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Dynamic Warm Up
Dynamic stretching is a great way to warm up safely before a game or practice. This focuses more on getting your muscles and joints loose for the activity at hand. Start with slow controlled movements which bring both the lower and upper body through a safe range of motion. After a handful of exercises move to faster, more upbeat tempo movements like high knees, but kicks and bear crawls. Studies show that doing dynamic warm ups prior to activity can increase power, explosiveness and overall performance as opposed to static stretching.
When focusing on dynamic stretching you want to focus on full body movements, stability and not over stretching any muscle or joint. By the end of your warm up you should have broken a sweat, increased your blood pressure and warmed your muscles up.
Dynamic stretches should be used as part of your warm up routine before any athletic event, whether competitive or not. A complete athletic warm up should incorporate about 5 to 10 minutes of low to moderate intensity.
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