Winter Warm Ups to get your Blood Moving

Feeling a bit achey in the cold? Give these winter warm ups a go to get your blood moving and to warm you up!

All you need is a couple of minutes to get yourself warmed up. Pick one or a combination of the following exercises to create your own warmup.

Take it slowly – you don’t have to rush through each move. Keep each one controlled and deliberate.

You can also tweak the movements yourself to stretch parts of your body that feel particularly tight.

“Skier” Squats

Channel your winter-sports with this funky twist on a squat.

Standing upright, straighten your arms above your head. As you sit back into a squat, push and your arms down and behind you as if you were skiing. Bring your arms back overhead as you stand up again, then repeat the movement.

Dynamic Twists

Our bodies can twist and turn in all kinds of directions – so it is a good idea to ensure we combat any stiffness in the directions we don’t tend to turn in modern life. This is especially important in the winter when we’re prone to slipping in all sorts of directions due to snow and ice.

Standing straight with your arms out to the sides as though you are the letter T, keep your feet facing forwards as you slowly turn your torso from left to right.

Another twist you can do involves this same T position, except you now bend with your arms straight so that you touch your opposite hand to your opposite foot.

Chest Swings

Combat hunched shoulders by loosening off the chest. Our chest muscles on the front of our bodies (the pectorals) pull our shoulders forward due to repeated hunching motions over computers, desks and steering wheels.

Swinging the arms in a cross-crossing motion from left to right on the horizontal plane can help to dynamically stretch the chest. It also involves a deliberate drawing of the shoulder blades together, adding another element of posture control.

Backwards Lunges

Now is the time to give your legs some attention. Holding your hands clasped together in front of you (about in line with your sternum), step one foot behind you and lunge. You want to take quite a deep step so that your front leg creates a right angle and so your front knee does not extend over your front ankle.

To keep this an active stretch rather than a strength workout, step back to the centre between each lunge. You can also swap legs to prevent one getting too fatigued.

Hip Openers

Finally, this stretch is all about loosening off your tight hip flexors (that join the front of your leg to the bottom of your torso). These become tight from lots of sitting.

Standing straight, lift one leg up to form a right angle. Turn this leg away from your body, keeping the right angle between your lower and upper leg. Bring it back to the centre of your body and lower your leg before repeating on the other side.

These stretches and movements are only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to stretching your body. At our FIT Friends sessions, we tailor every stretching session to support your goals and to complement the rest of your workout. Take a look at our timetable to see how we can help you!