By Dr. Zachary LaVigne B.S., D.C.
The Right Way to Warm Up (and Cool Down)
Let’s set the record straight: stretching before a workout isn’t always the best move. In fact, doing it at the wrong time, in the wrong way, might actually make your body less prepared for movement, not more.
Here’s what most people get wrong: they treat all stretching the same. But your body doesn’t respond to stillness and movement the same way. Before you work out, your muscles and joints need to be primed, not put to sleep. That’s why dynamic movement, not static stretching, is the best way to warm up.
Dynamic movements are active stretches that mimic the motions you’re about to do. Think leg swings, shoulder rolls, lunges with a twist, or jumping jacks. They increase blood flow, raise your body temperature, and tell your nervous system it’s go time. This is your body’s natural state of readiness, think of it as how our ancestors moved when they were preparing to climb, hunt, or sprint. No one held a deep hamstring stretch before outrunning a predator.
What you don’t want to do before a workout is force your body into long, still stretches, what we call static holds. Holding a muscle for 30 seconds or more can relax and lengthen it, but doing that before movement can reduce your strength and power. Even worse, if the muscle is cold, you’re more likely to strain it.
Instead, save those static stretches for later, after you’ve worked up a sweat and used your body. That’s when your muscles are warm and pliable. Post-workout stretching helps restore length to the muscle fibers, calms your nervous system, and reduces that tight, tense feeling that creeps in after a hard session.
And if you’re using a foam roller as part of your recovery, smart move, but timing matters there, too. Foam rolling should come after your static stretches, not before. Static stretching first targets muscle length and can cause a temporary drop in muscle activation; foam rolling afterward helps maintain the flexibility gain while mitigating any strength loss and actively promoting blood flow.
All of this comes back to a simple truth: your body is resourceful. It produces what it needs, lubrication in the joints, strength in the muscles, elasticity in the tissues, but only when you use it properly. Static stretching isn’t bad. It’s just misunderstood. The key is doing it when your body is ready for it, not when it’s cold and stiff.
We weren’t designed to go from stillness to sprinting, or to sit for 10 hours and then dive into a workout without any prep. Our ancestors moved constantly. They walked up to 20 miles a day, naturally flowing between effort and recovery. Their bodies didn’t need a warm-up routine because movement was the routine.
Today, we have to be more intentional. We sit too much, move too little, and expect our bodies to perform on demand. But when we honor the sequence: dynamic warm-up, workout, static stretching, then foam rolling, we’re working with our biology, not against it.
So the next time you head into a workout, skip the toe touches and start moving like you mean it. Your body will thank you in strength, mobility, and fewer injuries down the road.
