Front Leg Raises
Standing beside a support with one hand on it, you swing a straight leg forward and then back through as much range as you have. It is a dynamic warm-up, not a stretch you hold: the hamstring is loaded briefly at the top of each forward swing and the hip flexor at the back, and the whole point is that the tissue never gets long enough to relax.
Own the movement
Set up first, then execute. Every cue below is something you can check on your next set.
Before the first rep
- Stand side-on to a chair back, rack upright or wall and rest one hand on it — enough contact for balance, not enough to hang off.
- Set the standing foot flat and pointing forward, with a soft, unlocked knee.
- Stand tall with ribs down and abs lightly braced so the swing happens at the hip, not the lumbar spine.
- Make sure you have clear space in front of and behind the swinging leg before the first rep.
Every rep
Breathing & tempo — Breathe freely and rhythmically, roughly one breath per swing, and never hold it. Smooth and continuous — about one second forward, one second back, with no pause hanging at either end.
How much, how often
Where to start, and what to change when it stops being hard.
Bodyweight only, and it stays that way — ankle weights turn a warm-up into an uncontrolled loaded end range. 10-15 swings per leg, one set, in the warm-up. Progress by increasing range within the set rather than by adding reps, and stop the set when the swings stop getting cleaner.
What goes wrong
The errors that show up most often, and the cue that fixes each one.
Keep your sternum over your hips and cap the swing at the height you can hit with an upright trunk. Height achieved by leaning is measuring your lean, not your hip.
Brace the abs and tuck the ribs down. Most people only have 10-15 degrees of true hip extension — swing to that and stop, rather than borrowing the rest from the lumbar spine.
Treat the first few swings as a ramp: half range, then three quarters, then full by rep five. Hitting end range cold is how leg swings produce hamstring strains.
Swap to a held position after training — a lying hamstring stretch or a leg up on a bench. Dynamic swings prepare tissue; they do not do the job of a static hold.
Why bother
Swinging a straight leg forward puts the hamstring through end range under momentum for a fraction of a second, then immediately unloads it. That repeated, brief exposure raises tissue temperature and range without the temporary drop in force production that a long static hold before lifting can produce. It is the pre-training version of hamstring work.
The backswing is the half people neglect. Driving the leg behind you extends the hip and takes the rectus femoris and psoas to length, so one movement covers both sides of the joint. Sprinting and running demand exactly this alternation, which is why leg swings show up in every sprint warm-up and almost never in a cool-down.
Where it fits
In the warm-up, after five minutes of easy general movement and before your first working set or your first stride. 10-15 swings per leg is enough. Do not use it as a cool-down — the momentum and the active range make it a preparation tool, and there are better options for the end of a session.
If this one isn't it
No kit, too hard, or too easy — here's where to go instead.
Same job, different kit
When this gets easy
Asked and answered
How high should my leg go?
As high as it goes with your torso upright and your pelvis still — for most people that is somewhere between hip height and shoulder height on the forward swing, and 10-15 degrees behind you on the backswing. Range beyond that is almost always borrowed from the lower back, which is the one joint you do not want swinging.
Are dynamic swings better than static stretching before I lift?
For anything explosive or heavy, yes. Long static holds immediately before a session can temporarily reduce force output, while dynamic work raises tissue temperature and range without that cost. Save the held stretches for after the session or for a separate mobility slot.
Will leg swings prevent hamstring strains?
On their own, no. Warming up reduces risk a little; what actually protects hamstrings is strength through long ranges — Nordic curls, Romanian deadlifts, glute-ham raises — plus sensible sprint exposure. Use swings to prepare for that work, not as a substitute for it.
Can I add ankle weights?
Don't. The value here is a brief, unloaded pass through end range; hanging weight on the ankle makes the momentum at the bottom of each swing much harder for the hip to decelerate, and the joint takes that force at exactly the moment it is least able to. If you want loaded hip work, do it as a proper strength exercise.