Garmin’s Combat Warm-Up Makes a Stand for Safer Running Conditions for Women

Every woman should be able to walk and run where she wants, when she wants. This only seems logical, yet one in two women often take a side trip for fear of harassment. Garmin wants to raise awareness of this societal problem. And it does so in an empowering way with The Combat Warm-up, three warm-up exercises that warm up your body for your running session and teach self-defense techniques. The Combat Warm-up was developed by Belgian Gold Olympic medalist Kim Gevaert and European Taekwondo champion Laurence Rase. The tutorials are accompanied by a manifesto film raising awareness for the feeling of insecurity many women experience.

Manifesto: a plea for 'fearless' running

With The Combat Warm-up Garmin wants to give women more confidence when they go running. But the brand also acknowledges that it cannot eliminate all insecurities or fears:

"We feel that women are sometimes inhibited when they run outdoors alone because they don't feel comfortable. We, Garmin, can not eliminate all insecurities or fears, but we can help women by opening up the conversation and by offering them tools that improve their state of mind before running," explains Nicolas Coppens, Belgium Garmin's marketing manager.  

As an expert in activity trackers, Garmin assists runners with the necessary technology to ensure that they exercise responsibly and safely. Now that the running season is in full swing, Garmin wants to ensure that women feel physically and mentally safe during their run.  

Three Tutorials

For the development of the exercises, Garmin and Famous Relations engaged two excellent athletes. Olympic champion Kim Gevaert helped to develop the exercises as a running expert. Her expertise ensures that the exercises activate the right muscle groups before running. Laurence Rase, former taekwondo champion and Technical Director of the Flemish Taekwondo Federation integrated the self-defence techniques. 

The result: three short and powerful tutorials that give women a physical and mental boost before running. Famous Productions took care of the right atmosphere and style of the tutorials. They emanate a certain roughness and strength.  

As of the 22nd of June, the videos can be viewed on all social media channels of Garmin Belux. The tutorials are available as highlights on Garmin's Instagram page.

On Facebook, Instagram and Youtube, FamousGreyX provides a smart deployment. Women with an interest in running are targeted. They are first shown the manifesto video so they understand the context of the campaign. In the next stage, they discover the exercises.

Famous Relations activated the necessary ambassadors and press to spread the message and the tutorials further, to sensitise a broad public.  

Behind the scenes

If you want to know more about how the exercises were created and which techniques are being used, you can visit the Garmin blog, where a behind-the-scenes video gives the necessary explanation.