Leg Swings

Stand beside a wall or rail and hold it for support. Swing one leg:

• Front-to-back — flexing the hip forward then extending it back, through a comfortable range that grows over successive swings (hip-flexors / hip-extensors).
• Side-to-side — abducting the leg out and adducting it across the body, with the trunk facing the wall (hip-complex).

Keep the swing controlled and progressively ranged, letting range build rep by rep — this is dynamic mobility, not the forceful end-range bouncing of true ballistic stretching (ballistic-stretching). Keep the trunk tall and braced and the stance knee soft.

This is one of the core dynamic warm-up drills (see dynamic-warmup-overview) and develops active hip mobility (see mobility-vs-flexibility), priming the hips for squatting, running, and lower-body work.

Coaching:

• Start with small swings and increase amplitude gradually; never yank to end range.
• Typical dose: ~10–15 swings per direction per leg.
• Keep the pelvis relatively stable; the movement comes from the hip.

• Holding support, swing one leg front-to-back and side-to-side, building range gradually.
• Dynamic hip-mobility warm-up drill; controlled, not ballistic bouncing.
• Typical dose: ~10–15 swings per direction per leg.
• Primes hips for squat/run/lower-body work; develops active mobility.

• dynamic-warmup-overview — part of the dynamic warm-up menu.
• mobility-vs-flexibility — builds active hip mobility.
• hip-complex, hip-flexors, hip-extensors — joints/muscles moved.
• ballistic-stretching — contrasted (controlled vs bouncing).