Most coaches and athletes know just how important it is to warm up before practicing or playing in a game or match. According to the American Heart Association, warming up helps expand blood vessels to allow more oxygen flow to the muscles, and it helps reduce the amount of stress placed on your heart when a person starts an activity1. It can also help prevent injury and potentially improve a player’s performance on the field.2

Dynamic soccer warm-up exercises are especially important because they combine stretching with a range of motion that prepares the body for more intense exercise. Ideally, a dynamic warm-up for soccer should focus on mimicking movements performed while participating in the sport itself.3

The Basics of a Dynamic Soccer Warm-Up

A dynamic soccer warm-up is good for the entire body, including the brain. Essentially, it wakes the body up, both physically and mentally, and prepares it for a match or practice session.

How Should You Warm-Up for Soccer?

Soccer isn’t just a dynamic sport. It’s one of the most dynamic sports4, which means it requires a lot of joint movement, muscle changes, oxygen consumption, and endurance5. Unfortunately, many players rely on static stretches, jogging, and a few warm-up drills to prepare them for practice or a match when they should be focused on dynamic exercises. This is the only way to fully prepare the body to participate in the sport.6

What Is an Example of a Dynamic Warm-Up?

Some general examples of dynamic warm-up exercises include:

• Arm circles (both forward and backwards)

• Leg swings (both side-to-side and front-to-back)

• Lunges

• High knees

• Butt kickers

• High kicks

• Toe touches

• Bear crawls

• Lateral shuffles

• Skipping (forward, backwards, and sideways)

• Jogging forward and then backwards7 8

These might be exercises that any athletes or person participating in athletic activity can perform to warm-up, but they can also be a part of a dynamic soccer warm-up routine.

Why Is a Dynamic Warm-Up Good?

A dynamic warm-up for soccer essentially gets the body going. It raises the temperature, increases muscle elasticity, gets the blood pumping, increases the heart rate, and prepares the joints for movement9 10.

However, it doesn’t just prepare the body physically. It can also help an athlete get into the right mindset for a big match. It clears the mind and helps the player focus on the task at hand.11 It can even potentially help prevent injuries common to soccer players, such as knee pain, muscle strains, torn ACLs, and ankle sprains.12

How Long Should a Dynamic Warm-Up Be?

How long a soccer dynamic warm-up should be will vary from team to team, but the usual range is from 10 to 30 minutes, with 20 minutes being most common. 13 14 15 FIFA has created basic16 and advanced17 warm-ups for injury prevention, each of which takes 20 minutes. Known as the 11+, it’s been shown to help reduce lower limb injuries by up to 50%.18

Youth soccer dynamic warm-ups may be on the shorter end of the range, while professional athletes may go for 30 minutes or even longer. 19 Everything from an athlete’s schedule to their current physical abilities may factor into the length of warm-up necessary. A soccer dynamic warm-up shouldn’t be spaced more than 15 minutes from a match.20

Dynamic Soccer Warm-Up Exercises

When it comes to potential dynamic warm-up exercises for soccer, dozens of options are available. Ideally, athletes should start with low-impact exercises and finish their warm-ups with more powerful and high-intensity exercises. For example, the warm-up might start with a light jog and end with sprinting, jumping, or an activity like high knees. Take a look at some common dynamic warm-up exercises for soccer.

Forward and Backwards Jogging

Jogging shouldn’t be the only activity a soccer player does before a match or practice, but it does have its place in a dynamic warm-up. Set up two cones and jog forward to one, circle around it, and then jog backward to the first cone.

Forward and Backward Skipping

Just like jogging, place two cones a desired distance apart. Skip forward toward one, circle around, and then skip backward toward the starting point. You can also include reps of lateral or sideways skipping.

Straight-Leg Marches

Lift the right leg up to meet the left hand straight in front of the body. Next, lift the left leg up to meet the right hand straight in front of the body. Rather than stand in place, move forward, like a march.

Hand Walks

Start in a plank position as if doing push-ups. First, walk the feet up to the hands, then walk them back to the starting position. Next, walk the hands back to the feet and then walk them back to their starting position.

Forward Walking Lunges (with a Twist)

Simply lunge forward with the right leg, followed by the left, and keep repeating this sequence while moving forward. For extra stretching, try adding a twist to the movement. When the right leg is lunged forward, place the left hand on the floor near the right foot. Twist and reach the right arm up. Hold the move for a few seconds before repeating on the other side.

Open and Close the Gate

To “open and close the gate,” lift one knee up toward the chest. Rotate it out toward the side and then bring it back in to the chest and lower the foot to the ground. Repeat on the other side.

Join Northeast Rush, the top youth soccer league in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts, to work with full-time coaches from around the world. These professional coaches have many years of experience, and they know the importance of dynamic warm-ups and everything else that goes into preventing injuries and ensuring young athletes perform at their peak.