Warm up like a runner: dynamic moves now, save the stretching for later
Most new runners do their warm-up exactly backwards: they bend down and hold a long hamstring stretch on cold legs, then start running. The research says flip it — move first, stretch later.
A proper warm-up for running is dynamic: active, moving drills rather than static holds. And it doesn't take long. Just 7–10 minutes of dynamic work meaningfully improves explosive lower-body performance — measurable in faster sprint times and higher jumps. It does that by priming several systems at once: it raises muscle temperature, speeds up nerve conduction, and improves how well your brain recruits muscle fibers, while also getting your cardiovascular system and your head ready to work. Cold, stiff, half-awake muscles aren't ready to run; warm, switched-on ones are.
Now the part that surprises people. Holding a static stretch for longer than about 60 seconds causes a short-term drop in muscle force and power. That's the opposite of what you want in the minutes before a run. The nuance worth keeping: shorter static stretches, under roughly 60 seconds, are well tolerated and barely affect performance — so the problem isn't stretching itself, it's long holds at the wrong time. Save your longer stretching and mobility work for after the run or a separate session.
A good dynamic warm-up mixes a few ingredients: active range-of-motion moves (leg swings, walking lunges, hip openers), a little light plyometric work (skips, easy bounds), some functional strengthening and core or balance work, and movements that rehearse what you're about to do — a few strides if a faster session is coming. The payoff isn't just feeling better in the first mile. Compared with static stretching alone or no warm-up at all, dynamic warm-ups are linked to fewer muscle strains, sprains, and overuse injuries.
Ten minutes of moving beats two minutes of holding. Do the dynamic work, then run.
Source: Sople & Wilcox — Dynamic Warm-ups in Athletic Performance and Injury Prevention (PMC12034053)
RunNerd builds a short dynamic warm-up into the front of harder sessions — strides, leg swings, lunges — because the data says that's where the injury-prevention and performance payoff lives. When it sees the first mile of a workout consistently running ragged or your perceived effort spiking early, an absent or rushed warm-up is one of the first things it points to. It steers you away from long static holds before you run, and toward saving the deep stretching for afterward, when it won't blunt your power.