Valerian

When I go out to bike, I start slow and warm up to get to that 'sweet spot' where I feel I am ready and could start my regular workout/interval/etc.

I noticed that the warm up time/distance needed to hit that sweet spot varies all the time. If I hit mile 5 on warm up, sometimes I am ready and other times I need another 3-5 miles more.

How long/far do you guys take on warm up and what could influence these fluctuations?

My warm up route is constant so road condition variables are eliminated.

Smallguy

usually takes me a good 20- 30 mins to feel warm and strong

for me the temperature,sleep,nutrition all play factors and also the route.... and also how my other rides have been for intensity

some of the routes I ride start out with some good climbs I find hitting those when not warm makes me hurt but once i'm warm the climbs are allot easier.... I need ot be carful when not warm because if I go into the hurt locker too early it effects my ride allot more than if I properly warm up before putting myself in the hurt locker

canam73

Time of day plays a big part for me. If I take a dawn ride, it will take me a half hour to really get going. But if is later in the day when I start I will find my self starting to push with out thinking about it after 15 minutes.

Creatre

Honestly I feel the same as I start for the rest of the ride. If I feel a bit drained at the beginning, I will for the rest of the time, if I feel great at the start, I remain great. I try to warm up a pretty good 5 miles or so just to make sure my muscles/ligaments/joints, etc are warmed up before I do anything hard. I never really feel improved by the warm up though, never really understood that.

c.miller64

It's always at least 6 miles and sometimes as much as 20 for me to feel fully "warmed up".

Wanderer

It usually takes 5-6 miles for me to get comfortable and loose.

Daytrip

Depends on the time of year for me, too. In warmer weather, it takes me perhaps 2 miles until my knees stop hurting and I feel up for whatever ride I have ahead of me. That's two miles of climbing, mostly. In colder weather, I'm not warmed up until I'm warmed up, and that's perhaps after 3 or 4 miles of climbing. I almost always start out on the same route, which means climbing 700 feet in about 5 miles.

ptle

It kind of depends on the length of the ride. If I'm going for anything over 50 miles, I will probably take it easy at the beginning. If I'm doing a 35-40miler, I try to warm up faster.

However, I'm usually warmed up by mile ten... so about 30 minutes. Usually, at mile 25, I'm completely warmed up and feel like I can hold a pace for hours. It's almost like a second wind.

In one group ride I do, some people like to take off at the beginning. I've tried to stay with them, but when I do, I end up feeling worse over the whole ride. I find it much better to take my own pace or a slower pace until we regroup somewhere between mile 5-10. Then I can start riding hard.

Valerian

i guess to each, his own. but i am getting from replies that it is at least between mile 5 to 10 or 15-30 min.

logdrum

I need just a mile or so. I am doing too many chores, feeding and mucking 8 horses feedings, dogs sheep and cats and pruning trees - that I am warmed up just from doing that. I do yoga as well.


I do not have the luxury of more time, so I structure all my rides to be efficient AMAP. If you do a Tabata intervals, you will not cook your muscles and can start out right away and get a really intense workout

When I am riding to work, I just hammer up right from the road. It's only six miles with ~1 mile of climb and I am always running late it seems.

In a group ride, yeah everyone pushes hard right away, crazy.

Another thing you can do is open up your lungs right away (of course you stretch before) and then slow down to a warmup pace for about 10 minutes then you are ready.

And if the ride is long (which for me over 3 hours), you can can go 65% of your max power of heart rate and you should be able to be there right away without waiting for long. I guess I am on the short warmup time of the spectrum.

StanSeven

That's 20 mph average, which is awfully fast for a warm up

DataJunkie

Depends on the ride. If it is a short ride like my 1 hr 20 miles lunch ride then I rarely spend very long warming up. Longer rides it is 5 miles or so.

Terex

For TT warmup protocol see: https://coach.dancoy.com/archive/tt_w...ty3=&seventy3=

carpediemracing 

In spring races I prefer a 0-20 second warm up. I'm not sure why that works. I warm up longer and I do horrible. Summer doesn't change much - I noodle around for 15 minutes and I'm fine.

The only time that's not true is when I'm not feeling good, like maybe coming off of a really long ride (i.e. ride really hard for 5 hours to get to the race), or days following long rides (the day after a really hilly 100 mile route). Then it takes me a good 30-60 minutes to get into the groove.

The other day I did a 2 hour ride. The prior day I raced, didn't eat any carbs afterwards (salad), didn't eat much during the day of the 2 hour ride, worked a few hours in the yard, then rushed to make the ride. Due to some distractions I forgot to put the gel/bars I brought in my pockets. I got dropped immediately, crawling. It took me an hour to get rolling a bit, aided by two Fig Newton squares a sympathetic rider gave me. I was flying the last half hour.

cdr

Daytrip

Maybe we should define "warm up," or maybe I should learn what it stands for. I go through phases on most rides. I consider "warm up" the process of getting comfortable on the bike. At some point much later in most rides, I hit my sweet spot, but it's generally about halfway into the journey when the endorphins start to kick in and everything is groovy. After that, I start to get tired and achy and look forward to the end of the ride. So for me, it's a big bell curve, with my sweet spot at the top, but my warm up is pretty close to the beginning. On long rides like centuries, I have to jump-start sweet spots after the first one with hydration and nutrition, mental exercises, etc. On those rides, it's more like two or three bell curves.

Velo Gator

3-4 miles I'd say.

coasting 

are you guys warming up muscle, loosening up or are you warming up cardio.

When I start, withing the first mile I have a bit of a climb. It isn't major but it is reasonably steep. I find that my cardio is not able to cope with that climb and i have to drop to a really low gear. Later in the ride, just 2 or 3 miles further on, there is a good hard climb and i can handle that no prob. It is severe enough for me to need the 39/25 gear and my heart rate goes up a good deal but i am totally comfortable doing it. I don't know why that first climb is so hard and it really is nothing.

crhilton

It takes me about 10 miles or 40 minutes to be warmed up. After about 3 miles it doesn't hurt to hammer, I'm just not as strong yet.

Takes less time if I road a lot the day before. Takes more time if it's been a day or two since I had a long ride.

Dr. Banzai

I have a 1.2km slight downhill from my front door to my bridge climb. Not sure what this "warmup" you speak of is.

echappist

and don't forget to cool down for about the same distance afterwards

Valerian

i imagine for short races or crits it is important to be fully warmed up for max performance before the gun.

with the group i ride with they start full throttle, if i am warmed up i could stay with the group, if not they are over the horizon in 5-10 min from start.

Dr. Banzai

nothing wrong with sprinting home.

noobpone

I'm suprised how many people consider not warming up a badge of pride to wear. It's just stupid, you need to warm up people! You body needs time to prime the body for a serious workout, capilaries to expand muscles to be engorged with blood, etc. This helps cut down on injuries, including joint injuries during exercise. I've transitioned from ex University Div. I swimmer to cycling enthusiast and in the spring signing up for my first Cat...5. During a two hour workout the first half hour was always used as a warm up, if gets your body ready to perform at an optimum level. This is more important on Race days to have a good long warmup, you might think this will drain your energy, but this is false it improves performance.

echappist

i tried to sprint for a light once when i should have been cooling down, but didn't see the newly dug trench in the middle of the street. i ended up trashing my wheelset

of course, if you live in a place where the gov't can actually afford to repave s!htty roads, by all means, sprint home

echappist

what most people don't realize is that at a low intensity, muscle glycogen won't be taxed. though for races, it is recommended to rev it up for 3-5x30 seconds on the trainer (i go to 160 BPM, compared to my FTP HR of 170) just before the start of the race.