How to Warm Up Before Lifting

The whole warm-up

1. 2–5 minutes easy bike, walk, or row until you are not cold.
2. One pattern rehearsal: a few bodyweight squats, a hip hinge with no load, arm circles if you are pressing.
3. Ramp-up sets on the first main lift: 40%, 60%, maybe 75% of the working weight for 3–5 reps. Then work sets.

That is 6–10 minutes. The warm-up is specific — see specificity. A 20-minute foam-roll routine you skip by week two is not a warm-up. It is a barrier.

What to skip

Static stretching a cold muscle into a split before a squat. Exhausting abs “to activate the core.” Ten Instagram drills. If a joint is cranky, pick a different pattern that day instead of stretching it into compliance.

Then do the work: beginner plan or full body.

Reviewed September 2026. Not medical advice.