5 Essential Stretches for Your Warm Up 

If you’ve ever taken a class, or a personal training session with me, you are already familiar with my pre-workout warm up. Today I’m breaking down my signature total body mobilization dynamic stretches so you can do them at on your own. These movements target the shoulders, arms, back, chest, hips, legs, and ankles.

Before we start, let me nerd out on you for a minute and explain why we even bother mobilizing the joints with dynamic stretches like the ones below. The Essentials of Exercise Science defines mobility and dynamic stretching as follows: 

Mobility: The degree to which an articulation is allowed to move before being restricted by surrounding tissues. 

Dynamic Stretching: Type of stretching that involves taking the joints through their ranges of motion while continuously moving. Often beneficial in warning up for a particular sport or activity that involves the same joint movements. 

As you can see, in order to reach the full range of motion for an exercise, you need to have the joint mobilized and mobilization can be achieved by performing dynamic stretches. In this case the particular activity we are warming up for is a total body workout. This helps to prevent injuries such as strains, sprains, and tears while exercising. 

Arm Circles

Mobilizes shoulders

Stand with your feet hip-width distance apart. Hip-width distance means that the outside of your hips lines up with the inside of the feet. Hold your arms out in a “T” with your palms facing up. Make 10 small circles backward, then 10 slightly bigger circles backward, and finally 10 really big circles backward. Keep the torso from swaying and engage the core (aka all the muscles in your stomach and hips). See top photos. 

Shake out your arms and hold them out in a “T” but this time face your palms down. Repeat the same movements but make the circles go forward. Make sure your arms are rotating in the shoulder socket. The bigger the circles are, the more you will feel these stretches in your shoulders, chest, and back. See bottom photos. 

Standing Forward Fold with Interlaced Fingers

Mobilizes shoulders and hips

Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Interlace your fingers behind back and press your palms together. Open your chest and pull your shoulders back, straightening your arms behind you. (If your shoulders are very tight, your palms might not touch. You can either stay that way with your palms apart, or if you cant reach at all, bend the elbows and grab opposite forearms behind your back.)

Forward fold by hinging at the hips and keeping your legs as straight as possible. (A gentle bend at the knee is okay.) Keep the fingers interlaced, squeeze the palms together, and keep the shoulders back, as you extend the arms over your head. Keep your head relaxed and your back flat. Hold here for five breaths. You will feel a big stretch in your chest, in your arms, and on the back of your legs. Repeat this stretch 3-5 times. 

Standing Forward Fold with Cow Face Arms

Mobilizes shoulders, elbows, and hips

Stand with your feet hip-width apart or slightly wider. Take your left arm and extend it out to the side, bend your elbow to point your hand down, and then reach your hand around to the center of the back. Try and place your hand in between the shoulder blades. Take your right hand and reach it straight up, over head, then bend the elbow and try to grab your left hand. If you cannot reach your hand, grab the back of your shirt.

Prevent your ribs from flaring out and keep your hips tucked in. Keeping you hands together, hinge at your hips, and bring your chest towards the ground, and your hips straight back. Hold here for five breaths. Repeat the stretch on the other arm. 

Deep Squat with Reach

Mobilizes shoulders, hips, knees, and ankles

Stand with your legs wide and your feet either tracking parallel to each other or slightly turned out. Squat down as deep as you can go. Your squat might not look like mine and that’s okay! You should only squat as deep as you can go while keeping your chest up and your back flat. Then take your left hand and place it on the ground inside your left foot, if you can’t reach the ground grab onto the opposite ankle or shin. Take your right arm and reach out and up. You are using the shoulder on the reaching arm to open the chest and get a thoracic spine (or upper back) stretch. Perform this stretch five times on each side. 

Shin Box Switch

Mobilizes hips, knees, and ankles

From your deep squat sit down on the floor with your knees bent and your feet wider than your hips. See left hand photo. You can prop yourself up with your hands behind you or place your hands on your hips for a more core engaging stretch. Keep your feet planted on the ground and drop your knees like windshield wipers to the left. See top right hand photo. Your legs will make a “shin box”. Try and keep both butt cheeks and both knees down on the ground. If your hips are tight, one might not reach the ground and that is okay. Now drive the knees up and switch sides, dropping them down to the right hand side. Use your core to stay as upright as possible, if your arms are behind you they are just for assistance. Switch the knees back and forth five times on each side. 

For a more advance stretch, add a hip extension after the shin box. See bottom right photo. Once you are in the shin box, squeeze your butt or glute muscles, driving the hips up. Lower back down, switch to the other side, and drive the hips up again. Perform this exercise five times on each side.