Walking
Walking may not sound revolutionary, but it is actually one of the most effective ways to gear up for your run and doing so allows you to get outside and enjoy the beautiful scenery right away.
Walking lunges
If you want something a little more involved than just walking, walking lunges augment the classic pre-run stretch wonderfully. The added bend as you lower for each lunge will work your glutes and your butt in advance of your run.
Walking front leg raise
If you want to go even further with an augmented walk, try a few walking front leg raises. If you’re feeling particularly confident, you can even work this into a bit of a front kick for added impact (and stress-relieving fun).
Butt kicks
If you’re enjoying the front leg raises you may also want to consider adding butt kicks to your martial arts slash pre-run routine. Kicking your heels up towards your butt as you walk will give your knee and hip flexors a little bit of extra love before you start your run.
Skipping
Skipping is another great way to stay moving while stretching out your muscles. Skipping is an often-underrated exercise; it targets a great deal of your body’s muscles and will get you working up a sweat in no time.
Bonus stretches
While there are plenty of ways to keep moving, you can also lean on other on-the-spot dynamic stretches like standing hip flexors and extensors, standing leg flexor and extensors, hip circles, and jumping jacks to get you revved up to run.