What is a warm-up set?
Definition
A warm-up set is a preparation set done before working sets to rehearse the movement, increase readiness, and ramp toward the target training weight without excessive fatigue.
General educational information. Practical examples are editorial guidance unless a paragraph attributes a specific finding to a source. Enes et al. 2025 preprint: warm-up sets before sets to failure
A warm-up set is a submaximal set performed before the working sets of an exercise. Its job is to prepare the body and movement pattern for harder work: increase readiness, rehearse technique, and gradually expose the joints and muscles to heavier loads. Warm-up sets usually use light loads or few reps to limit fatigue. Easy preparation sets are normally excluded from hypertrophy hard-set totals, even though they are still physical work.
A warm-up set is preparation, not the main training work. The point is to arrive at your first working set feeling stronger, more prepared, and more coordinated than if you walked straight to the heavy weight cold.
Warm-ups should help the work sets. They should not become their own workout.
Direct answer
For your first heavy lift, do 1 to 4 short warm-up sets that climb toward your working weight, with fewer reps as the weight goes up. For lighter or later exercises, 0 to 1 is usually enough. For muscle-building sessions when time is short, especially if you already feel warm, Stronger by Science’s review of the research suggests prioritising one or two warm-up sets, with the heavier one mattering most.
A warm-up set prepares you for the working sets by rehearsing the lift and gradually introducing load. It is usually lighter, but low effort is not the same as low weight: a short, heavier set can still serve as preparation.
For example, the study discussed in Stronger By Science’s heavier-warm-up article used a 90% 1RM warm-up before 75% working sets. That is a specific protocol, not a beginner requirement.
For most lifters:
- heavy first compound lift: use several ramping warm-up sets
- moderate compound lift: use a few shorter warm-up sets
- isolation lift: use one light warm-up set, or fewer if the muscle is already warm
- later exercise for the same muscle: use fewer warm-ups than the first lift
The heavier and more technical the lift, the more useful warm-up sets become.
Why warm-up sets matter
Warm-up sets matter because they:
- rehearse the exact lift before the work weight
- let you ramp load without jumping straight to the target weight
- give you a quick read on how the joint, muscle, and movement feel today
- preserve energy for the working sets by keeping prep sets easy to moderate
Sources such as Stronger by Science, Human Kinetics, and MacroFactor support this practical framing: warm-ups should improve readiness and performance preparation without turning into fatiguing training work.
Warm-up sets vs working sets
| Set type | Purpose | Effort | Counts as hypertrophy hard-set volume? |
|---|---|---|---|
| General warm-up | Raise body temperature and readiness | Easy | No |
| Warm-up set | Rehearse the exercise and ramp load | Easy to moderate | Usually no |
| Ramp-up set | Bridge to the working weight | Moderate | Usually no, unless it is intentionally hard |
| Working set | Perform the prescribed training | Depends on the goal | If sufficiently challenging for the target muscle |
The cleanest rule: if the set is there to prepare for the target weight, it is a warm-up. If the set is the target training work, it is a working set.
How many warm-up sets to do
Use more warm-up sets when the lift is heavy, technical, or first in the workout. Use fewer when the exercise is light, simple, or later in the session.
| Exercise type | Example warm-up approach |
|---|---|
| Heavy squat or deadlift | Empty bar or light set, then 2 to 4 ramping sets |
| Bench press or overhead press | Empty bar, medium ramp, near-work-weight ramp |
| Machine press after bench | One easy ramp set may be enough |
| Dumbbell curls or lateral raises | One light set, or none if already warm |
The goal is readiness without fatigue. If your warm-up makes the working set worse, it was too much.
Example warm-up ramps
These examples assume healthy lifters with normal equipment access. Adjust based on how the day feels.
| Lift | Working weight | Example ramp (% of working weight) |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | 100 kg x 5 | Bar x 10 (20%), 50 x 5 (50%), 70 x 3 (70%), 85 x 1 (85%), then work sets |
| Bench press | 70 kg x 8 | Bar x 10 (about 30%), 40 x 5 (about 55%), 55 x 3 (about 80%), then work sets |
| Deadlift | 140 kg x 5 | 60 x 5 (about 45%), 90 x 3 (about 65%), 115 x 2 (about 80%), 130 x 1 (about 95%), then work set |
| Dumbbell curl | 16 kg x 10 | 8 kg x 8 (50%), then work sets |
The same ramp as a pattern you can use for any lift:
| Step | % of working weight | Reps | Rest after |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Empty bar or very light | 8 to 10 | As long as it takes to load the next weight |
| 2 | About 50% | 5 | About 1 minute |
| 3 | About 70% | 3 | About 1 minute |
| 4 (heavy days) | About 85% | 1 to 2 | 1 to 2 minutes, then your first working set |
Keep warm-up reps lower as the weight gets closer to your work weight. You want practice, not fatigue. The percentages and rest times are an editorial pattern, not a research prescription.
