Warm-Up for Stretching

To avoid injuries, you should always warm up before stretching. A good warm-up consists of three parts:

• A short pre-joint warm-up
• A joint warm-up
• A muscular warm-up

Unless you've just woken up or have been sitting for a long time, you don’t need to do the pre-joint warm-up.

When I talk about a joint warm-up, I don’t mean traditional joint circling (e.g., pressing your toes down and circling your ankle on the floor). That kind of circling is okay, but you shouldn’t apply pressure or force the joint through its full range of motion. The goal of a joint warm-up is to lubricate the joints, not to twist or compress them. If you squeeze or forcefully rotate your joints, you’re more likely to wear them out than warm them up.

In the muscular warm-up, your muscles and tendons get prepared for more intensive work. I recommend doing a joint warm-up for 3 to 5 minutes, followed by 10 to 15 minutes of light cardio before you begin stretching.

Find more information about stretching and related exercises at Stretching Main.

Sample Routine

Here’s an example of a leg warm-up I use before intense stretching sessions. Feel free to substitute with similar movements.

Pre-Joint Warm-Up:

• Walk 200 meters on your toes
• Do 100 to 200 calf raises with feet together (no weights)
• Do 50 to 100 squats, bodyweight only

Joint Warm-Up:

• Ankle Circles in the Air:
  • 2 × 20 circles inward and outward, per leg
  • Keep movements slow and controlled; don’t apply pressure
• Hip Circles (lying on your back):
  • Lie down and gently circle your legs in the air to warm up the hips
• Knee Lifts (standing):
  • 10 lifts straight forward, 10 lifts sideways
• Knee Lift + Leg Extension:
  • 2 × 20 reps per leg

Muscular Warm-Up:

• Jogging – 5 minutes (heart rate up to ~135 bpm)
• Running – 7 minutes (heart rate up to ~165 bpm)
• Rope Skipping, Ball Games, etc. – ~3 minutes

Advice

• When circling your joints, don’t apply pressure or force a full range of motion
• I recommend doing “empty joint circles” (without load, in the air)
• Walk or jog lightly before your joint warm-up, then move on to joint mobility and muscular activation
• A taiji (tai chi) form can also be a great way to warm up the joints

Suggestions

• Rope Skipping
• Switch-Leg Leaps
• Frog Jumps
• Weight Training