What are warm-up sets?

Lighter sets of the same lift, done before your working sets. They rehearse the movement and bring the joints, muscles and nervous system up to speed under a rising load, without tiring you out. They are separate from a general warm-up such as a few minutes on a bike or some stretching, which comes first.

How many warm-up sets should I do?

It depends on how far the working weight is from the empty bar. For most working weights, the bar plus two to four sets is right. A heavy set of three or fewer earns an extra single near the top. A light working weight needs fewer: the calculator drops any set that lands on the bar or sits too close to the set after it, so 95 lb might show only two warm-ups while 315 lb shows four.

What weight should warm-up sets be?

The standard ramp uses 50, 70 and 85 percent of the working weight, then a 95 percent single before a heavy set of three or fewer. Each of those is rounded to a weight you can actually load with your plates, so 50 percent of 225 lb shows as 110, not 112.5. The quick ramp uses 60 and 80 percent. The 40 / 60 / 80 ramp is the Starting Strength warm-up: two sets with the bar, then evenly spaced jumps, which suits beginners still learning the lifts.

How many reps for warm-up sets?

More at the light end, fewer as it gets heavy: five with the bar and around half the working weight, three at 70 percent, two at 85 percent and one at 95 percent. The goal is to be ready, not to do work, so warm-up sets should never be hard. If a warm-up set feels like effort, the working weight is probably too ambitious today.

Are warm-up sets necessary, and do they count toward volume?

For the barbell lifts, yes. Walking up to a heavy squat cold is how first sets feel terrible and backs get tweaked. Light isolation work needs little or none. Warm-up sets do not count as working volume: they are too light to drive much adaptation, which is exactly the point. Log them separately if you log them at all.

What is the difference between warm-up sets and working sets?

Working sets are the ones your program prescribes, such as three sets of five at 225 lb. Warm-up sets are everything before them: lighter, never near failure, and with short rests of 30 to 60 seconds between them. Take a full rest before the first working set so the warm-up does not cost you reps on the set that matters.

Do bench, squat and deadlift need different warm-ups?

The same ramp works for all of them, with two adjustments. On deadlift most people skip the empty bar and start with a light plate on each side so the bar sits at normal height. Exercises later in a session need fewer warm-ups because you are already warm, which is what the quick ramp is for. Pick the ramp by how you feel, not by the lift.

How should I warm up for a one-rep max or a heavy single?

More sets with smaller jumps near the top, and none of them tiring: around 50 percent for five, 70 for three, 85 for two and 95 for one, then the attempt. The standard ramp adds that 95 percent single automatically when you enter three reps or fewer. Rest two to three minutes before the top sets, and do not add extra reps to feel ready.

Warm-up sets calculator

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