Pre-Run Dynamic Warm-up

44 free video tutorials, each tagged by level

What coaches agree on

  • Begin with 5 to 10 minutes of easy jogging, marching in place, or brisk walking to gradually raise your heart rate and blood flow before moving into more targeted drills.
  • Open your hips dynamically with leg swings, forward-to-back and side-to-side, and walking lunges before you run.
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  • Finish the warm-up with faster, running-specific movements like high knees, butt kicks, or a few short accelerating strides that build toward your actual running pace.

Common mistakes

  • Going straight into static, held stretches on cold muscles before a run - coaches warn it can sap power output and belongs after the run, not before it.
  • Skipping a dedicated warm-up and letting the first minutes of the run itself do the warming up, which leaves you running stiff, sluggish, and more prone to injury.
  • Rushing or forcing the swings and kicks with too much speed, which risks pulling a muscle instead of easing into the range of motion.
Ultimate Pre-Race Warm Up Routine
Beginner
Ultimate Pre-Race Warm Up Routine

Reviewer Detailed cues on every movement - genuinely coach-like.

Moderator A thorough, race-day-specific dynamic warm-up: shakeout jog, arm swings, hip rotations, leg swings, all narrated in real time. Squarely the target sub-skill.

3.8
EVERY Run Should Start With THIS!
Beginner
EVERY Run Should Start With THIS!

Reviewer Practical, realistic warm-up advice people will actually follow.

Moderator The entire video is about pre-run preparation - explicitly contrasts static vs dynamic stretching, gives practical on-the-go warm-up moves (hip openers, mountain climbers, leg swings, lunges) fit around a real runner's routine. Exactly the sub-skill.

3.7
How to Warm Up Before Your Run
Beginner
How to Warm Up Before Your Run

Reviewer Excellent, detailed and well-reasoned warm-up plan.

Moderator Pure instructional on warm-up strategy and exact movements for hips, hamstrings, calves, plus strides. Bang on.

3.7
Dynamic Warm Up Techniques for Marathon Training - TikTok
Beginner
Dynamic Warm Up Techniques for Marathon Training - TikTok

Reviewer Specific cues and clear purpose behind every move.

Moderator Squarely pre-run dynamic warm-up, same credible source as another video in this batch, five clearly cued exercises addressing hips, ankles, and spine.

3.6
The Greatest Warm Up EVER! | CHANGES EVERYTHING
Beginner
The Greatest Warm Up EVER! | CHANGES EVERYTHING

Reviewer Genuinely useful, well-structured warm-up progression - explains the why, not just the what.

Moderator This is squarely a pre-run dynamic warm-up walkthrough: easy jog, side-to-sides, grapevines, backwards running, hip mobilization with air squats and hip swings, ankle/calf/toe prep, then strides to finish. Every section maps directly onto the sub-skill.

3.6
How To Warm Up Your Glutes and Core for Running | QUICK FOLLOW ALONG
Beginner
How To Warm Up Your Glutes and Core for Running | QUICK FOLLOW ALONG

Reviewer Easy to follow, explains the reasoning, and you can do it right before you head out the door.

Moderator Purpose-built 7-minute pre-run warm-up follow-along - downward dog flow, hip circles, cat-cow, plank, lunges - explicitly framed as what to do before you run instead of jumping straight out of the car. As on-topic as it gets.

3.6
Pre Run Dynamic Warmup for a Better Run
Beginner
Pre Run Dynamic Warmup for a Better Run

Reviewer Ties every drill back to what actually happens when you run - not just generic stretching.

Moderator Pre-run warm-up, on topic, coach explicitly identifies as a running coach.

3.5
Pre Run Dynamic Stretch Warmup Routine
Beginner
Pre Run Dynamic Stretch Warmup Routine

Reviewer Good instinct to tell viewers to listen to their own body instead of copying blindly.

Moderator Pre-run dynamic stretch routine, explicitly adapted from a Mo Farah warm-up - on topic throughout.

3.5
5-Minute Cold Weather Warm Up || Follow Along
Beginner
5-Minute Cold Weather Warm Up || Follow Along

Reviewer Practical, easy to follow along with, good reasoning behind it.

Moderator A full 5-minute follow-along dynamic warm-up (arm swings, lateral lunge reaches, runner's lunge flossing, high knees, butt kicks) filmed live before a cold run. Squarely on-topic.

3.5
5k Warm Up Routine
Beginner
5k Warm Up Routine

Reviewer Genuinely useful, well-sequenced warm-up plan you could use before any race.

Moderator Directly structured as a 5k warm-up routine: easy jog, dynamic drills (knee pull, ankle pull, kick-up) targeting glutes/quads/hamstrings, then strides. Squarely the skill.

