A warm-up that works

The purpose of warming up

A good warm-up raises body temperature, primes the nervous system and reduces injury risk — without tiring you out before your working sets.

Practical structure

• General: 5 minutes of light cardio to raise your heart rate.
• Specific: start the exercise with the empty bar/light weight and ramp up toward your working weight (e.g. 40% → 60% → 80%).
• Skip long static stretches right before heavy lifts — they can temporarily reduce force output.

Rule of thumb

The heavier and more technical the lift, the more warm-up sets. Isolation exercises usually need only a couple.