How to Warm Up Before Lifting Weights
Long Story Short:
Warm up in 4 steps.
Activate. Wake up the muscles you’re about to use.
Mobilize. Move through the positions your lifts need today.
Warm up. Start with the lightest weight and slowly work up to your working weight.
Train. Do your working sets, with a couple of lighter sets before each new exercise.
We don’t want to fatigue you before the workout. We want to prime you to lift your best.
What Does a Warm-Up Actually Do?
Warms up your muscles. Warmer muscles move and contract better. That means you can lift better.
Gets your joints moving. It takes your hips, shoulders, and spine through the positions you’re about to load.
Practices the movement. Every light rep is a chance to dial in your technique before the weight gets heavy.
Shows you how you feel today. Some days the bar feels light. Some days it doesn’t. Your warm-up sets tell you which day it is.
Step 1: Activate
This is where you wake up the muscles that support your lifts.
The areas I like to focus on when warming up are:
Your core, which keeps your spine stable
Your glutes and hips
Your upper back and shoulders
These muscles hold you in position while the big muscles do the lifting. Getting them working first helps you feel more locked in once the weight goes on your back or in your hands.
A few easy options:
Core: dead bugs, bird dogs, or a short plank
Glutes: glute bridges or banded side steps
Upper back and shoulders: band pull-aparts or band face pulls
1 to 2 sets of about 10 to 15 easy reps is plenty. This shouldn’t feel like a workout.
Step 2: Mobilize
Now we get your joints moving through the positions your lifts need today.
This isn’t long stretching. It’s moving. Controlled reps that take you in and out of the positions you’re about to load.
Pick 1 to 3 that match what you’re training:
Squat day
Bodyweight squats
Sitting in the bottom of a squat for a few breaths
Leg swings
Deadlift day
Hip hinges with a foam roller
Cat-cows
Bench or overhead press day
Shoulder dislocates
Banded wall slides
Thoracic rotations (open books)
5 to 10 reps of each is usually enough.
For some people, a few quick movements will do it. If you have a spot that always feels stiff, like tight hips on squat day, you might spend a little more time there.
Step 3: Warm-Up Sets
This is the most important part of your warm-up.
Start with the lightest weight possible. That might be just your bodyweight or the empty bar. Then slowly work your way up to your working weight.
A few simple rules:
Steady jumps. Add weight in jumps that still let every rep feel smooth.
Fewer reps as it gets heavier. Lots of reps when it’s light, just 1 to 3 when you’re close to your working weight.
Don’t tire yourself out. None of these sets should feel hard.
Here’s what that could look like if your working sets are 225 lb on squat:
Bodyweight x 10
Empty bar (45 lb) x 10
135 lb x 5
165 lb x 3
205 lb x 1
225 lb working sets
If your working weight is lighter, you’ll need fewer steps. For example, if you’re squatting 95 lb:
Bodyweight x 10
Empty bar (45 lb) x 8
65 lb x 5
85 lb x 2
95 lb working sets
Some people like a few more warm-up sets, some like a few less. The goal is to feel ready, not tired.
Treat every warm-up set like your top set.
Same setup. Same brace. Same speed. Same focus.
Every rep you do is teaching your body how to move. If your warm-up reps are sloppy, you’re practicing sloppy.
And just because the weight is light doesn’t mean you can get careless. Taking it easy because the weight is lighter is where we make mistakes and hurt ourselves.
Step 4: Train
Now you’re ready for your working sets.
For every exercise after that, you don’t need the full warm-up again. But don’t go into anything cold. Do at least 1 to 2 lighter sets before your working weight on each new movement.
What About Stretching?
You might notice there’s no long stretching in this warm-up. That’s on purpose.
Static stretching (holding a stretch in one position) for about a minute or more right before lifting can actually make you a little weaker for a short time after. Short holds are mostly fine, but they don’t do much to get you ready to lift either.
Moving through your positions does a better job of that. That’s why Step 2 is about moving, not holding.
A lot of the time, a muscle feels tight because the muscles around it are weak or not doing their job. The tight muscle is picking up the slack. Stretching it doesn’t fix the real problem. That’s why I’d rather spend your warm-up activating the muscles that support you.
Stretching isn’t bad. It just has a better time and place, like after your workout or on a separate day.
A good warm-up doesn’t need to be long or complicated.
Wake up the muscles that support you. Move through the positions you need today. Then build up slowly with warm-up sets, treating every one like it matters.
Most of the time, that’s about 10 to 15 minutes. By the time you hit your first working set, you should feel warm, loose, and ready to lift your best.
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