Touching your toes. The standing quad hold. The overhead tricep stretch. These are the static positions our high school gym teachers taught us to warm up with before engaging in any physical activity. But to adequately prime your body for movement—whether you’re biking to work or trekking up a mountain—you have to actually get moving.
“Why would you do something passive to improve something active?” says Grayson Wickham, a doctor of physical therapy and the founder of Movement Vault, a mobility and stretching app. Dynamic stretching, he explains, “happens when you are moving your muscles from a shortened to a lengthened position by moving your joint in a specific direction.”
Dynamic stretches are best for warming up. These controlled movements mimic the exercises you’re about to perform in your workout, with a slower, more deliberate pace. For example, before a run, you might do a few walking high knees and arm swings. If you’re climbing, you may spend more time practicing hip-opening rotations and shoulder rolls. These movements will increase overall blood flow and minimize muscle and…
