How To Warm Up

It is a good idea to start out every training session with a general warm up. Even five to ten minutes on a treadmill or stationary bike can help prepare your body for the work ahead. Once you have done that, some stretching is not a bad idea. At that point I usually move on to some stability exercises for my core. I realize you might not have much time to spend in the gym, but this stuff takes fifteen minutes or less if you move through it with purpose.

A general warm up can help prevent injuries and improve your performance under the bar. There is a lot of room to modify this routine, but to give you an idea of what a reasonable general warm up looks like I will lay out my own typical warm up:

• Seven minutes on the stationary bike or treadmill, or five minutes on the elliptical.

• Bracing/Activation exercises (2 rounds):

Scap Push-ups

2 second stretches in either direction is fine here. 10 repetitions is sufficient.

Cat/Camels

Perform this exercise with 15 second stretches in each direction. Do not force to the point of pain. Flexibility will improve over time. 10 repetitions per round is sufficient.

Bird-Dogs (modified)

I prefer a modified version of these. From "hands and knees" position on the floor, extend one arm and the contralateral leg, while keeping the others on the floor, the way you would normally for this exercise. Once both are fully extended bring them back down and immediately extend them again without allowing them to touch the floor. Working up to 10 repetitions, followed by a 10-second static hold per side, per round is sufficient.

Side Bridges

Work up to 10 repetitions, followed by a 10-second static hold per side, per round, in the same manner.

Planks

A 10-second static hold per round is sufficient for these. (These can be replaced with the ab wheel for lifters strong enough to perform them correctly. I do both.)

This entire group should be performed for two rounds with no breaks.

The next order of business from here is to warm up the main lift of the day, or the specific warm up. My basic recommendations for a specific warm up are that you start with the bar and perform at least 2 sets of at least 8 reps with it. For weaker lifters (example: a 125 pound max) this can be taxing and in that case you start with sets of 5 reps. I use this as an opportunity to go over my cues for the lift I am doing, in my head. If it's bench press I will be thinking of reaching to the bar with my chest as I bring it down, using my lats to stabilize the descent and really contracting them. I will do a very high number of reps and bring the bar in and out of the rack with my elbows locked, again and again. If I'm squatting I might be thinking about consciously bracing throughout the movement or forcing my knees out in the hole. You get the idea. Obviously it's difficult to warm up the deadlift using only the bar, because the plates typically set the bar height, so make sure you do a good bracing/activation warm up on this day. Weaker lifters can warm up using smaller plates and pulling from mats, or using bumper plates.

Once you are done with the bar, it's best to move on with progressive triples up to your working weight for the day. Again, I am going over the cues for that lift in my head as I warm up. I visualize my working sets moving quickly. Every warm up set is preparing me both mentally and physically to perform at my absolute best with my weight for the day.

I recommend at least three progressions for your 3-5 rep warm ups, but five progressions is probably a better idea. Something like 30%x5, 40%x3, 50%x3, 60%x3, 70%x3 is probably ideal.

I always like to start by taking just the bar for a couple of sets of higher reps, myself.

When taking attempts over 80% jumps can be no larger than 7% of current TM for any reason.