If your typical gym session warm-up begins and ends with a casual five-minute jog on the treadmill, you may be short-changing the impact of your workout. To enhance your performance and prepare your body for the movements ahead, add dynamic upper body stretching to your warm-up routine.
Dynamic Stretching Primes Your Muscles Before a Workout
During dynamic stretching, you take a muscle and joint through its full range of motion, mimicking the exercises you’re about to do, explained Leada Malek, a physical therapist based in San Francisco. So if your strength session is going to include barbell or dumbbell rows, for example, you might warm up with a set of rows using a light elastic band, moving the same muscles and joints but at a lower level of intensity. To prepare for a day of kayaking, you might include some wrist rotations and shoulder rolls. Scapular protractions and retractions—when you bring your shoulder blades forward and away from the spine and pull your shoulder blades backward and toward the spine, respectively—you can get your shoulders ready for reaching, grabbing, and pulling on…
