How to Warm-Up Before Stretching and Exercise

There is some debate about whether you should warm-up before or after stretching. Personally, I think in order to warm-up the muscles properly, a 7 to 10 minutes warm up is required so that you are not stretching cold muscles. Here are a few warm-ups you can do before your workout.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Start with a light jog in place for a good minute. Swing your arms back and forth in front of you to loosen up a shoulders a little. Circle your arms to the front and back as well.
2. Move into some half jacks (jumping jacks but hands only come up to shoulder height). Gradually increase the speed and then slow down again. This should last about a minute.
3. Now go to full jumping jacks (arms come all the way up above your head). Again, increase to full speed and then slow down. Do this for another minute.
4. Let's loosen up the back. Swing your arms to the left and to the right. Rotate your body to the right and to the left. Use the balls of your feet. For example, when you are swinging to your right, you are going up onto the ball of your left foot for full rotation. Do this for about 30 seconds to a minute.
5. Time for knee-ups. Place your hands in front of your hips (palms down) and bring your knees up, one at the time. Start at a moderate pace, then speed up. Again, this should be about 30 seconds to a minute.
6. Speed burns! Run in place as fast as you can. The trick is to lift your feet only about an inch or two off of the ground. Feel free to pump your arms a little. Do these in spurts. Jog in place and then GO! Jog in place and GO! Do this a few times.
7. Last, but not least, jump squats! Do a full squat and on the way up, jump and clap your hands above your head. Land in a squat and repeat. These tend to kill the legs so do anywhere from 10 to 20 reps.
8. Slow it down by jogging in place again. Shake the hands and legs out.
9. Begin stretching.

Tips & Warnings

• Feel free to vary the timing of each warm-up.
• A good warm-up should be around 7-10 minutes.
• You should be sweating when you are done.
• Don't overdo it!