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Exercises

Dynamic warm up: skips, crawls and jumps that build to game speed

Published October 24, 2026

A dynamic warm up is a run of moving drills that start easy and finish near full speed. Ten minutes covers it: two minutes of skipping, high knees and butt kicks; two minutes of bear crawls, gorilla walks and cossack squats; then fast feet, skater hops, jump squats and two or three box jumps. Every drill is a little faster or more explosive than the one before, so you reach practice, plyos or conditioning already moving at speed.

  1. Skipping in Place Calves, Quads, Hamstrings
  2. High Knees Quads
  3. Bear Crawl Abs, Shoulders
  4. Gorilla Walk Glutes, Quads, Shoulders
  5. Skater Hop Glutes, Quads, Abductors
  6. Jump Squat Quads, Glutes
  7. Box Jump Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings

Rhythm drills: skip, knees, heels

Start with three running-form drills at an easy pace. They warm you and groove the foot contacts you will speed up later. Twenty to thirty seconds each.

Rhythm and calves

Skipping in Place

Calves, Quads, Hamstrings

The gentlest of the three, so it goes first.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall with your fists beside your hips as if holding rope handles.
  2. Circle your hands and bounce lightly from one foot to the other, as if skipping over a turning rope.
  3. Keep the bounces low and springy for the whole interval.

Cues

  • Bounce off the balls of your feet
  • Hands circle, elbows close
  • Relaxed shoulders

Common mistakes

  • Stomping on the heels: stay on the front of your feet.
  • Hopping high: a small bounce clears an imaginary rope.

Swap for: High Knees, Jump Rope

Build a session with Skipping in Place

Hip drive

High Knees

Quads

It trains the knee lift used in sprinting and raises your heart rate quickly.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall and start jogging in place.
  2. Drive each knee up to hip height while pumping your arms.
  3. Keep the pace quick but controlled.

Cues

  • Land on the balls of your feet.
  • Stay tall rather than leaning back.

Common mistakes

  • Knees creeping lower as you tire.

Swap for: Skipping in Place, Butt Kicks

Build a session with High Knees

Hamstrings and heel recovery

Butt Kicks

Hamstrings

The quick heel flick prepares the back of the thigh for running.

How to do it

  1. Jog in place with your torso upright.
  2. Flick each heel up toward your glutes.
  3. Keep your knees pointing down at the floor.

Cues

  • Quick, light contacts.
  • Arms swing as if running.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the knees drift forward.

Swap for: High Knees, Fast Feet

Build a session with Butt Kicks

Crawls and low positions

Next come drills that take hips and shoulders through big ranges while you support your weight. Crawl 10 yards, or 20 seconds, out and back.

Shoulders, hips and core together

Bear Crawl

Abs, Shoulders

Moving on all fours loads the shoulders and keeps your trunk braced, useful for any sport with contact or falls.

How to do it

  1. Start on hands and toes with knees hovering an inch off the floor.
  2. Move the opposite hand and foot forward together in small steps.
  3. Crawl forward for the distance, then back.

Cues

  • Back flat enough to balance a cup on it.
  • Knees stay low.

Common mistakes

  • Hips riding up high.

Swap for: Gorilla Walk, Walkout

Build a session with Bear Crawl

Deep squat and hip opening

Gorilla Walk

Glutes, Quads, Shoulders

Hopping the feet past the hands from a deep squat opens the hips more than a standing drill can.

How to do it

  1. Squat low with feet wide and place your hands on the floor between your feet.
  2. Shift your weight into your hands and hop both feet forward past them.
  3. Reach the hands forward again and repeat for distance or time.

Cues

  • Stay low the whole way.
  • Land quietly with soft knees.

Common mistakes

  • Standing up between hops.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Cossack Squat

Build a session with Gorilla Walk

Side-to-side hip range

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

Cutting and lateral sports need the inner thighs ready; five reps a side covers it.

How to do it

  1. Set your feet about twice shoulder width with the toes turned slightly out.
  2. Sit down over one leg while the other leg stays straight and its toes point up.
  3. Push back through the bent leg to center and sink to the other side.

Cues

  • Bent-leg heel stays flat on the floor.
  • Go only as deep as you can keep your chest up.

Common mistakes

  • Rising onto the toes of the bent leg.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Leg Swings

Build a session with Cossack Squat

Speed and jumps

Finish with quick feet and jumps at rising effort. Keep the reps low and rest a few seconds between them; these prepare you, they should not tire you.

Foot speed

Fast Feet

Calves, Quads

Ten seconds of fast patter wakes up quick contacts before you sprint or cut.

How to do it

  1. Stand in an athletic stance with knees bent and weight on the balls of your feet.
  2. Patter your feet up and down as fast as you can, barely leaving the floor.
  3. Stay in place for the set time.

Cues

  • Short, quick contacts.
  • Hips stay low.

