"I didn't have time to do a warm-up." "I didn't have time to stretch." "Now I've got a month to rest, because I'm injured."

I will never forget the immortal words of my coach, "If you do anything today, you will do your warm-up and cool-down." The importance of warming up and cooling down, along with a simple stretching routine, can help eliminate many muscular problems which plague runners.

A good warm-up/cool-down and stretch routine will do two things; (1) It will prevent injury and (2) it will decrease the amount of time your muscles need to recover.

Whenever you exercise, you break down small portions of muscle fiber. The intensity of the workout will determine the amount of fibers broken down. The body will rebuild these fibers stronger than they were before, but they heal at a reduced length. So what does that mean? It means that no matter what exercise you do, you need to stretch or you will become tight.

Most runners stretch before they warm-up, but actually this is backwards. By increasing your muscle temperature prior to stretching, the effectiveness of the stretch is greatly improved. So jog a little next time before stretching, the enhanced results just might be enough to prevent an injury.

An ineffective recovery between hard workouts can be costly. A good recovery can be directly related to a proper warm-up and cool-down. Whether you walk fast or jog slowly, both will accomplish the same thing.

Recovery is not something that should only occur from hard workout to hard workout. It also has a long-term effect, month to month. If you are training for races months away, a regular recovery program consisting of proper warm-up/cool-down and stretching can be just as important as an effective interval program in producing results. Warming up properly helps dilate the blood vessels to insure proper blood flow during intensive exercise. This will help prevent excess lactic acid build up which delays recovery. The cool down also helps rid the muscles of excess by-products that will delay recovery.

The warm up phase of your workout can be informative as well as therapeutic. Pay close attention to how your body feels while warming up. If you notice tension in your shoulders or low back for example, special stretches should be added to your normal routine to relax these areas before your intensity increases.

I am constantly asked questions; How fast? How far? How often? These runners are often having trouble obtaining desired results. Rather than searching for some hidden solution, I always question them about the basics. Don't forget the basics--warm-up/cool-down with stretching. It could be the one obvious part of your training that you've overlooked.

Dr. Robert Beck is chairman of therapeutic exercise at North Shore Hospital and co-director of the Regional Center for Healing.