Warm up - Crit racing

Variance
Variance Posts: 130
edited April 2015 in Amateur race
Is there a scientific way of warming up for these?

I usually amble round for 3 or 4 laps with a couple of half arsed sprints before standing at the start, thinking 'was there any point in that?' and it looks as if most do the same.

As soon as the flag drops the speed & HR go through the roof so my question is should I be warming up to such an extent that HR is already high so it's not as much of a shock to the system?

I'm asthmatic too so the jump from 90 to 160BPM in 2 minutes is quite a thing for me!

Cheers

Comments

  • imposter2.0
    imposter2.0 Posts: 12,028
    I think you've answered your own question?
  • jibberjim
    jibberjim Posts: 2,810
    Variance wrote:
    As soon as the flag drops the speed & HR go through the roof so my question is should I be warming up to such an extent that HR is already high so it's not as much of a shock to the system?

    how would you do that unless you were seriously unfit? Standing on the start line for a couple of minutes should be having your HR drop back to resting levels anyway.

    Type of warm ups are individual.
    Jibbering Sports Stuff: http://jibbering.com/sports/
  • ozzzyosborn206
    ozzzyosborn206 Posts: 1,340
    it depends on the crit you are doing, I would say somewhere like hillingdon you don't really need to warm up more than that, but a tight twisty town centre crit it will be more beneficial to do a few slightly longer efforts at or near to race pace/threshold to get the legs turning and ready for what your about to subject them to
  • thegibdog
    thegibdog Posts: 2,106
    https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/insig ... -Warm-Up-0

    It's not something you can follow strictly if you're just riding around the circuit but you can keep the general principles in mind, i.e. gradually increase the pace and do some quick spin outs to get your legs going. Although if you are racing at Salt Ayre I don't imagine it makes much difference unless you are planning to attack from the start or at risk of getting dropped.
    https://gibworth.mypixieset.com
  • DavidJB
    DavidJB Posts: 2,019
    jibberjim wrote:
    Variance wrote:
    As soon as the flag drops the speed & HR go through the roof so my question is should I be warming up to such an extent that HR is already high so it's not as much of a shock to the system?

    how would you do that unless you were seriously unfit? Standing on the start line for a couple of minutes should be having your HR drop back to resting levels anyway.

    Type of warm ups are individual.

    You must be Mr Cool...my HR sits about 60 above 'resting' on the start line!

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