Newsroom
How to warm up before a 6am run
A five minute warm up that fits neatly between the 5:45am meet and the 6:00am start, using nothing but your own body.
The best warm up before a 6am run is five minutes of easy movement: sixty seconds of walking, a few leg swings, some lunges and gentle squats, and a short stride or two. That is enough to raise your breathing, loosen your hips and let you start the run comfortably instead of spending the first kilometre waiting for your legs to catch up.
It also fits the morning perfectly. Our Thursday Morning Run meets at 5:45am and starts at 6:00am at Glenhaven Oval, which gives you exactly fifteen minutes to park, say hello, register and warm up. Here is how to use those minutes well.
Why a short warm up matters on a cold morning
At 6am your body has just come off a night of sleep. Your heart rate is low, your joints feel stiff and the winter air is colder than your lounge room. Ask cold legs to run straight away and the first few hundred metres feel heavier than they should.
A short warm up fixes most of that. Moving gently before you run raises your breathing and heart rate, gets blood flowing to your legs and makes the first kilometre of the run feel like part of the run, not a shock. You do not need anything complicated, and you do not need to break a sweat. You are just letting your body know what is coming.
Think of it this way: the run is 2.5 km or 5 km, so spending five minutes preparing for it is a small trade for a much better start.
The five minute warm up, minute by minute
This routine uses no equipment and stays within a few square metres of grass, so you can do it right where the group gathers. Settle in around 5:55am and you will finish as the group gets moving.
| Minutes | What to do | Why it helps |
|---|---|---|
| 0:00 to 1:00 | Walk a lap of the meeting area at an easy pace. | Gently raises your heart rate and wakes up your ankles and knees. |
| 1:00 to 2:00 | Leg swings: hold onto a fence or a friend, swing each leg forwards and backwards ten times, then side to side ten times. | Loosens hips and hamstrings, which feel tightest first thing in the morning. |
| 2:00 to 3:00 | Eight slow walking lunges on each leg, keeping your back upright. | Switches on the muscles you use for every stride. |
| 3:00 to 4:00 | Ten easy squats, then ten small ankle circles per foot. | Prepares your legs and ankles for uneven ground and grass starts. |
| 4:00 to 5:00 | Two or three relaxed strides, about twenty metres each, at a jog-to-brisk pace. | Smooths the jump from standing still to running with the group. |
Missing a minute here or there is fine. Even the walk and a few leg swings are better than nothing, and nobody at a community run club is timing your routine.
What to skip before the run
The old habit of standing still and stretching hard before a run is not the best use of your five minutes. Long, held stretches on cold muscles do little to prepare you for running and can leave you feeling flat at the start. Stretching has its place, just later.
- Skip long holds before the run. Save your deeper stretching for afterwards, along with the rest of your recovery routine.
- Skip standing completely still while you wait. Shuffle, swing your legs, keep moving.
- Skip sprinting to warm up. Two relaxed strides are plenty before an easy group run.
Our guide to the best post run stretches and recovery routines is a good companion to this one: warm up with movement, cool down with stretches.
Warm up on Tuesday nights too
The same routine works before the Tuesday Night Run at Castle Hill Showground, which meets at 6:45pm for a 7:00pm start under the lights. Evening runs feel easier on the body than 6am ones because you have been moving all day, so you can trim the routine to three or four minutes: a short walk, some leg swings and a couple of strides, then you are ready for the 3 km or 6 km options.
Running at night under lights is a different kind of enjoyable, and the warm up doubles as a good way to shake off the workday before you start.
If it is your first run with a club
If you are joining us for the first time, the warm up is the easiest part of the morning. Register for the run with your free HRC+ account, aim to arrive by 5:45am, and use the routine above while people gather. Walking pace counts, and walkers are welcome on every run, so if the lunges feel like enough movement for week one, that is a complete warm up.
Our guide on how to join a running club walks through what the whole first morning looks like, from registration to the coffee afterwards.
Five minutes of easy movement is enough before a relaxed run like ours. You are aiming to raise your breathing and loosen your legs, not tire yourself out before the start.
Save long, held stretches for after the run. Before a cold 6am start, moving warm ups such as leg swings, lunges and walking prepare you better than standing still and stretching.
One minute of walking, one minute of leg swings, one minute of walking lunges, one minute of squats and ankle circles, and a couple of relaxed strides. It fits the gap between our 5:45am meet and 6:00am start.
No. Beginners benefit from the same routine, and can shorten it if five minutes feels like a lot. The walk and leg swings alone are a solid start while your body adjusts to morning running.
Yes, and it takes less time than the run itself. A short warm up makes even one lap of 2.5 km feel smoother from the first few hundred metres.
Make a free HRC+ account at hillsrunclub.com/hrc-plus/ and register for the run you want to join. The Thursday Morning Run meets at 5:45am for a 6:00am start at Glenhaven Oval, 78 Glenhaven Road, Glenhaven, with coffee and a sweet treat afterwards.
More from the newsroom
2 October 2026
Running around shift work: how night runs fit in
2 October 2026
Run club etiquette: the unwritten rules of a group run
2 October 2026
Why easy running is having a moment
2 October 2026
Why everyone is searching for run club apps
2 October 2026
Young adults are back at the start line: here is why
2 October 2026
Why big marathon races are so hard to get into now