What are a Few Stretches You Should do Before Working Out?

What stretches should you do before a full workout?

Nothing beats a great workout. No matter the level of intensity, even a somewhat short workout can get your blood flowing, improve your confidence, and—the biggie—help you lose weight!

You don’t want to just jump into a workout routine, however. If you don’t prepare your body through a series of stretches before a workout, however brief, you’re setting yourself up for a potential injury. We’d like to help you prevent that, so we’ve compiled a series of common stretches that you can do before a workout that will get the job done.

Stretches You Can Do Before a Workout

The great thing about stretching is that you don’t need to do the same series of stretches every single day. You can mix it up a little depending on how much time you have, the severity of your workouts, and your overall health.

Quick Warmup

If you’re short on time, fire up the quick warmup to get started. Perform 10 reps of each exercise (except where noted) in this order:

2-Minute Warmup

Not quite as short as the quick warmup, but it’s really close. Perform each exercise for 10 seconds in this order:

4-Minute Warmup

Double your time and double your effort with this warmup. Perform each one for 20 seconds in this order:

Fighter’s Warmup

You may not feel exactly like Rocky by the end, but you can certainly try. Perform each exercise for 30 seconds in this order:

Yoga Poses You Can Do Before a Workout

A great way to stretch out your body before a workout is to hit the yoga mat. If that’s how you prefer to stretch or you’d like to add a pose or two into the mix, try these three favorites:

Child’s Pose

Child’s Pose has multiple benefits, such as stretching out your ankles, relaxing your back muscles, and lengthening your spine. It also stimulates your digestive system and helps relieve constipation.

To do this pose, get on your hands and knees, then push your butt back against your heels, knees apart. Next, lower your upper body between the knees, stretching out your arms along the floor. Then, place your forehead against the floor. Stay in the position for 20–30 seconds.

Cat-Cow

The Cat-Cow Pose combines two different poses that improve the spine’s flexibility by stretching the back torso and neck. It also gently stimulates and strengthens the abdominal organs.

Begin in a tabletop position, with shoulders directly over your wrists and hips over your knees. Breathe in. Then, as you breathe out, round your spine as you drop your head toward the floor and lift your belly button toward the ceiling.

This completes the cat pose. To go into the cow pose, lift your head, chest, and tailbone as you breathe in again, arching your lower back. Repeat two more times for a total of three reps.

Donkey Kick

The Donkey Kick targets your gluteus maximus while also working out your core and shoulder muscles. This is a great exercise for stability, toning, and flexibility.

Begin on all fours, knees under your hips, and wrists under your shoulders. As you do this, be sure to engage your core. Bend your knee and flex your right foot, then kick your right leg up toward the ceiling.

Pause in that position. Be sure not to arch your back so that your spine stays straight. Return your right knee to the floor. Then, repeat five more times on that leg, and then switch to the other leg for six more.

Contact Dunedin Fitness and Movement for More of the Best Stretches Before a Workout

Dunedin Fitness and Movement can help you with stretches before your workout to ensure you get everything you possibly can out of your personal training session. If you have any questions for the most popular personal trainer in Dunedin, call our office at (727) 755-3485 today!