Does it help to warm up first, then do stretching exercises?

Generally, those who use an active warm-up prior to stretching get greater range of motion than those who only stretch. But any benefits in terms of injury prevention are more likely to come from warming up, not because of stretching. Shrier and Gossal say that if range of motion is the goal, stretches are helpful. If injury prevention is the goal, athletes should drop the stretching before exercise and increase the amount of time warming up. But the 'warming up' concept presents even more confusion because there is no universal definition of the term. Personally, I believe that you are warmed up when you have done enough medium intensity exercise to make you slightly out of breath but still able to comfortably hold a conversation (if that helps)