The Five Best Warm-Up Movements: A Comprehensive Guide

Hey everyone, Tara here, and today I want to go over my number one warm-up movement, the spider-man stretch with trunk rotation. The idea behind this stretch is simple: you're in a deep lunge position, and you want the leg that's extended to be fully locked out and straight. Then, you sink that hip forward into the front leg, and drop the elbow down towards the floor, really getting that deep stretch in the hamstring and groin area. The next step is to rotate your body into the knee that's bent, and extend the arm, really getting a good stretch and movement through your trunk area. You can hold this position for three to five seconds, or switch legs and alternate back and forth.

The second warm-up movement I want to cover is the deep squat with hamstring stretch. This one's a bit more challenging, especially if you don't have good ankle mobility. To get into this position, you need to keep your chest up, sit back into your heels, and keep your back flat. It can be hard for people who struggle with ankle mobility to get into this position without their toes touching the ground. The idea is to sit back on your heels, even if you need to stretch your calves a bit more. Then, you push with your elbows against your knees to push your knees out, and place your hands on the floor to extend your hips up to the ceiling, straightening your legs. This movement is all about alternating between different positions, holding for three to five seconds, or going at a faster tempo.

The third warm-up movement I want to discuss is the lateral adductor stretch with reach rotation. With this movement, one leg is bent, and the other leg is fully extended. You want to sit back into that stretch, getting into a deep sort of lateral lunge position. You can place your elbows on the floor or your hands on the floor, so your upper body is bent forward towards the floor. The next step is to take your hand and weave it through your arm that's on the floor, reaching out with that leg. Then, you bring your hand back in, rotating around, which will help get you a good hamstring stretch, groin stretch, and some extra trunk stretch as well.

The fourth warm-up movement I want to cover is the alternating lunge. This one's a simple yet effective movement that works on your legs and glutes. To do this movement, focus on keeping your knee in line with your toe, straight ahead. Once you've got that alignment, sit back into that hip, and take it as deep as you can to the floor with that leg, fully extending it. You can then turn that toe up towards the ceiling, sitting into a stretch. This movement is all about getting that knee and toe in line, and then stretching out those muscles.

Finally, I want to cover my number five warm-up movement, the bear crawl. With this movement, you're holding your core tight and pressing your chest into your back, so to speak. To do this movement, get into a kneeling position with good posture, keeping your shoulders 90 degrees, wrists 90 degrees, and hips at 90 degrees. Focus on pulling your ribcage into your back, keeping your abs pulled in and tight and activated. From there, you take your steps or crawls, feeling the engagement of your core muscles as well as warming up your wrists. This movement is a great way to activate and work your core while also getting your wrists warmed up.

Overall, these five warm-up movements offer a comprehensive approach to preparing your body for physical activity. By incorporating these exercises into your routine, you'll be able to improve flexibility, strengthen muscles, and enhance overall performance. Remember to hold each position for three to five seconds, or go at a faster tempo if desired. Experiment with different tempos and see what works best for you!

