16 Warm-Up Moves You Should Do Before Every Workout

16 Warm-Up Moves You Should Do Before Every Workout

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The point of a warm-up is to prepare your body to exercise, but unfortunately, static stretching — lengthening a muscle till you feel a pull or minor discomfort and holding the position for about 30 seconds — can't get the job done. "Static stretching before exercise has been shown to actually increase injury risk while decreasing performance," Jason Fitzgerald, USATF-certified coach and founder of Strength Running explains to BuzzFeed Health via email. "Plus, it doesn't accomplish the goals of a warm-up: increasing heart rate, perspiration, and blood flow while lubricating joints and increasing muscle temperature."

But that's where a dynamic warm-up — like the moves below — comes in. They will get your body ready to work out. They were selected by Fitzgerald for BuzzFeed's 4 Weeks to 5K Challenge (which, btw, you can sign up for anytime), so they're specifically awesome for cardio workouts, but you can use them to warm up before any exercise. (If you're doing any heavy lifting, you'll want add some more specific moves to prep you to move heavy weight, like these.)

The point of a warm-up is to prepare your body to exercise, but unfortunately, static stretching — lengthening a muscle till you feel a pull or minor discomfort and holding the position for about 30 seconds — can't get the job done. "Static stretching before exercise has been shown to actually increase injury risk while decreasing performance," Jason Fitzgerald, USATF-certified coach and founder of Strength Running explains to BuzzFeed Health via email. "Plus, it doesn't accomplish the goals of a warm-up: increasing heart rate, perspiration, and blood flow while lubricating joints and increasing muscle temperature." But that's where a dynamic warm-up — like the moves below — comes in. They will get your body ready to work out. They were selected by Fitzgerald for BuzzFeed's 4 Weeks to 5K Challenge (which, btw, you can sign up for anytime), so they're specifically awesome for cardio workouts, but you can use them to warm up before any exercise. (If you're doing any heavy lifting, you'll want add some more specific moves to prep you to move heavy weight, like these.)

Original article and pictures take www.buzzfeed.com site