What the research says
- A heavier warm-up beat an equally short lighter one. In Ribeiro and colleagues’ 2020 study of 40 trained men, squat reps moved faster after a warm-up of 6 reps at 80% of the training load than after 6 reps at 40%. The authors concluded that a few reps at low loads were not enough to get the best squat and bench press performance.
- One or two sets can be enough when time is short. For hypertrophy training when you’re short on time and already feel warm, Stronger by Science’s 2024 review suggests prioritising one or two warm-up sets, with the heavier set mattering most.
- Moderate loads may need less. A 2025 preprint by Enes and colleagues found little difference between no, one or two warm-up sets before sets to failure at a 10-rep-max load on a Smith-machine bench press and a leg press.
These studies used trained lifters, mostly men, and moderate loads on a few exercises. They don’t mean you should skip warming up for heavy, technical or first-of-the-day lifts.
Who this is for
Beginners need warm-up sets because they are still learning the movement pattern and often need more practice before the first hard set.
Returning lifters can use them to check how familiar loads and movements feel now.
Lifters increasing load need them because a heavier working weight deserves a more gradual ramp than last week.
Advanced lifters need them because heavy weights punish rushed preparation.
How we evaluated this definition
We treated warm-up sets as a practical strength-training tool. The sources support the broad goal of warm-ups: improve readiness and prepare for performance. The programming guidance comes from strength-coaching sources and common barbell practice: ramp gradually, keep effort low enough to preserve performance, and separate warm-ups from working-set volume.
There is no perfect universal number of warm-up sets. The right number depends on the lift, the load, the athlete, and the day.
Applied definition
Example in training
- Before squatting 100 kg, you might warm up with the empty bar, 50 kg, 70 kg, and 85 kg before the first working set.
- Before benching 60 kg, you might do the empty bar, then 40 kg, then one short set at 50 kg.
- Before a dumbbell curl, one light set may be enough because the load, coordination demand, and setup complexity are usually lower than a heavy squat.
- Warm-up sets use lower effort. If a warm-up set feels like a max effort, it is too heavy or too many reps.
- Easy warm-up sets are normally excluded from weekly hypertrophy hard-set totals; this does not mean they provide zero stimulus.
Watch for
Common mistakes
- Skipping warm-ups and going straight to a heavy working set, which can leave the first hard set less prepared and lower-performing.
- Doing too many high-rep warm-ups, so you are tired before the training work starts.
- Counting every easy warm-up as a hard hypertrophy set.
- Using the same warm-up for every exercise instead of warming up more for heavy compounds and less for small isolation lifts.
- Taking warm-up sets close to failure, which defeats the point of warming up.
Evidence scope
References and editorial guidance
Specific research findings are attributed in the article. A reference list does not establish every example, training target, or safety decision as a finding of those sources.
Definition
These references provide context for the plain-English explanation of warm-up set; specific research findings are attributed in the article.
- Enes et al. 2025 preprint: warm-up sets before sets to failure(sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/559) - SportRxiv preprint (May 30, 2025): 29 trained lifters, no warm-up vs one vs two warm-up sets before 10RM sets to failure on a Smith-machine bench and 45-degree leg press; differences were negligible to small. A peer-reviewed version is reported but was not opened for this page.
Training examples
Examples, ranges, and programming applications are editorial guidance, not protocols established by every reference in the source list.
Mistakes and caveats
Common mistakes and safety caveats are our practical guidance unless a paragraph names a specific source.
References
Sources and freshness
Warm-up guidance depends on the lift, load, temperature, training age, and injury history, so this page uses exercise-science warm-up context plus practical strength-coaching sources. Treat the examples as templates, not fixed prescriptions.
Sources
- 01Stronger by Science: warm-up (Used for practical warm-up structure and strength-training context.)strongerbyscience.com/warm-up
- 02Stronger by Science: heavier warm-ups (Used for nuance around heavier ramping sets and performance.)strongerbyscience.com/heavier-warm-ups
- 03Human Kinetics: warm-up techniques for resistance training (Used for resistance-training warm-up principles.)us.humankinetics.com/blogs/excerpt/essential-warm-up-techniques-for-resistance-training
- 04MacroFactor: warm-up for resistance training (Used for practical ramping and fatigue-aware warm-up guidance.)macrofactor.com/warm-up-resistance-training
- 05StrongLifts support: warm-up (Used for simple barbell warm-up examples and ramping context.)support.stronglifts.com/article/87-warmup
- 06Enes et al. 2025 preprint: warm-up sets before sets to failure (SportRxiv preprint (May 30, 2025): 29 trained lifters, no warm-up vs one vs two warm-up sets before 10RM sets to failure on a Smith-machine bench and 45-degree leg press; differences were negligible to small. A peer-reviewed version is reported but was not opened for this page.)sportrxiv.org/index.php/server/preprint/view/559
- 07The Role of Specific Warm-up during Bench Press and Squat Exercises: A Novel Approach (Abstract verified through Europe PMC: original comparison of three warm-up protocols in 40 resistance-trained men, measuring subsequent squat and bench-press performance; not a volume review.)pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32971729/
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