While it’s tempting to start your workout the second you walk out of the locker room, take a few minutes to focus on your warm-up first. A smart warm-up will help improve your speed, strength, endurance, flexibility…the list goes on. So while those first few minutes may feel like you’re not working up a sweat, you’re actually putting in some serious work.

The primary purpose of a warm-up is to prepare the body for the rigorous demands of your workout, explains Jessica Matthews, M.S., assistant professor of exercise science at Miramar College and senior advisor for health and fitness education for the American Council on Exercise. “A well-rounded warm-up routine can help address underlying muscle imbalances and enhance your overall movement quality, while also gradually increasing your core body temperature in preparation for the activity to come,” she says.

A proper warm-up will also help decrease your risk for injury, explains assistant director of strength and conditioning at Princeton University Angie Brambley-Moyer, CSCS. “Adequate joint mobility, or range of motion around the joints, is imperative to perform loaded movement patterns safely and effectively,” Matthews adds.

An effective pre-workout routine includes something called dynamic stretching, which means you’re pretty much constantly moving while getting your blood pumping and muscles ready for action. Static stretches, on the other hand, are held in place. And you’ll want to save those stretches for after your workout, explains Brambley-Moyer.

Brambley-Moyer works closely with high-performing collegiate athletes—she trains the women’s basketball, volleyball, soccer, softball, and lacrosse teams, as well as the men’s hockey team, so she’s pretty much a pro at running a killer strength program in addition to the warm-ups that make them count. So what’s your game plan? To help make your pre-workout minutes count, try five of Brambley-Moyer’s go-to dynamic stretches below.

1. Leg Cradle To Side Lunge

How to do it: Stand on your left leg and lift your right leg of the ground opening your right Knee to the right. Grab below your right knee with your right hand and above your right shoe with your left hand. Lift your right leg toward your chest, keeping it parallel to the ground (similar to a standing figure four stretch, but keeping your standing leg straight). Now release your right leg and step it out to the right, lowering into a side lunge on your right leg before returning to standing tall. Do fives reps on each side, alternating sides with each rep.

Why it works: This stretch improves mobility and flexibility of your Hips, ankles, thighs, and knees. This comes in handy during lower body exercises like squats, where you need your hips and ankles to be loosened up to get the full range of motion, explains Brambley-Moyer.

2. Back Lunge To Groiner

How to do it: Start standing and step your right foot back into a reverse lunge. Bend both knees to lower your butt toward ground while keeping your spine long. Now place both hands on the ground on the inside of your left foot and straighten your right leg behind you. Drop your left elbow and gently push it against the instep of your left leg. Pause, then return to standing. Do fives reps on each side, alternating sides with each rep.

Why it works: You’ll improve mobility in your knees, hips, ankles, and lower back, and increase flexibility in your groin and hip flexors, explains Brambley-Moyer. This dynamic stretch comes in especially handy if you’re doing any lunges with weights during your workout.

3. Quad Pull With Tilt

How to do it: Start standing. With your right hand, grab your right foot behind you just above your right shoe. Standing on your left leg, begin to lean forward slightly while pulling your right knee up in air. Hold for five seconds, then release your foot and return to standing. Do fives reps on each side, alternating sides with each rep.

Why it works: You’ll get mobility benefits in your knees, hips, and ankles, as well as added flexibility in your quads and hamstrings, says Brambley-Moyer. Plus, this stretch challenges your balance, too.

4. Hip Bridge With Reach

How to do it: Lie flat on your back with your legs bent, feet flat on the floor, and arms at your sides. Push through your heels and lift your hips up. Once you’re at the top of your bridge, reach your right hand across your body toward the left shoulder, trying to touch the ground with your hand. Be sure to keep your hips still and stable throughout the movement. Then, return to arm back to your side and lower your hips to the ground. Do fives reps on each side, alternating sides with each rep.

Why it works: This works mobility in your knees, hips, shoulders, and upper back, as well as helps increase flexibility in your lats, oblique muscles, and hip flexors. The bridge helps activate the glutes for lower-body exercises, and the reach will help mobility with upper-body exercises, like pull-ups, push-ups, and any shoulder exercises, says Brambley-Moyer.

5. Three-Point T-Spine

How to do it: Start on your hands and knees with your wrists under your shoulders and knees below your hips. Place your right hand behind your head with your right elbow opening wide to the right. Now bring your right elbow down to point toward the ground while keeping the rest of your body still. Now extend it back up through the starting position and beyond, twisting your upper body to the right as you try to get your right elbow to point at the ceiling. Do this five times, then switch sides.

Why it works: Your mobility in your elbows, shoulders, and upper back should improve with this stretch, and so should the flexibility of your chest, explains Brambley-Moyer.

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