Whats the Point of a Shake Out Run

Helps loosen up the legs for a later run. It helps for most people, maybe it doesn't help you for some reason, no need to start a thread acting like a dick.

lech fan wrote:

What is the point of a Shake out Run in the morning????

I think its stupid as hell and see no benefit from it??

Why did you end with a question mark!

Maybe you are not doing it properly????

For many, it helps work out stiffness and soreness from the prior day and leaves them better prepared for an afternoon workout.

For others, it allows them to tack on additional garbage miles in the never ending quest to accumulate numbers in a log book.

Either do the AM run or don't. It is your choice - nothing to get upset about.

Good...don't do them. Why ask about them if you already know what they are and see no benefit from them?

I think the purpose is to shake things out.

Yeah, I don't see the point either. I do them the mornings of workouts because I'm supposed to, but I don't think they add any benefit. In fact, I think I feel fresher during my workouts when I skip the morning run.

But the point is not to feel fresh all the time, right? Going into a workout with some extra miles in your legs is only going to add to training effect, I assume.

I doubt you're going to see much concrete science on this topic, but anecdotally, the evidence to support the practice is overwhelming.

I like the feeling of revving up my metabolism. I have more energy all day after a shakeout. I don't feel sluggish when I go to the track. I also believe that a higher frequency of stimulus keeps your body's recovery/adaptative response in overdrive. By running 2x/day, your body learns to recover in 12 hours instead of 24. If you feel absolutely shattered, you can take a morning off and it feels like you've taken a whole day off by the time you run at night. Every PR I've ever run has been on an evening following a shakeout run. Every professional I've ever met does shakeout runs. Every competitive post-collegian I've ever met does shakeout runs. Even the better high school runners do shakeout runs. Finally, if you're a fairly fast runner, then the guys who beat you at your last race did a shakeout run.

The argument of "it works for me" or "I ran a PR when I did it in the morning" is a bunch of bull. Show me some sort of Physio benefit or gain your body receives and I can implement it.

I understand the "mental" ideas behind the shake out run. But what if you feel like garbage in the morning, does this help you or hurt you mentally? Lets say you wake up at 7:30 and lose 2 hours of sleep due to a shake out run. What would you rather see an athlete do, sleep an extra 2 hours or lose 2 hours of sleep and run 2 miles? Also for people who are all jazzed up to getting their metabolic rate moving in the morning it doesn't last until your race and once your body calms down your in the same state you were when you were in bed. Especially if you head right back into your room or lie down. No benefit gained.

So,I feel with no physio gains, risk of mental ruin a shake out run is utterly useless.

And 800 Dude, the reason people beat my in races is because they are running faster workouts and have trained harder. Not because they ran 15 minutes when the woke up.

How are there no physio gains? It's still running which is training your body to run faster. I agree that shakeout runs force your body to recover faster but I have to say that sometimes i feel great doing a PM workout when I had not done a AM run. But I still mostly do those AM runs. Why? Because it's TRAINING, not just a shakeout run.

It's for one reason and one reason only, because people think it sounds cool to say they did a shake out.

They run a shakeout because they ran twice a day every other day that week. Your body gets into a pattern and you try not to break it. The question is, why the hell are you missing out on 2 hours of sleep to run 2 miles? If you've got an early race, by all means skip the shakeout. But it should just fall into your normal routine, only a little shorter because you want to be relatively fresh before you race.

If you only want to do things with scientifically proven physiological benefits, you're probably going to miss out on most of the proven training approaches that exist, because some scientist will prove to you that 4 minutes of sprints is more effective than 1.5 hours of steady running, and from the sound of things you'll be too stupid to point out the flaws in his study.

Helps you take a good dump.

That too.

First of all, I admitted that my evidence is purely anecdotal. The thing is, the science behind lots of successful training methods is patchy and hypothetical. If we stuck with only what has been scientifically proven, we wouldn't have many tools to work with.

My point about the people that beat you isn't that the shakeout made them faster, it's that fast people trust the shakeout. Everyone is an experiment of one, and the vast majority of people who have experimented on themselves have chosen to do shakeouts.

If you're talking about shakeout vs. sleep, then the discussion is entirely different. We're no longer talking about optimal training; we're talking about how to balance training with the realities of life. I'll be the first to admit that in real life, there are all kinds of trade offs. That said, my shakeouts would only be 2 miles if my race is in the morning. If my race/workout is at night, my shakeout is 5 miles.

I don't know if you were directly responding to me, but I agree 100%.

I'm guessing he was responding to the guy who wanted scientific evidence (aka the douche). I also agree 100%, your posts make a lot of sense 800 dude.

edumacator wrote:

The question is, why the hell are you missing out on 2 hours of sleep to run 2 miles?

I think the question is, why the hell is s/he missing out 2 hours of sleep when s/he's waking up at 7:30?

This is for "lech Fan"... I think this is a great topic to research and to find "proof" from a physiological side to the benefits of a shakeout run. I would need to look into it further to give you a concrete reason...

I do know that runners are creatures of habit and are very routine. Many become use to the shakeout run and see the mental sides it provide. The run allows you to not sleep in to late, to get up and wake the body up by running, to stretch after, usually get in some breakfast, to get the brain/metabolism going. It is known that runners get the 'runners high' after running and their are endorphins that are released even after a 10 minute run...small...but none the less it does help to be alert and focused for the race ahead.

More than anything it is mental for athletes and I dont find anything harmful with running 10 minutes to start the day off

Oscar G wrote:

edumacator wrote:

The question is, why the hell are you missing out on 2 hours of sleep to run 2 miles?

I think the question is, why the hell is s/he missing out 2 hours of sleep when s/he's waking up at 7:30?

Because he goes to bed at 2AM most of the days, wasted.