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…
