How to warm up before lifting: the simple guide

July 24, 2026

Informational content: this is not a substitute for medical advice. Check with a doctor before starting a training program, especially if you have a health issue or any pain.

It is the step almost everyone rushes, out of a lack of time or motivation. Yet warming up is not wasted time before the real session: it is what lets you lift heavier, feel your muscles better, and clearly cut your injury risk. Good news, an effective warm up only takes a few minutes. Here is how to do it right.

Why warming up changes your session

Warming up is not just breaking a light sweat before you start. It prepares your body for effort on several levels:

You raise your temperature. A warm muscle is more supple, more responsive, and more resilient than a cold one.
You prepare your joints. You lubricate the joints and activate the tissues that will handle the load.
You improve your performance. A woken up nervous system recruits your fibers better. You are often stronger after a good warm up than when cold.
You reduce injury risk. Most mishaps happen on an unprepared body, especially on the first heavy sets.

The two layers of a good warm up

A complete warm up has two complementary parts: a general part and a specific part.

1. The general warm up

Its goal is to wake up the whole body and raise your temperature. Count 5 to 10 minutes of light cardio, such as cycling, rowing, or brisk walking, followed by a few dynamic mobility moves: shoulder rotations, leg swings, arm circles. The idea is to move, not to exhaust yourself.

Avoid long static stretches held right before lifting. Done cold and for a long time, they can temporarily reduce your strength. Save them for the end of the session instead.

2. The specific warm up

This is the most important part, and the most often skipped. It means rehearsing the movement you are about to train, with ramp up sets that get progressively heavier, to gradually reach your working load.

A concrete example for an 80 kg bench press: start with the empty bar for 10 reps, then 40 kg for 6, 60 kg for 3, 70 kg for 1 or 2, before hitting your working sets at 80 kg. These ramp up sets do not tire you, they calibrate you. Your body memorizes the path and gets ready for the heavy load.

How long to spend on it

No need to spend thirty minutes. A general warm up of 5 to 10 minutes, then 2 to 4 ramp up sets on your first heavy exercise, is plenty. On the following exercises, a few targeted light sets are enough, since your body is already warm.

Adapt to the context too: the colder it is, the more sedentary your day, or the heavier the load, the more your warm up deserves care.

Common mistakes to avoid

Skipping the warm up entirely. It is the best way to cap your performance and end up injured.
Exhausting yourself before the session. A warm up prepares, it should not tire you. Keep it light.
Stacking long static stretches. Before lifting, favor dynamic mobility.
Jumping straight to your working load. Going from zero to your heavy load with no transition is a risky bet.

Warm up and working sets: do not mix them up

An often neglected point: your warm up sets are not working sets. They prepare the effort, but they do not count toward the volume that makes your muscles grow. If you log them as real work, you overestimate your volume and distort your reading of the session.

It is a detail that matters when you track your progress. In Musku, you clearly separate your ramp up sets from your working sets, so your volume and muscle distribution only reflect the effort that truly counts. Your warm up does its job behind the scenes, without polluting your stats or inflating your numbers. You keep a clean picture of what you actually produced.

Frequently asked questions

How long should a warm up last in the gym?

Count 5 to 10 minutes of general warm up, then 2 to 4 ramp up sets on your first heavy exercise. In total, around ten minutes is enough in most cases.

Should you stretch before lifting?

Favor dynamic mobility over long static stretches held cold, which can reduce your strength. Save long stretches for the end of the session.

Do warm up sets count toward volume?

No. Ramp up sets prepare the effort but do not count as working sets. Only working sets contribute to the volume that makes your muscles grow.