The research is in, and warming up is important. It reduces the chances of injury, increases blood flow to muscles for better performance and increases nerve impulse speed, among many other benefits. But what’s the best way to warm-up before you work out? Many experts suggest that activity-specific warm-ups are the way to go – so if you’re about to go for a run, some lunges and deficit calf raises might be good to activate the hip flexors and stretch out the calf muscles. While it’s great to tailor your warm-up to your workout, it’s also good to have some general ideas to use, especially if you are going to use a variety of muscles and joints. Here are four simple ways you can warm-up before your next workout!

1. Use Machines

Machines offer you an easy way to gently ease your muscles into your activity. Jumping on a treadmill or elliptical trainer is a convenient way to get the blood pumping, and you can scale and adjust as much as you want. Start with an easy walk and increase the speed or incline until you are at the intensity of the rest of your workout. You don’t have to be limited to gym to use these machines, either. Specialty retailers like Fitness Market can outfit your home with all the equipment you need for both warming up and working out.

2. Dynamic Stretching

While static stretching involves gradually stretching muscles to an elongated position and holding for a period of time, dynamic stretching is more active and is not held. This mode of warming up is favoured for many professionals, and is often seen before team and athletic sports. Butt kicks, high knees, squat jumps, jump lunges and leg kicks all feature in dynamic warm-ups, as well as very short sprints. These motions improve power, speed and range of motion, which all provide great benefit to many different types of workouts. The best part is they don’t require any equipment and are easy to do in the comfort of your home!

3. Jog It Out

If simple is what you are after, there’s nothing better than a basic jog. Throw your running shoes on, open up the door and get moving. You don’t have to run for miles; just far enough to raise your body temperature and get all of your muscles moving. Then when you get back, you can get stuck into the bulk of your workout.

4. Practice Skills

Incorporating different skills is great on a purely functional level, but it has the added bonus of providing challenge and variety. You can work on technique for new lifts, gymnastic elements (think handstands), or working on something like double unders (skipping) – no matter what your goals are, there are skills to complement them! Make sure if you choose to do skills work in your warm-up that it is part of it; get stuck into the stretches or the jog first. Extra tip: having a broomstick or length of dowel wood is handy to have for both stretching and working on technique!

There’s no excuse to skip your warm-up when there are heaps of simple options out there. What does your warm-up routine look like?