This Trick Will Help You Feel Good When You Run

When you perform a dynamic warm-up your body and muscle temperatures increase, which in turn creates better blood flow and oxygen flow throughout your body. This means it will be better prepared for an intense effort, and you’ll be less likely to pull something.

When I was in college, my team started every practice off with a dynamic warm-up. Each day, my coach led us through the exercises. At first, I was annoyed. I just wanted to get my run done, and the warm-up seemed like a waste of time.

But, I quickly realized how much worse off I was without it.

I had to run on my own one day directly after an exam, so I skipped the warm-up. I immediately regretted doing so because I was incredibly stiff and couldn’t get into a rhythm until a couple miles in. After that, I appreciated the fact that my coach forced us to do it together each day.

Next, it improves athletic performance.

A short five to ten minute dynamic warm-up is all it takes to make sure your entire body is ready to go for your run. It is especially important on hard workout days because it gets your blood and oxygen flowing and your heart rate up. So, it won’t be as much of a shock to the system once you start running a hard effort.

My freshman year of college, on the day I ran my best cross-country race of the season, I actually did a dynamic warm-up twice.

It was a cold and windy day, and my teammates and I were trying to find ways to stay warm. So, we went through our routine a couple times before we raced. I fully believe that keeping my body warm helped me run to my best abilities that day.

This is how to implement a dynamic warm-up.

In order to reap the benefits that a dynamic warm-up has to offer, you have to know what exercises to perform, and you have to do them correctly. The following routine is the one I did before every run, workout, and race as a division I collegiate runner:

10 bunny hops side to side

10 jumping jacks

5 air squats

10 lunges (5 each side)

10 lateral lunges (5 each side)

10 single leg reaches (5 each side)

10 high kicks (5 each leg)

10 leg swings (5 each side)