How do I warm up before exercise?

A warm-up does two things: raises muscle temperature so tissue is more pliable, and rehearses the movements you are about to do. Standing still holding a stretch does neither.

Safety

Step by step

1. Start with five minutes of easy movement.Brisk walking, easy cycling, marching on the spot, gentle rowing. Enough to feel slightly warm and breathe a little harder. Not hard enough to tire you.
2. Then move the joints you are about to use.Arm circles, leg swings, hip circles, trunk rotations. Controlled movement through the range, not held positions.
3. Rehearse the actual movement, lightly.Bodyweight squats before weighted ones, easy strides before running, light sets before heavy ones. Practice the pattern before loading it.
4. Build up gradually rather than jumping in.The first set or the first few minutes should be easier than the rest. Going straight to full effort is where things go wrong.
5. Spend longer when it is cold.In a cold room or outdoors in winter, ten minutes rather than five. Muscle temperature is the point and it takes longer to reach.
6. Spend longer as you get older, or after a layoff.Tissue takes longer to warm and adapt. This is not defeatism; it is what makes continuing possible.
7. Skip the static stretching.Holding stretches before exercise does not reduce injury risk and can temporarily reduce power. Save it for afterwards.
8. Cool down briefly at the end.A few minutes of easy movement, then static stretching while warm. It is the natural place for the stretching you skipped.

Tips

• If you are short of time, cut the session rather than the warm-up. An unwarmed body doing a full session is the trade-off that goes wrong.
• The warm-up is also a check. If something feels wrong during it, that is useful information before you load it.
• For a gentle activity like walking, the first few minutes at an easy pace is a sufficient warm-up in itself.

Questions people ask