Prepare your body for exercise with this guided, 5-Minute Warm Up. This full body mobility routine includes 14 dynamic stretches that will improve your workout workout performance, prevent injury, and improve range of motion.
Prepare for your home workout with this 5-Minute Warm Up Routine!
Adding a dynamic warm up to your workout routine is important for many reasons:
Enhance performance
Reduce muscle soreness
Prevent training injuries
Improve range of motion and flexibility
Rev up your cardiovascular system
Most of my full-length home workout videos include dynamic warm ups. That said, there might be days you need to work on mobility a bit more! This quick and effective 5-minute warm up is a great addition to any strength or HIIT workout.
An effective warm up gets your heart rate up and gets blood flowing to the muscles you’ll be engaging during your workout. The best warm ups include both dynamic movements (jumping jacks or high knees), as well as exercise-specific movements (mimicking the moves you’re going to do in the workout). This combination has been shown to increase performance during a workout, resulting in a more effective workout (University of São Paulo).
Why Are Warm Up Exercises Important?
Warming up before your workout has many benefits. Dynamic warm ups: enhance workout performance, reduce muscle soreness, prevent injury, improve range of motion and flexibility, and rev up your cardiovascular system.
What Is A Dynamic Warm Up?
A dynamic warm up includes a combination of movements designed to prepare your body for loaded movements. This is different from the kind of stretching you might remember from gym class, where you hold a stretch for 30-60 seconds (“static stretching”). Dynamic stretching is stretching that includes active movement or energy. For static stretching routines, check out this 10-Minute Morning Stretch Routine or this Full Body Stretch Routine.
5-Minute Warm Up for At Home Workouts
Increase mobility, range of motion and reduce risk of injury by starting your workout with this quick, 5-Minute Warm Up!
This 5-minute warm up is designed to release tight hips, hamstrings, hip flexors, groin, lower back and chest muscles. A dynamic warm up will ultimately help you have a better workout.
Warm Up Equipment:
No equipment, just your bodyweight.
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Raise your arms straight overhead, locking out biceps near ears, and clasp your hands together.
Lower down into a squat position, lowering your hips down parallel with your knees. Drive your knees out toward your outer three toes.
Drive through your heels to stand tall, squeezing your glutes.
Launcher Plank
Targets: The chest, triceps, shoulders, core and lower back.
How To Do A Launcher Plank
Start in a high plank position with your shoulders stacked over your wrists, weight evenly distributed amongst all 10 fingers. Pull your kneecaps up towards your belly, feet hip-width apart.
Hold this plank position, maintaining a straight line with your body, gaze slightly in front of you.
From this plank position, engage your core as you push your hips back towards your heels; bending at the knees. Then explosively drive your body back into high plank position (nose to finger tips).
2-Pulse Plank Jump Switch
Targets: Hamstrings, low back, shoulders, hips, hip flexors, glutes and core.
How To Do A 2-Pulse Plank Jump Switch
Start in a high plank position, palms flat on the mat, shoulders stacked over wrists, core engaged, creating a straight line from your head to your heels.
With control, jump your right foot outside of your right hand, planting it on the mat. Pulse here for a two-count.
Then reverse the movement, sending the right foot back as you jump the left foot outside your left hand, planting it on the mat. Pulse here for a two-count and repeat. Land with control each time you perform the jump switch.
Hip Hinge Swings
Targets: Hamstrings, gluteus maximus, quads, erector spinae and lower back muscles.
How To Do Hip Hinge Swings Or Good Mornings
Start in a standing position, feet shoulder-width apart, core engaged. Clasp your hands together as if you were holding a kettlebell.
With a slight bend in your knees, hinge forward at the hips until your torso is parallel to the ground. Core engaged and spine neutral (back flat). You should feel a stretch in your hamstrings (back of the legs) at the bottom of the movement.
Reverse the movement, driving through your heels to stand tall, returning to starting position (torso upright).
Lateral Squats
Targets: Legs, mainly the hips, gluteus medius (or outer glute muscles that controls hip movement and side-to-side movements), quads and inner thighs.
How To Do Lateral Squats
Start with your feet wider than your hips, think a wide squat stance. Knees and toes should be pointing forward (or toes just slightly turned out away from your body).
Shift your weight into your right heel as you push your hips back, bending your right knee while leaving your left leg straight. Think of performing a single leg squat with your right leg while your left leg remains straight.
Then, drive through your right foot to reverse the movement, pushing you back up to center.
Jumping Jacks
Targets: Full body with an emphasis on the rectus abdominis, transverse abdominis, obliques, hips and back muscles.
How To Do Jumping Jacks
Start in an athletic stance, with your feet shoulder-width distance apart and a slight bend in your knees.
“Jack” your feet out wide, raising your arms overhead.
Then “jack” them back to center dropping your arms to your sides. Repeat to perform standing jumping jacks.
Modification: Option to make this low impact by stepping your feet out rather than “jacking” them out.
Alternating Punches
Targets: Shoulders, back, biceps, chest, abs and core.
Bring hands or knuckles up to ‘defend’ your face in a guard position.
Perform alternating punches in front of your face by punching one fist out as you keep the other near your face. Use your back and biceps to punch with power.
Pull the fist back in with control and punch with the other arm.
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4 comments
This is SOOO helpful! I love how you include a brief warm up in all your full-length videos. Now when I’m doing my own thing I have a go-to warm up routine!
Emma! I’m so glad you find this video helpful! Yes, most of my warm-up’s are brief for times sake, but I often add this 5-Minute warm up onto my full length workouts too! And it’s great for the workouts that don’t have warm ups! So glad you’re putting this video to good use! Thanks so much for following along! -Lindsey
This is going to help me out so much! I always dread my warm up and I think it’s because I don’t feel confident in what I’m doing. Thank you for creating this for us! ❤️
Hi Melissa! So glad you find this Warm Up Video helpful, and look forward to putting it to use! Thanks so much for following along! -Lindsey
Warm Up
This is SOOO helpful! I love how you include a brief warm up in all your full-length videos. Now when I’m doing my own thing I have a go-to warm up routine!
Emma! I’m so glad you find this video helpful! Yes, most of my warm-up’s are brief for times sake, but I often add this 5-Minute warm up onto my full length workouts too! And it’s great for the workouts that don’t have warm ups! So glad you’re putting this video to good use! Thanks so much for following along! -Lindsey
This is going to help me out so much! I always dread my warm up and I think it’s because I don’t feel confident in what I’m doing. Thank you for creating this for us! ❤️
Hi Melissa! So glad you find this Warm Up Video helpful, and look forward to putting it to use! Thanks so much for following along! -Lindsey