Prevent Injury on Leg Day with This Dynamic Stretch Routine

Whether you’re running, biking, or climbing, your workout should always begin with a basic bodyweight warm-up to prime your muscles and joints for peak performance. The same goes for preparing for leg day at the gym.

Dynamic stretching, in which you move your muscles and joints through their full range of motion, helps your body prepare for the work ahead. As Outside previously reported, this kind of movement helps improve blood flow, increase heart rate, and improve coordination and control.

The more specific the stretches are to the main activity ahead, the better. “The simplest thing is to just get deeper into the motions you’re going to be doing,” says Leada Malek, a physical therapist and spokesperson for the American Physical Therapy Association, based in San Francisco. So, for a squat session in the gym, you can begin with some deep bodyweight squats. Before a trail run, you might do some side steps to prepare for leaping over rocks and roots. Ahead of a bike ride, do a hip flexor stretch to bring movement to the muscles that will be working overtime in a seated position.

“Understanding what muscles are at work [in the activity ahead] can help you build the best dynamic warm-up routine,” says Malek.

The more specific the stretches are to the main activity ahead, the better.

There’s also value in tailoring your warm-up to your body’s unique needs. If you have a history of hip discomfort or tightness, add some extra stretches designed to improve range of motion in the hip joints, says Malek. “There’s a lot of room to make it fit for you,” she says.

6 Dynamic Stretches to Prepare for a Lower Body Workout

Before any lower-body-focused workout, Malek suggests doing dynamic stretches that target the hips, glutes, hamstrings, and calves, as well as the joints of the hips, knees, and ankles.

This routine should take about 15 minutes to complete if you do two sets of 10 reps for each movement.

1. Bodyweight Squats

Muscles and joints worked: glutes, quads, hamstrings, hip flexors, hip joint

How to Do It:

• Begin by standing with your feet slightly wider than hip-width apart and your toes turned slightly outward. Your arms should hang by your sides; pull your shoulders back and down.
• Send your hips back and bend your knees at the same time, lowering your hips towards the floor as if you were sitting in a chair. As you begin this motion, raise your arms in front of you, no higher than shoulder height, keeping your gaze forward and your chest upright.
• Pause for a few seconds at the bottom of the squat before pressing through your feet and rising back up.

2. Squat Reach

Muscles and joints worked: glutes, quads, hamstrings, adductors; knee, ankle, hip, and shoulder joints

How to Do It: 

• Get as low as you can into a deep squat, so your buttocks are just slightly off the ground.  Keep the back of your thighs as close to the back of your calves as you can manage without too much discomfort. Your feet should be slightly wider than hip-width apart, planted firmly on the ground with your toes pointed slightly outward.
• Press your arms against the inside of your knees.
• Twist your torso to your left and reach your left arm up into the air at the same time, allowing your right arm to press deeper into the inside of your right knee. Your gaze should follow your left hand upwards.
• Pause for a moment, then switch arms.
• After you’ve completed one reach on each side, grab your toes with both hands and raise your hips until your legs are straight—or close to straight. That completes one rep.
• Keeping your fingers hooked under your toes, lower back into your deep squat to begin the next rep.

3. Half-Kneeling Hip Flexor Stretch

Muscles and joints worked: glutes, hip flexors, hip joint

How to Do It:

• Begin in a half-kneeling position (essentially a low lunge position). One leg should be bent at the knee in front of you (a 90-degree angle) with your foot flat on the ground. Your other leg should be bent behind you (also at a 90-degree angle), with your shin and the top of your foot flat on the ground.
• Slowly lean your hips forward so that your knee bends even more (to about a 45-degree angle), feeling a stretch in the hip flexor of your rear leg.
• Hold that bent position for two or three seconds, then return to your starting point.
• Complete all repetitions on one side before switching sides.

4. Half-Kneeling Adductor Rock-Back

Muscles and joints worked: adductors, hip flexors, hip joint

How to Do It:

• Begin on all fours.
• Straighten one leg out to the side and slightly behind you. You should feel a slight stretch in the groin of the outstretched leg, even without movement.
• Rock your hips back and hold for about five seconds to deepen the stretch. Then rock forward, bringing your shoulders over your hands. That’s one rep.
• Complete all repetitions on one side before switching sides.

5. Side Steps

Muscles and joints worked: adductors, quads, hamstrings, glutes, hip joint

How to Do It:

• Begin standing with your feet together, hands by your sides.
• Jump your outside leg out to the side, then quickly bring your second leg to join it.
• Repeat on the opposite side.
• Continue alternating sides until all reps are completed.

6. Dynamic Calf Stretch

Muscles and joints worked: calves, ankles

How to Do It:

• Place your hands against a wall with your arms outstretched at shoulder height.
• Step back about two feet away from the wall and lean forward until you start to feel a stretch in the back of your calves. Your upper body will be angled toward the wall.
• Pedal your feet, coming up on your toes, you’ll feel a stretch in your calf as you press the heel back down to the floor.
• Continue alternating feet for the full set of repetitions.

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