Why You Should Be Doing A Dynamic Warm Up

I was going through some past writing material and found these questions I had answered on dynamic stretching and realized I had never done anything with them. The questions are geared towards athletes. However, if you are workout out, you are an athlete in my mind.

1) How does static stretching affect the body before and after a game or workout?

Static stretching is the classic holding of muscles in an extended range of motion (usually beyond the normal range of motion) with out moving for short periods of time. It is highly recommended to do static stretching after workouts, practices and games as soon as you can to reset muscle length, reduce inflammation and speed up recovery. Static stretching before games, practices and workouts is not advised unless the body’s core temperature has been elevated. Stretching cold muscles will actually increase the risks of getting a muscle injury. Research has also shown that static stretching can reduce an athlete’s power and explosiveness prior to games or workouts.

2) Do dynamic warm-ups mentally prepare the body?

A dynamic stretch routine definitely prepares the body from a neural standpoint. By bringing the body through movement patterns that represent athletic movement patterns similar to the sport or activity you are about to do, your body’s central nervous system will be fired up properly and ready to go. A structured, skill based warm-up can be used as a form of mental preparation that allows the athlete to visualize their success and focus on the game or training ahead.

3) What are the negatives to dynamic warm-ups?

I don’t know of any negatives if done properly.

4) How does dynamic warm-ups improve performance?

Athletes need to move in all planes of motion. They must move forward, backwards, laterally, and rotate. By including a warm up routine that is dynamic in nature, athletes can really fire up their central nervous system, increase their core temperature, get blood flow to working muscles, improve their flexibility and mobility, prevent tight muscles and improve balance. All these elements lead to a boost in performance.

5) Who should use the dynamic warm-ups?

Everyone should. My personal experience and research points to this as the best way to prep the body to do work and reduce injury.

6) If there were a few words you could say to people whom are still using static stretching, what would they be?

I would say it is still a very valuable method of injury prevention that SHOULD still be incorporated into your programs. It is best utilized at the end of a workout, practice or game as a method of a cool down. It still can be used prior to games and workouts if there is an acute muscle issue, such as an imbalance or if you are recovering from an injury.

7) Does dynamic warm-ups help you train as an athlete?

Absolutely. Again this method of warming up mimics movements that you will be doing in your chosen activity as well as working on your weaknesses and/or imbalances which you may or may not even know about.

8) How important is a proper pre-game warm-up?

A pre-game dynamic warm-up is a method used to prepare the body for exercise that actively engages muscles through a functional range of motion. Properly implemented, a dynamic warm-up will use continuous movement to transition from a resting heart rate and body temperature to a working heart rate, elevating an athlete’s core temperature causing them to break a sweat. The warm up should also progress from low to higher intensity. By developing flexibility and coordination, while serving as a means of injury prevention. The dynamic warm up will improve elasticity of muscles, tendons, ligaments and the range of motion around joints.

Check out this general athlete’s dynamic warm up routine we used at my facility: