Active Warm Ups - Dr. Santo Riva DPT from Victory Performance & Physical Therapy
Static Stretching as a warm-up for activity is nail-in-the-coffin done. I mean, look at what you are trying to do - warm up! Hard to do when you have been holding the same stretch for 5 minutes.
It’s important to always prime your muscles for the sport or activity that you will be doing. Specificity is key here! You want to make sure that you do something that looks similar to what you are going to be doing. For example, if you are going to play golf, you can go through your swing mechanics at about 50% speed. Split the movement in half, first addressing your lower body hip and foot mechanics, and then targeting the thoracic and shoulder movements. Finally, combine the two and gradually increase the speed until you reach your full speed. If you are lifting weights, do a set at 50% of your max, and perform a set of 10-12 repetitions and double the speed. So if you usually move at a tempo of 2:2 concentric:eccentric, perform at 4:4.
Check out this vid for a general lower body dynamic warm-up!