I am 35 and i think this is a tailor-made thing.
For me, as I wake up at 5am and then start a TR workout, I always do a warm-up on a roller for 15 mins. Split-up as follows:
0-5min: 85-90 RPM, HR less than 130 BPM
5-10min: 90-95 RPM, HR between 130 and 140
10-15min: 95-100RPM, HR between 145 and 155
After the roller, I start TR on my smart trainer.
Such warm-up is very important to me as it wakes up my body and legs, sending a signal of “we are going to make something big and serious”. And for sure it makes me more confident to take the TR workout later.
Save the stretching for after the training session, or for several hours before (I stretch in the morning and then train in the afternoon/evening).
If it takes 5-10 minutes to do a dynamic warm up before a TR workout, I’d say cut down on the general warmup time and use those minutes to lengthen the on-bike warm up.
On a Fast Talk podcast a few weeks ago, Trevor Connor noted in passing that the first ~15 minutes of a ride are “anaerobic,” but didn’t elaborate. The short of it is that yes, it takes about 20-30 minutes to get capillaries open and the lipid energy delivery system fully engaged (during those first 10-15 minutes you’re working off stored glycogen mainly, and your body is not yet in homeostasis, as regards ATP and oxygen delivery).
Ferengi jokes are cool, and the Humon company really should have chosen a better name, but the graph of my warm up above is a good example of how the aerobic system needs time to fully kick in. Yes, you can just “toughen up” and start zone 4 or higher intervals after 10 minutes of pedaling, but even though you may doing “aerobic watts,” in that you are under your maximal lactate steady state, you’re not doing aerobic work (I know – I’ve been using power meters since 1998, and in my 30s I used to do stupid stuff like just start some workouts at 90% of FTP and figure that after the first 5 minutes of discomfort, I’d be warmed up enough…you can do that, sure, but it sure ain’t too smart).
Like others I look at the ‘lead in’ warm up. If it’s 10 minutes or less I add 5-10min at the start - then start the workout. I also strongly recommend a decent cool-down. At least 10min spinning and another 10 stretching. I used to have problems cramping up after the workout but that’s all but gone after I’ve started the longer cool-down. 50yo.