A Simple Warm-Up and Cool-Down for Any Workout

A warm-up is the easiest part of a workout to skip and one of the most useful parts to keep. Five minutes is enough. It raises your body temperature, gets your joints moving, and lets your heart rate climb gradually, so the first hard interval does not come as a shock.

What a good warm-up does

Raises heart rate and breathing gradually, so hard efforts feel more manageable.
Moves your joints through their range — hips, knees, ankles, shoulders, spine.
Rehearses the movements you are about to do, at low effort.
Gives your head time to switch into training mode.

Long static stretches (holding a stretch for 30 seconds or more) are better saved for after the workout or a separate session. Before training, keep things moving.

The 5-minute warm-up

Set the interval timer to work 50, rest 10, rounds 5. Each round is one minute; use the 10 seconds to switch.

March and arm swings — march in place, swing arms forward and back, gradually lifting knees higher.
Hip circles and torso turns — hands on hips, big slow circles each way; then rotate your upper body side to side.
Bodyweight squats — slow and shallow at first, a bit deeper each rep.
Arm circles and wall push-ups — small to large circles, then 10 easy push-ups against a wall.
Light cardio — jumping jacks, step-jacks (no jump) or easy jogging on the spot.

By the end you should feel warm and slightly out of breath, but not tired.

Make it specific

Before a specific activity, add a minute or two of that activity at low effort:

Running — 5 minutes of easy jogging, then a few 15-second pick-ups.
Boxing or bag work — 2 to 3 minutes of jump rope and a round of light shadowboxing. See the boxing rounds guide.
Lifting — one or two light sets of your first exercise.
Tabata or HIIT — a shorter version of the first exercise at half effort.

The cool-down

After a hard session, do not stop dead and sit down. Take 3 to 5 minutes to let your heart rate come down:

Walk slowly for 2 minutes, breathing deeply.
Stretch the main muscles you used, holding each position for 20 to 30 seconds without bouncing:
- thighs (front and back),
- hips and glutes,
- calves,
- chest and shoulders.
Drink some water.

A stretch should feel like gentle tension, never sharp pain.

Short on time?

Cut the main workout before you cut the warm-up. A 15-minute session with a 5-minute warm-up is better than a 20-minute session that starts cold. If you only have 10 minutes, a longer warm-up that flows into a few harder intervals is a perfectly good workout.