less warm up is needed as the race gets (edit for being stupid) *longer* in length.

[Woden2003]

Actually, i don't agree with Triguy, I think MORE warm up is needed as the race gets shorter, as you are more likely to be going at a MUCH harder effort in a sprint than you are in a Half-IM. Think about it, if you got in the lake for a sprint, and you were aiming to podium, you'd have to be around your AT/LT from the gun. If it takes you 2 minutes to get fully warmed up in the water, you're already way behind. In a HIM, if you took two minutes to get warmed up in the water, you'd be a little behind, but could easily make that up on the bike or run.

[rplong]

...I think MORE warm up is needed as the race gets shorter, as you are more likely to be going at a MUCH harder effort in a sprint than you are in a Half-IM.

According to Joe Friel, this is correct.

I took this theory into account last summer when I ran a 1 mile race. I usually don't warm up before events at all, but I figured I could run a slow mile before the race. Long story-short, a brick was out of place on the downtown sidewalk I was running on, I slipped, fell and sprained my ankle 15 minutes before the race. I'm never going to warm up again. HA.

I've seen people warm up just by doing a single event, before a multisport event. I've seen people do all three, as Triguy seems to.

However, since I have been using my HRM I have noticed that when I do intervals, by the 3rd or 4th work interval I don't feel like I am stressing myself as much as the 1st and 2nd. My HR reaches the peak much quicker because I am warmed up and to me, it seems easier to keep the same pace as the 1st and 2nd. So, my theory this season will be to possibly dable with warming up. I don't really care which activity I do, just as long as I can get my HR up before the event starts.

[andygates]

I think this may be solid: I generally do little warmup (ex-couch potato so I'm leery of spending all my energy before the race!) but I've noticed recently that I have a much better swim when I ride to the pool than when I drive there, so I'm going to try a 20-minute ish warmup ride before my next sprint.

[Triguy]

Both of you are right, that was a typo.. my bad.

[Bici3]

I've been tri-racing and riding for 17 years.
I gotta go with Triguy and Woden. I've been known to go bike warm-up for :30min. in prep for an 18 mile bike segment. Goes along with proper physio-prep, and bike check. 10 min. run. Head to the beach for 800m of swim - finishing approx. 3 min. pre-wave. "Too much" warm-up has always served me better than too little. Newby-Fraser once said: "the 3 min. draft penalty in the sin-bin" always helped her IM run.
I also rode with a local crew that went out for a "Bleeding-from-the-eyeballs" effort. If missed a steady 1hour warm-up ride before... I would be dispatched early. With the pre-1hour... Always hung, and pulled my share. Now, I use the warm-up so the Italian climbers don't get me.

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