To prepare for sports or exercise and to prevent injuries, athletes as well as general population should make warm-ups a priority.
Static stretching—holding a stretch with no movement (such as touching your toes) was once the method most coaches and fitness professionals advocated to prepare individuals for sports activities and workouts.
When later studies pointed to decreases in strength and power immediately following static stretching, that method was abandoned in favor of dynamic warm-ups—those that actively and repeatedly move joints while increasing range of motion over multiple repetitions. For example, leg kicks.