I’ve been scouring YouTube for videos outlining the best stretches to do before going skateboarding. I was looking at videos that seemed similar until I found one that was unique and claimed that all of the static stretches people do before skating are actually bad for your skating, mainly because they weaken your muscles and rob you of your muscular power.

Instead, this video claims that the ideal warmup for a long and prosperous skate session involves the following:

  1. A series of joint rotations. This will apparently “lube up” your joints, drastically decreasing the odds that you injure yourself with something like a rolled or tweaked ankle.
  2. 5 minutes of cardio exercise. This is apparently the actual “warming up” part. The speaker in the video claims that it could be anything: riding your bike, jump rope, stationary run, or even skating to the park at high speeds.
  3.  Dynamic stretching. This is a series of stretches that use movement to stretch your muscles; not the same as static stretching where you hold positions still without moving.

The next time I go skating I am absolutely going to try this entire warmup routine before jumping on the board. If it serves me well, then I may have to adopt this entire routine as a necessary companion to my skateboarding. If you’re interested, you can watch the video below.