Garmin’s Combat Warm-Up makes a stand for safer running conditions for women

Combat Warm-up; the warm-up exercises teaching you self-defense.

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

Garmin Combat Warm-up - Let's Run Fearless.

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. ​ 

3 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. ​ 

Garmin Combat Warm-up - Tutorial #1: Aanval langs achter / Attaque par derrièreGarmin Combat Warm-up - Tutorial #2: Aanval langs voor / Attaque par l'avantGarmin Combat Warm-up - Tutorial #3: Aanval van opzij / Attaque de côté

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. ​ 

Behind the Combat Warm-up (UK version)

Disclaimer: ​ 

The exercises developed by Kim Gevaert and Laurence Rase are intended as a warm-up for your running session. They integrate a self-defence technique intending to give a mental boost and increasing self-confidence. The self-defence techniques are not meant to be used proactively against people. 

CREDITS:

Client: Garmin Belux
Client contacts: Nicolas Coppens, Tom De Schrijver

Agency: FamousGrey, Famous Relations
Executive CD: Peter Ampe
Art Director: Yana Gestels
Copywriter: Zoé De Priester
Project leader: Siebe Lefebure

PR Agency: Famous Relations
PR Director: Kathy Van Looy
Senior PR Manager: Laure Vandeghinste
PR Manager: Laura Godinho, Eva Van Riet

Digital agency: FamousGreyX
Head of Digital: Joachim François
Digital Account Manager: Siebe Lefebure
Media Buying: FamousGreyX
Online Marketeers: Jonas Sprengers, Sander Cuypers
Digital Strategist: Wies Dickens
Social Creatives: Sarah De Prez, Laureen Delbauche
Graphic Designer: Sacha Lempereur

RTV-producer: Gaelle Haesaert, Marlies Neudt
Production: Famous Grey productions
Producer: Gaelle Haesaert
Director: Max Pauwels
DOP: Edouard Legrelle
Sound studio: FamousGrey Productions

Post-Producer: Gaelle Haesaert
Post-production: FamousGrey Productions
Offline & Online editor: Sven Van Hee
Motion Design: Fries Vansevenant

Share

Get updates in your mailbox

By clicking "Subscribe" I confirm I have read and agree to the Privacy Policy.

About AKQA

AKQA was founded in 1997 as an independent agency. In 2024 it became part of the AKQA Group, one of the world’s most innovative and creative advertising networks. The agency not only aims to build its clients’ brands but also their business, via creative, result-driven campaigns. All of which takes place thanks to the dedication of 80 employees, including specialists in every discipline of relevance to today’s advertiser. Many of these specialisations have since grown into genuine expert hubs, such as AKQA Performance, AKQA Digital, AKQA Brussels PR and AKQA Productions.

FamousGrey creates campaigns for national and international companies such as Proximus, Volvo, Hyundai, Alken-Maes, Campari, Aperol, Polestar, De and UNICEF.

AKQA's offices are located in the center of Brussels.

For more information, visit www.famousgrey.com 

 

Contact

Victoria Reginaplantsoen 1 1210 Brussel

+ 32 2 411 35 45

press@akqa.com

www.famous.be