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey everyone Tara great hair and today I want to go over the number one we're gonna be doing a spider-man stretch with a trunk rotation the idea with the spider-man stretch is you're in that deep lunge position and you want the leg that's extended to be fully locked out and straight and then you want to sink that hip forward into the front leg and then you drop the elbow down towards the floor really get that that deep stretch in the hamstring in the groin area and then what you're gonna do is rotate and you rotate your body into the knee that is bent and extend the arm so you really get a good stretch and movement through your trunk area and you can hold that you could hold it for say three to five seconds and then switch bet to the other side and just alternate back and forth number two is the deep squat with hamstring stretch so you're in that deep squat position the idea is that you want to keep your chest up you want to sit back into your heels and keep your back flat this is a hard position for a lot of people if you don't have good ankle mobility so a lot of people struggle to get into that deep squat position and not be in their toes the idea is you want to sit back on your heels you may need even stretch your calves a little bit but what you're gonna do is sit in that deep squat position pushing with your elbows against your knees to push your knees out and then you're going to place your hands on the floor and extend your hips up to the ceiling to straightening your legs so basically you're doing deep squat with a hamstring stretch and you go alternating back and forth into those positions you can hold them from three to five seconds or you can go faster at a tempo the third stretch is the lateral adductor stretch with reach rotation so with this movement one leg is bent the other leg is fully extended and you want to sit back into that stretch you're in a deep sort of lateral lunge position you can place your elbows on the floor or your hands on the floor so your upper body is bent forward to towards the floor then what you're gonna do is you're gonna take your hand and weave it through your arm that's on the floor you're gonna reach and then you're gonna bring it back and rotate around you'll see how I'm rotating and how I'm doing that so you're getting hamstring stretch groin stretch you're getting a lot of trunk stretch as well thoracic rotation movement number four is an alternating lunge a deep alternating lunge simple movement but it's one of my favorites because it really works on your legs and your glutes so what you want to do is focus on keeping your knee in your toe straight ahead that you are lunging into so once your knee and toe are in line and straight ahead you're gonna sit back into that hip and then take it as deep as you can to the floor with that one leg fully extended and you can turn that toe up to the ceiling and sit into that stretch number five my final and favorite movement is going to be the bear crawl what I want you to focus on with this bear crawl is you are holding your core in tight and you are pressing your chest into your back so to speak so as you are kneeling in that nice 9090 position 90 in the shoulders 90 in the wrist and 90 degrees in the hips you want to think about pulling your ribcage into your back your upper back and keeping your abs pulled in and tight and activated and then you're gonna take your steps your crawls you'll see how I do it this is a really good movement to activate and work the core as well as you know you're getting your wrists warmed up too so a combination of all of these movements makes for a really awesome warm-up and if you want to make them a little faster tempo it can become even like a workout for some people so that covers it for my five best warm-up movements give them a try and let me know how they work for you as always thanks for watching make sure you subscribe to my channel share this video with your friendshey everyone Tara great hair and today I want to go over the number one we're gonna be doing a spider-man stretch with a trunk rotation the idea with the spider-man stretch is you're in that deep lunge position and you want the leg that's extended to be fully locked out and straight and then you want to sink that hip forward into the front leg and then you drop the elbow down towards the floor really get that that deep stretch in the hamstring in the groin area and then what you're gonna do is rotate and you rotate your body into the knee that is bent and extend the arm so you really get a good stretch and movement through your trunk area and you can hold that you could hold it for say three to five seconds and then switch bet to the other side and just alternate back and forth number two is the deep squat with hamstring stretch so you're in that deep squat position the idea is that you want to keep your chest up you want to sit back into your heels and keep your back flat this is a hard position for a lot of people if you don't have good ankle mobility so a lot of people struggle to get into that deep squat position and not be in their toes the idea is you want to sit back on your heels you may need even stretch your calves a little bit but what you're gonna do is sit in that deep squat position pushing with your elbows against your knees to push your knees out and then you're going to place your hands on the floor and extend your hips up to the ceiling to straightening your legs so basically you're doing deep squat with a hamstring stretch and you go alternating back and forth into those positions you can hold them from three to five seconds or you can go faster at a tempo the third stretch is the lateral adductor stretch with reach rotation so with this movement one leg is bent the other leg is fully extended and you want to sit back into that stretch you're in a deep sort of lateral lunge position you can place your elbows on the floor or your hands on the floor so your upper body is bent forward to towards the floor then what you're gonna do is you're gonna take your hand and weave it through your arm that's on the floor you're gonna reach and then you're gonna bring it back and rotate around you'll see how I'm rotating and how I'm doing that so you're getting hamstring stretch groin stretch you're getting a lot of trunk stretch as well thoracic rotation movement number four is an alternating lunge a deep alternating lunge simple movement but it's one of my favorites because it really works on your legs and your glutes so what you want to do is focus on keeping your knee in your toe straight ahead that you are lunging into so once your knee and toe are in line and straight ahead you're gonna sit back into that hip and then take it as deep as you can to the floor with that one leg fully extended and you can turn that toe up to the ceiling and sit into that stretch number five my final and favorite movement is going to be the bear crawl what I want you to focus on with this bear crawl is you are holding your core in tight and you are pressing your chest into your back so to speak so as you are kneeling in that nice 9090 position 90 in the shoulders 90 in the wrist and 90 degrees in the hips you want to think about pulling your ribcage into your back your upper back and keeping your abs pulled in and tight and activated and then you're gonna take your steps your crawls you'll see how I do it this is a really good movement to activate and work the core as well as you know you're getting your wrists warmed up too so a combination of all of these movements makes for a really awesome warm-up and if you want to make them a little faster tempo it can become even like a workout for some people so that covers it for my five best warm-up movements give them a try and let me know how they work for you as always thanks for watching make sure you subscribe to my channel share this video with your friends\n"