3.5
Quick Pre Run Stretches Dynamic Warmup
Beginner
Quick Pre Run Stretches Dynamic Warmup

Reviewer Efficient and well-cued, if a little light on the 'why'.

Moderator Same territory - quick dynamic warm-up built for pre-run, on topic throughout.

3.4
Activation & Stretching For Running | Essential Before & After Run Routines
Beginner
Activation & Stretching For Running | Essential Before & After Run Routines

Reviewer Clear demos and cues, you finish with a routine you can use.

Moderator Squarely on target. Explicitly a pre-run routine: gentle jog, then dynamic movements and stretches, leg swings as hip openers, hamstring stretch, saving static stretches for the cooldown. Also covers post-run but the warm-up half is core.

3.2
Must Do Dynamic Drills Warm Up for Runners
Beginner
Must Do Dynamic Drills Warm Up for Runners

Reviewer Clear, well-sequenced warm-up coaching.

Moderator The whole video is a pre-run dynamic drill warm-up β€” leg swings, the pulling drill, wall drill, A-skips, in a deliberate order. Spot on for this skill.

3.2
7 Minute Follow Along Running Warm-Up
Beginner
7 Minute Follow Along Running Warm-Up

Reviewer Great real-time follow-along, good cues throughout.

Moderator Full dedicated pre-run dynamic warm-up, follow-along head to toe. Exactly the sub-skill.

3.1
Pre-run Dynamic Warmup Exercises for Hamstrings
Intermediate
Pre-run Dynamic Warmup Exercises for Hamstrings

Reviewer Right drills from a credible coach, but not much coaching in what's shown.

Moderator Hamstring-focused subset of the pre-run dynamic warm-up, still squarely the sub-skill, just narrower scope.

2.6
Master the A B C Running Drills to Run FASTER with BETTER Form!
Beginner
Master the A B C Running Drills to Run FASTER with BETTER Form!

Reviewer Clear cueing and good guidance on how to actually use these drills as a warm-up.

Moderator ABC drills are a classic pre-run activation/warm-up tool, and the video explicitly frames them as something to do as part of a warm-up before a run or speed session to prime the muscles. That's directly in the dynamic warm-up space, even though the drills themselves are also standalone form work.

2.6
How To Run Strides And How They Make You Faster
Beginner
How To Run Strides And How They Make You Faster

Reviewer Correct basics on strides, but a bit thin and padded with filler.

Moderator Strides are commonly used as a warm-up add-on before harder runs, and the video explicitly recommends adding them to normal warm-up routines before faster/sprint sessions. Directly relevant to pre-run dynamic warm-up, though it's a fairly generic treatment.

2.3
GTN's Beginner Track Running Workout: How To Get Started Running On A Track
Beginner
GTN's Beginner Track Running Workout: How To Get Started Running On A Track

Reviewer Short but concrete warm-up guidance, good for a beginner.

Moderator The video opens with an explicit warm-up section - 10-15 min jog, dynamic stretches (leg swings, lunges), and graduated strides - before getting into the main track set. Warm-up is a real, well-defined segment even though it's not the whole video.

2.0
WARM-UP ROUTINE FOR  RUNNERS | Sage Running Tips and Advice
Beginner
WARM-UP ROUTINE FOR RUNNERS | Sage Running Tips and Advice

Reviewer Solid, experienced advice; a touch rambling and light on the actual dynamic drills so far.

Moderator Coach Sage, 20 years, D1 and pro, walking through a pre-run warm-up routine β€” warm-up jog length scaled to race distance, when to skip it for ultras, leading into basic stretches. Squarely about the pre-run warm-up, though it leans on the warm-up jog more than dynamic mobility drills.

2.0
5 Essential Beginner Drills To Run Faster!
Beginner
5 Essential Beginner Drills To Run Faster!

Reviewer Clean, usable drills you can run as activation before a session.

Moderator Running drills (pose drill etc) overlap with a dynamic warm-up since people often run them before a session, but the framing is form and efficiency, not a pre-run warm-up routine. Covers the territory adjacently rather than squarely.

1.9
Use This Core Routine as Your Next Run Warm Up!
Beginner
Use This Core Routine as Your Next Run Warm Up!

Reviewer Solid core routine, well coached.

Moderator It is an 8-minute core routine pitched as a run warm-up. Core work helps but it is not really a dynamic mobility warm-up. Partial fit.

1.8
Our Favorite Agility Drills for Runners
Beginner
Our Favorite Agility Drills for Runners

Reviewer Useful drills with real cues, worth stealing for a warm-up even though that's not quite the pitch.

Moderator These are agility/footwork drills (toe taps, lateral toe taps, shuffles) framed as general athleticism work for runners rather than explicitly a pre-run warm-up sequence. They could absolutely be used as part of a dynamic warm-up, but the video itself doesn't present them that way - it's agility training, adjacent to but not the same thing as warm-up.

1.5