Warm up before workout: a three-step routine, and what to leave out

What warming up actually does

Warming up prepares the body for harder work: breathing and heart rate rise, muscles warm up, joints move through their range and the nervous system rehearses the movements to come. The research question is simpler: does it make the session better?

Fradkin, Zazryn and Smoliga reviewed the evidence in 2010. Of 32 studies rated high quality, warming up improved performance in 79% of the criteria examined, and there was little evidence that it was detrimental. The authors noted that well-conducted randomised trials were few, so the size of the benefit remains uncertain. But the direction is clear, and the cost is a few minutes.

Static stretching: less than you think

The traditional warm-up often consisted of holding stretches for a long time. The review by Behm and colleagues, published in 2016, compared three types of stretching performed just before activity.

• Static stretching reduced performance by 3.7% on average when tested straight afterwards.
• Dynamic stretching, controlled movements through the range, improved it by 1.3%.
• The longer the static stretch, the bigger the drop: holds of 60 seconds or more per muscle cost 4.6%, under 60 seconds 1.1%.
• When stretching was followed by dynamic activities, as in a real warm-up, no clear effect on performance was seen.
• Static stretching had no clear effect on injury rates.

A larger meta-analysis by Lauersen and colleagues, covering 25 trials and more than 26,000 participants, reached a similar conclusion on injuries: stretching showed no protective effect, while strength training reduced sports injuries to less than a third. Short stretches inside a warm-up are fine, but they are not the core of it.

The three-step warm-up

Plan eight to ten minutes in total. Warm up for longer if you feel the need, the NHS advises.

Step 1: raise the pulse, 3 to 5 minutes. The NHS routine is a good model:

• March on the spot for 3 minutes, then forwards and backwards, pumping the arms.
• Heel digs: about 60 in 60 seconds.
• Knee lifts: about 30 in 30 seconds, touching each knee with the opposite hand.
• Shoulder rolls: 2 sets of 10, forwards and backwards.
• Knee bends: 10 shallow bends, no more than 10 centimetres down.

Easy cycling, rowing or skipping work just as well.

Step 2: dynamic mobility, 2 to 3 minutes. Six movements of about 30 seconds each:

1. Leg swings forwards and backwards, then side to side, holding a wall.
2. Hip circles, hands on hips.
3. Arm circles, small then large.
4. Walking lunge with a rotation of the upper body.
5. Inchworm: bend down, walk the hands out to a plank, walk them back.
6. Squat to stand: hold the toes in a deep squat, then straighten the legs.

For a deeper routine done on other days, see our mobility exercises.

Step 3: rehearse the first exercise, 2 to 3 minutes. A 2021 review by Iversen and colleagues on time-efficient strength training advises limiting the warm-up to exercise-specific preparation. In practice, one or two sets of your first exercise with a light, then moderate load, and few repetitions, before the working sets.

The right warm-up for each session

• Strength: steps 1 and 2, then two lighter sets of the first lift, such as the squat. Our squat form and hip hinge guides show the movements to rehearse.
• Running or cycling: 5 minutes of easy pace, a few dynamic moves for hips and calves, then two or three short accelerations of 15 to 20 seconds.
• Intervals: a full warm-up of at least 8 minutes, ending with one or two shorter, less intense intervals, so that the first hard effort is not the first effort of the day.
• Home circuit: the NHS routine plus step 2 is enough, as in our home workout no equipment.

Cool-down and flexibility: a better place for long stretches

The American College of Sports Medicine recommends flexibility exercises for each major muscle-tendon group on at least two days a week, about 60 seconds in total per exercise. That is where long static stretches belong: after the session, when muscles are warm, or as a separate short routine in the evening. Behm and colleagues also found that the gains in range of motion from a single stretching session typically lasted less than 30 minutes, which is another reason to make flexibility a regular habit rather than a pre-workout ritual.

After a hard session, a few minutes of easy walking or cycling bring breathing back to normal before you stretch.

Stop and seek medical advice if a warm-up already causes chest pain, unusual breathlessness, dizziness or joint pain. If you have a heart condition or have just recovered from an injury, ask a doctor or physiotherapist how long and how gently you should warm up.

Warm up and train with Never Skip Club

In Never Skip Club, the warm-up is part of the session, not an optional extra. The app builds a guided session in one minute: choose the body area, the level (easy, medium or intense), 20, 30 or 45 minutes, and the place, gym, hotel or home, with or without equipment. Five or six exercises are shown in animation, so you can rehearse each movement before loading it, and you log your sets.

Set up a crew of three to seven friends with a rhythm, for example four sessions a week for a month. A session counts when it lasts 30 minutes or more, warm-up included, and the ranking rewards regularity. Create your free account to start, and if you want a professional to build a warm-up for an old injury or a specific sport, book a coach from our network.