Best Warmup Exercises Before a Workout

How to reduce your risk of injury and get your body ready for ANY workout.

Are you the type of person who walks into a gym, finds your favorite piece of equipment then immediately starts working out?

Well, we’ve got good news and bad news.

The bad news is you could be putting yourself at serious risk of injury by not warming up correctly before your workout.

Here’s the good news, in this article we’re going to break down everything you need to know about warming up, including why you need to do it, what you should avoid, and which exercises you should always do before starting a session.

Whether you think you know what you’re doing or you skip a warm-up altogether, read on and find out exactly how to make your warm-ups more effective.

Why is it Important to Warm Up?

A lot of people don’t like to warm up because they simply don’t see the point. They don’t think they’re at real risk of injury and they believe that doing a few ‘warm-up sets’ or by turning the speed down before they start to sprint on the treadmill is enough.

But the truth is, getting injured, pulling a muscle, and doing unnecessary damage to your body is a very real threat, and if you continue to disregard this, it’s only a matter of time before you get seriously hurt.

A good way to think of it is like your car, which takes a few minutes to heat up on a cold winter morning, or how if you’d just had the engine fixed, you’d take it easy before flooring it the first time you drove it.

Another option is to think of a new rubber band that you immediately pull as hard as you can (and snap) compared to old bands that have been used a few times first.

Starting to get the hint?

Your body functions in a very similar way when it comes to exercise. You need to get your body ready for action before you go all in, if not, your muscles, just like the rubber band, could snap.

The Key to a Successful Warm-Up

A successful warm-up should get your body ready for more intense activity.

It should help you to:

Increase blood flow to your muscles, giving them vital oxygen before you begin to exercise.
Become more mobile and flexible so that you can move easier in the session.
Increase range of motion so you can move your body more smoothly without discomfort.
Reduce muscle soreness or stiffness which may have existed before you began the warm-up.
Reduce the risk of injury by helping your muscles become ready for exercise, and therefore less likely to strain, pull, or pop.

To successfully do this your warm-up should be ‘dynamic’, as that will give you the most complete way to prepare your body.

Dynamic Warm-Up

A dynamic warm-up effectively means using movement to prepare your body for exercise. It was once believed that you should stretch to warm your muscles up (we touch on this below) but now it’s understood that moving to warm your body up is the best way to prepare for exercise.

The movements and exercises included in your dynamic warm-up should be similar to the workout you’re about to do. It should also include some compound exercises such as squats, lunges, or bodyweight thrusters to work multiple joints at once.

For example, if you’re about to lift weights, a warm-up that involved light on the spot jogging, bodyweight lunges, air shoulder presses, and walking lunges, would work your muscles without any load, and prepare your entire body for more intense exercise.

Static Stretching

As the name suggests, static stretching involves standing still and stretching your muscles, however as time has evolved we’ve realized that doing this, especially when the muscles are cold, can actually lead to injuries, instead of preventing them.

However, before you dismiss stretching entirely, static stretching does still have a place in your workout, but it should now be included at the end, instead of at the beginning.

Try adding static stretching at the end of your workout as part of a ‘cool-down routine, to help your body ease the tension in your muscles.

Just like with the dynamic warm-up, you should make sure you stretch the muscles that you’ve just used, so for example, if you were running or cycling, you should focus on stretching the lower body, glutes, and calves, after your workout.

Best Exercises Before a Warm-Up

As we mentioned, your dynamic warm-up should include similar exercises to the session you’re about to do, but with the exercises we list below, you should cover every type of workout and fully prepare your body for whatever your session involves.

March on the spot: This is a great way to get the entire body moving before you do anything else. Drive the knees up in front of you as you do it and pump your arms too. It’ll get the blood pumping and get your body ready for the rest of the warm-up. The march should last between 2-3 minutes and it’s a good idea to start slow before eventually performing a gentle jog, just make sure to keep the knees up and pump the arms.

Squats: Squats are one of the best compound exercises you can find and are a great way to get your body fired up before you begin your session. It works all your lower body, including your quads, glutes, and calves, and it also hits the back, core, and arms (if you move them above your head as you squat).

The squat is also flexible and can be performed in multiple ways. You can raise your arms to make it a true full-body movement, pause at the bottom to put the muscles under a little more tension, or even add a gentle hop to slightly raise the intensity.
Hip Rotations: If you have tight hips or work a desk-based job, opening up the hips is essential, especially if you’re going to be training your lower body or doing certain forms of cardio. Tight hips can impact other parts of the body, but with gentle hip opening exercises, you can begin to welcome back some movement before you get into the meat of your workout.

They’re easy to do, simply bring one knee out in front of you to 90 degrees, then open up the hips so your knee is pointing to the side. You can do this backwards and forwards for approximately 10 reps on each side.

Step back lunges with a knee raise: Just like squats, lunges work the lower body while also hitting the back and core, which is why they’re so good for preparing the body for exercise. A step-back (reverse) lunge is simple enough to do. Just take a big step back with one foot, and with both knees bent, lower your hips towards the floor. The only difference here is that as you push off that back foot, back to standing, you’ll continue to move the leg forward and drive that same knee up, in front of you. Sets of 5-8 should be enough to get you moving more freely.
Shoulder Press: This is always fun to do and a great way to get the upper body working. Partially bend the knees and stand in a semi-squat position, or if your knees can take it, place both knees on the floor and keep your body tall. Raise both hands above the head with the palms facing up. You’re now going to perform a standard shoulder press, except you’re not using any weights, you’re using your imagination. Press your arms upwards and imagine someone is physically pushing your arms down to the floor, contract your muscles to generate tension as you extend your arms up in a shoulder press movement. When you reach the top, ease back down without any pressure. Repeat ten times for maximum benefit.
Standing Bench Press: Just like the shoulder press above, you’re going to set up in a partial squat position. From here, keep your arms straight out in front of you at chest height, with your palms facing forwards. Pull your elbows back behind you and squeeze the muscles in your back, pausing there for a few seconds before forcefully driving the arms forward back to the starting position. This movement is simulating a bench press, but no weights are needed, and it’s great for your back, core, and chest.
Plank Walkout: A fantastic way to finish off your warm-up is to perform this truly full-body movement. Stand tall before bending down and walking your hands out in front of you until you’re in a plank position, once in the full plank, hold it for a second before walking back to your feet and rolling back up to a standing position. Optional ways to make this more dynamic include raising your arms when standing, or alternating a foot towards your hands when in the plank. A set of 5-8 is more than enough to get your body ready to go.

ConClusion

A good dynamic warm-up takes no longer than 3-5 minutes, something everyone has time for. Our advice is to go through this list and give all exercises a try, and if you need something more specific for your workout, feel free to add it in.