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Whether you're running, biking, or climbing, your workout should always begin with a basic bodyweight warm-up to prime your muscles and joints for peak performance. The same goes for preparing for leg day at the gym.
Dynamic stretching, in which you move your muscles and joints through their full range of motion, helps your body prepare for the work ahead. As Outside previously reported, this kind of movement helps improve blood flow, increase heart rate, and improve coordination and control.
The more specific the stretches are to the main activity ahead, the better. "The simplest thing is to just get deeper into the motions you're going to be doing," says Leada Malek, a physical therapist and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association, based in San Francisco. So, for a squat session in the gym, you can begin with some deep bodyweight squats. Before a trail run, you might do some side steps to prepare for leaping over rocks and roots. Ahead of a bike ride, do a hip flexor stretch to bring movement to the muscles that will be working overtime in a seated position.
"Understanding what muscles are at work [in the activity ahead] can help you build the best dynamic warm-up routine," says Malek.
There's also value in tailoring your warm-up to your body's unique needs. If you have a history of hip discomfort or tightness, add some extra stretches designed to improve range of motion in the hip joints, says Malek. "There's a lot of room to make it fit for you," she says.
Before any lower-body-focused workout, Malek suggests doing dynamic stretches that target the hips, glutes, hamstrings, and calves, as well as the joints of the hips, knees, and ankles.
This routine should take about 15 minutes to complete if you do two sets of 10 reps for each movement.
Muscles and joints worked: glutes, quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, hip joint
How to Do It:
Muscles and joints worked: glutes, quads, hamstrings, adductors; knee, ankle, hip, and shoulder joints