Properly warming up before jumping into a run can prevent injuries by getting blood flowing to cold, sitting muscles, gently moving through your range of motion, increasing heart rate, and loosening joints.

Here are 7 easy dynamic stretches to get your blood flowing and your muscles moving.

Be sure to take extra care of any muscle groups or joints that tend to give you trouble.

Look — I’m sorry about some of these videos. I’m thankful that they exist so I don’t have to describe bodily motions to you, but some of them… test my patience.

Dynamic Stretches for your Warm-up

Walk It Out

Start with 10-15 minutes of brisk walking, or if you’ve already been moving around a bit, a quarter-mile of slow jogging.

This will wake up your body and get your heart rate up.

Dynamic stretching

After your walk or jog, do some dynamic stretching (an exercise that goes through a range of motion) which will help you warm up and get joints and body parts moving.

1. Hip circles

2. Leg swings

For abductor & adductor and hamstring & hip flexor

3. Knee hugs

Warms hip flexors, glutes, quads, low back, and shoulders

Add a calf raise while hugging in opposite knee for calf, ankle, and Achilles work.

4. Leg cradle

Warms up glutes, hips, lower back, and lateral quad

5. Butt kicks

Quads and hip flexors

6. Lateral lunges

For glutes and hamstrings, as well as some lateral motion that you don’t get with road running

7. Toe swipe

I like this toe swipe better than walking lunges which can be difficult to do gently and carefully.

Related reading:

• Want to warm up with yoga? Check out these 3 yoga warm-up for running videos.
• You also may want to consider doing some running drills after your dynamic stretching.
• 10 Things to Do After Your Run
• Yoga Cool Down videos

How do you warm-up?