Common mistakes

  • Standing up tall and slowing down.

Swap for: High Knees, Butt Kicks

Build a session with Fast Feet

Lateral power and landing

Skater Hop

Glutes, Quads, Abductors

Leaping side to side and sticking the landing rehearses changes of direction.

How to do it

  1. Stand on one leg with a slight knee bend.
  2. Leap sideways onto the other foot, letting the trailing leg cross behind.
  3. Stick the landing for a beat, then leap back.

Cues

  • Land balanced before you go again.
  • Swing your arms across your body.

Common mistakes

  • Hopping short to avoid the landing.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Cossack Squat

Build a session with Skater Hop

Vertical power

Jump Squat

Quads, Glutes

A few submaximal jumps bridge the gap between drills and full-effort work.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet shoulder width and drop into a quarter to half squat.
  2. Jump straight up, swinging your arms.
  3. Land softly and sink straight into the next rep.

Cues

  • Quiet landings.
  • Jump for height only as hard as the stage calls for.

Common mistakes

  • Collapsing the knees inward on landing.

Swap for: Box Jump, Star Jump

Build a session with Jump Squat

Full-effort jump

Box Jump

Quads, Glutes, Hamstrings

Two or three jumps onto a low box are the last step before plyometrics or a game.

How to do it

  1. Stand an arm's length from a low box with feet hip width.
  2. Swing your arms and land on top of the box on both feet.
  3. Stand tall, then step down rather than jumping down.

Cues

  • Pick a box you land on in a half squat.
  • Full reset between reps.

Common mistakes

  • Choosing a box so tall you land in a deep squat.

Swap for: Jump Squat, Skater Hop

Build a session with Box Jump

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Before team practice or a game

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts4× a week
  • Working sets32 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

You play a field or court sport and want a routine for the team or for yourself before practice.

Field sports need rhythm, low positions and changes of direction, so this routine runs all three groups and finishes with skater hops rather than box jumps, which need equipment. Effort climbs from easy skips to near-game-speed hops.

Practice warm-up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Skipping in PlaceSeconds. 1 × 30 4 0 s
High KneesSeconds. 1 × 20 4 0 s
Butt KicksSeconds. 1 × 20 4 0 s
Bear CrawlSeconds. 1 × 20 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 5 4 15 s
Fast FeetSeconds. Two bursts. 2 × 10 4 0 s
Skater HopPer side. 1 × 6–8 4 15 s
How to run it
Run it on the field. Twenty to thirty seconds per drill with a walk back between.
How to progress
Shorten rest between drills as the season goes on, not the drills themselves.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Before jumps or plyometrics

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets14 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentPlyo Box

Your session is box jumps, bounds or other jump training.

Jump training is only useful when you are fresh and fast, so this routine spends less time on rhythm drills and more on rising jumps: jump squats at half effort, then box jumps at full effort with rest. The box jumps work as the ramp-up for the jump session.

Plyo warm-up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Skipping in PlaceSeconds. 1 × 30 4 0 s
Gorilla WalkSeconds. 1 × 20 4 0 s
Jump SquatHalf effort. 2 × 5 4 30 s
Box JumpFull effort, step down. 3 × 3 4 1 min
How to run it
Do the drills, then three sets of box jumps with full rest. Move into your main jumps right after.
How to progress
Raise the box height only when every landing is quiet and balanced.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Before conditioning or a HIIT session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets18 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentBodyweight

Your session is sprints, intervals or a circuit.

Conditioning starts hard, so the routine keeps your heart rate rising all the way: rhythm drills, crawls and fast feet back to back with almost no rest. There are no jumps, because the session will have plenty.

Conditioning warm-up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
High KneesSeconds. 1 × 30 4 0 s
Butt KicksSeconds. 1 × 30 4 0 s
Bear CrawlSeconds. 1 × 30 4 0 s
Gorilla WalkSeconds. 1 × 20 4 0 s
Fast FeetSeconds. Two bursts. 2 × 15 4 0 s
How to run it
Go straight from one drill to the next. About six minutes.
How to progress
Add a second round of fast feet and bear crawls before your hardest interval days.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What are examples of dynamic warm-ups?

Skipping, high knees, butt kicks, bear crawls, gorilla walks, cossack squats, fast feet, skater hops and jump squats, done in that order.

Why is a dynamic warm-up important?

It raises your temperature and rehearses the movements of the session at rising speed, so the first hard rep is not the first fast rep.

What are three types of warm-ups?

General warm-ups like easy cardio, dynamic drills that move through range, and specific ones that rehearse the sport or lift itself.

How long should a dynamic warm-up take?

Eight to twelve minutes for a team sport; five or six before a conditioning session.

Is a dynamic warm-up the same as dynamic stretching?

Dynamic stretches are part of it. A dynamic warm-up adds rhythm drills, crawls and jumps that build toward full speed.