Dynamic Warm-Up

A dynamic warm-up is not simply stretching. A dynamic warm-up is rather a form of combining active movement and stretching without actually holding a stretch but instead moving through a full range of motion that will better prepare you for your training. The current body of research tells us that a dynamic warm-up will help reduce the risk of exercise-related injury and has been shown to improve exercise performance. The expectation of an effective dynamic warm-up is that it will help increase the range of motion in the joints by improving blood and oxygen flow to your muscles, tendons, and ligaments. It stands to reason that this would be important before you ask your body to do something strenuous.

A dynamic warm-up can be constructed with a number of movements that range in both intensity and impact. It’s important to start slowly so as not to strain anything. Most of my dynamic warm-ups will include jogging in place, jumping rope, and jumping jacks. Each of these has low-impact modifiers you can start with. In addition to these exercises you can also expect a bodyweight squat, walking lunges, step back lunges with an overhead stretch, caterpillars, plank twists, Frankensteins, windmills, leg swings, and a variety of other bodyweight exercises that combine movement and stretching into a full range of motion.