How to warm up before lifting heavy

Warm-up sets: what they are, how many to do and why they don't tire you out.

Warming up isn't running for twenty minutes on the treadmill. To lift well you need two things: raising your body temperature a little and rehearsing the movement with increasing loads.

General warm-up

Five to ten minutes of easy cardio and a couple of minutes of shoulder and hip mobility are enough. The aim is to get warm, not tired.

Warm-up sets

Before the working sets of a big lift you do several short sets with progressively heavier weights. They prepare your joints and nervous system for the real load, and let you check how your body feels that day.

• Empty bar: 8 reps.
• About 50% of your working weight: 5 reps.
• About 70%: 3 reps.
• About 85%: 2 reps, only if your working weight is over 60 kg.

Example: for an 80 kg squat that would be the bar, 40, 55 and 67.5 kg, and then your working sets. AppGym calculates these sets from your weight and shows them to you one by one.

Why so few reps

Warm-up sets shouldn't tire you. As the weight goes up the reps go down, so you reach your first working set switched on and fresh.

Which exercises need it

The big barbell lifts, especially the first one of the session. For accessories, one light set is enough at most. Core exercises don't need a specific warm-up.