Recently on the Running Feedback forums the question was asked regarding warm-ups. The link to the warm-ups provided here is a very basic and gentle routine and I shall be providing further guidelines at a later stage.
I have a very personal opinion regarding warm ups related to my coaching experiences and have the following to say:
The secret behind a warm up is very much an individual thing.
I highly recommend a routine, as it is a tremendous way to prepare one mentally before a race by doing a sequence of warm up aspects that prepare you both mentally and physically for an event.
The idea is to elevate the pulse rate so that you are ready for the start.
Get the blood circulating and the muscles activated. Many a problem is caused via a fast start when the muscles are not activated for the quick sprint at the start of the race causing immediate problems that will have an impact on performance later in the race or training session, during interval training for example.
So there are my thoughts on warming up