Dynamic stretching: what it is, examples, and when it beats holding a stretch

Dynamic stretching is stretching on the move. A 2025 consensus statement from 20 international stretching researchers defines it as the cyclic application of unloaded motion that lengthens the soft tissue: you reach the stretch feeling without a held phase, and without added weight.¹ A 2024 meta-analysis puts it more plainly: moving the joint repeatedly, at a controlled speed, through its whole range.² Leg swings, walking lunges and arm circles are dynamic stretches. A hamstring stretch held for 30 seconds is not.

This page covers the three kinds of stretching side by side, examples for the legs and upper body, what the research found when dynamic stretching was put against holding a stretch, and where it fits in a session. Getting ready for heavy lifts has its own page, the warm-up before lifting, which adds warm-up sets.

Dynamic, static and ballistic stretching

The definitions in the table are the 2025 consensus panel's.¹ The ballistic row comes from a 2018 review of dynamic stretching, which concluded that ballistic stretching, with its greater speed, would be less beneficial than controlled dynamic stretching.³ So the cue is smooth, not bouncy: swing to where you feel the stretch, and let the range grow over the reps.

Dynamic stretching examples

A practical list, not a protocol from a trial. About ten reps of each, or ten a side, is enough to feel loose; start small and let each rep go a little further.

For legs, the first six rows are the list. Before a lower-body lifting day, the leg swings, lunges and squats cover the hips, knees and ankles in about three minutes. For the upper body, the last three, plus the lunge with a twist.

One dose was tested over weeks. In a 2026 trial, young adults did front leg swings and a seated hamstring stretch done as a rhythmic swing, both with a bouncing motion, five sets of 60 seconds of each, three times a week for 12 weeks.⁴ That was a program for building range, not a warm-up, and its results are below.

Dynamic vs static stretching

The answer depends on the job.

Before training: dynamic

• The 2016 review. Static stretching lowered performance by 3.7% on average and dynamic stretching raised it by 1.3%, with testing done on average 3 to 5 minutes after stretching. The losses from static holds were bigger with 60 seconds or more per muscle group (4.6%) than with less (1.1%).⁵
• A 2013 meta-analysis of 104 studies found static stretching before exercise lowered strength by 5.4% on average, with the smallest losses at 45 seconds or less, and concluded that static stretching should generally not be the only activity in a warm-up.⁶
• Two reviews of dynamic stretching agree: a 2011 review found it either had no effect on performance or improved it, especially when the dynamic stretching lasted longer,⁷ and the 2018 review found a substantial amount of evidence for positive effects on range of motion and on force, power, sprint and jump performance, while noting numerous studies that found no change or even a drop.³

The 2025 consensus panel recommends dynamic stretching, or short static holds inside a dynamic warm-up, if you stretch before strength, speed or explosive work, and doesn't recommend static holds of more than 60 seconds per muscle right before maximal or explosive efforts.¹ The detail that softens it: when people moved after their static stretches, the 2016 review saw no clear effect on performance.⁵

For range of motion over weeks: static

A 2024 meta-analysis of 77 studies found that static and PNF stretching (a hold paired with a muscle contraction) produced more range of motion over weeks than dynamic or ballistic stretching, and its authors advise those two when the goal is the most range in the long term.² The 2025 panel says the same.¹ For that job, use the stretching routine.

What weeks of dynamic stretching did in trials

Dynamic stretching still adds range when it's repeated; it just added less than static holds in the 2024 meta-analysis. Three trials, each measuring something different:

• Range of motion. In 18 healthy young adults, 12 weeks of the hamstring routine above on one leg increased knee extension range in that leg, with no significant change in the other. Knee-bending strength didn't change in either leg.⁴
• Jumps and sprints. In 37 male soccer players, eight weeks of warm-ups that included dynamic stretching increased squat jump and countermovement jump height by about 3% to 5% and improved flexibility, compared with a control group that didn't change. Sprint times didn't change.⁸
• Dynamic against static warm-ups. 24 college wrestlers were split into two groups for four weeks: 11 did a daily dynamic warm-up before practice and 13 a static-stretching warm-up. The dynamic group improved several tests, including quadriceps peak torque (11%) and the broad jump (4%); the static group showed no improvement in those tests.⁹

All three are small, and the last two studied athletes. They show what changed on their tests, not what will change for you.

Dynamic stretching before or after a workout?

• Before. That's where the evidence above puts it. Do it in the last few minutes before you start: in the 2016 review, the range gained from a stretching session typically lasted under 30 minutes.⁵ For a lifting day, follow it with warm-up sets; the warm-up guide lays out both.
• After. Optional. The 2025 panel notes that most research on stretching after exercise used static or PNF stretching, so it's unclear whether dynamic stretching plays a role there.¹ The cool-down page covers what stretching after a session does and doesn't do.
• Early in the morning. In 20 male soccer players, jump height was lower at 7:00 than at 17:00 with no stretching. Eight minutes of dynamic stretching after a light jog raised jump height more in the morning than in the evening, and the difference between the two times was no longer significant.¹⁰ Static stretching didn't have that effect.

Common questions

Is dynamic stretching better than static stretching?

Before training, yes, on the reviews above. For more range over weeks, static holds produced more.² Using both is an option: dynamic before the session, static at a separate time.

Does dynamic stretching improve flexibility?

Yes, both in the moment, when the gain typically lasted under 30 minutes in the 2016 review,⁵ and over weeks: in the 12-week trial above, knee extension range increased in the stretched leg.⁴ Static and PNF stretching produced more range in the 2024 meta-analysis.²

Is dynamic stretching enough of a warm-up for lifting?

It's the first half. Heavy sets also need warm-up sets of the first lift, which the warm-up guide covers. For lifters who need more range for a particular lift, the mobility routine, hip mobility and ankle mobility go further.

How long should dynamic stretching take?

None of the reviews above sets a length. Three to five minutes, about ten reps of each move, is a practical range before most sessions; the 2011 review found the benefit was more likely when the dynamic stretching lasted longer.⁷

If you'd rather not plan it alone

A warm-up list is easy to write once; matching it to each session in your week is the part that gets skipped. Coaching is the version where your program is written around the days you actually have, and a weekly call looks at your logbook and adjusts the plan. How coaching works explains it, and apply is the first step. Otherwise: before your next session, do the first six moves in the table, ten each, and see how the first set feels.