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Exercises

How to warm up: raise, move, activate, rehearse

Published October 24, 2026

To warm up, go from general to specific in four steps: 5 minutes of easy cardio on a bike, elliptical or treadmill until you are breathing a little harder; 2 to 3 minutes moving the joints you will use, like walkouts and lateral lunges; a minute of light activation such as face pulls or dead bugs; then 2 to 4 light sets of your first exercise that climb toward the working weight. Do more of the first step when you are cold and more of the last step when the session is heavy.

  1. Stationary Bike Quads, Hamstrings
  2. Elliptical Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes
  3. Treadmill Walk Quads, Glutes, Calves
  4. Walkout Abs, Shoulders, Chest
  5. Dumbbell Lateral Lunge Quads, Glutes, Adductors
  6. Band Face Pull Shoulders, Upper Back
  7. Dead Bug Abs
  8. Barbell Deadlift Glutes, Lower Back

Step 1: cardio warm-up, why and how long

Easy cardio raises muscle temperature, which helps muscles contract faster. Pick any machine and start easy, adding a little effort each minute. Five minutes is usually enough; take eight to ten on a cold morning. You should finish warm and slightly out of breath, not tired.

Lower-body cardio, low impact

Stationary Bike

Quads, Hamstrings

Easy on the joints and simple to grade minute by minute, which makes it the default before leg sessions.

How to do it

  1. Set the seat so your knee is still a little bent when the pedal is lowest.
  2. Pedal at an easy resistance for the first minute.
  3. Raise resistance or cadence a little each minute.

Cues

  • Finish warm and breathing a bit harder, not tired.
  • Sit tall with relaxed hands.

Common mistakes

  • Starting at a hard resistance.

Swap for: Elliptical, Air Bike

Build a session with Stationary Bike

Arms and legs together

Elliptical

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes

Pushing and pulling the handles warms the upper body too, useful before a full-body or upper session.

How to do it

  1. Step on, hold the moving handles, and start at a low resistance.
  2. Push and pull the handles as your legs stride.
  3. Bump resistance one level each minute.

Cues

  • Stand tall rather than leaning on the handles.
  • Whole foot stays on the pedal.

Common mistakes

  • Riding on the toes.

Swap for: Stationary Bike, Treadmill Walk

Build a session with Elliptical

Walking warm-up

Treadmill Walk

Quads, Glutes, Calves

A brisk walk with a rising incline is the gentlest start and suits days when you are stiff or new to training.

How to do it

  1. Start the belt at an easy walking pace.
  2. Raise speed or incline every minute until you are walking briskly.
  3. Walk with a normal arm swing.

Cues

  • Let go of the rails.
  • Short, quick steps as speed rises.

Common mistakes

  • Holding the rails and leaning back.

Swap for: Brisk Walk, Elliptical

Build a session with Treadmill Walk

Step 2: move the joints the session will load

Now take the joints you will use through their range a few times. Pick drills that match the session: a hinge-and-plank for deadlift and press days, a side lunge for squat and leg days. Six to ten reps, slow.

Hamstrings and shoulders

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

It covers hinging and pushing at once, so it fits nearly any session.

How to do it

  1. Stand with feet hip-width, hinge at the hips and put your palms on the floor, bending the knees as much as you need.
  2. Crawl your hands out one at a time into a high plank.
  3. Hold a beat, then crawl the hands back toward your feet and roll up to standing.

Cues

  • Brace your stomach in the plank so your hips do not sag.
  • Keep the legs as straight as you comfortably can on the way down.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips drop in the plank.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Spider Plank

Build a session with Walkout

Hips and inner thighs

Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Light dumbbells help you sit back into the side lunge and open the hips in the direction squats and lunges neglect.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall holding a light dumbbell in each hand.
  2. Take a big step out to one side and sit back over that leg while the other stays straight.
  3. Push back to standing and alternate sides.

Cues

  • Toes point forward or slightly out.
  • Hips go back, chest stays up.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the knee cave inward.

Swap for: Cossack Squat, Skater Hop

Build a session with Dumbbell Lateral Lunge

Step 3: light activation

A minute of easy work for the muscles that hold your position: upper back for presses and rows, deep core for anything heavy. Stay far from fatigue; this is a reminder, not a workout.

Rear delts and upper back

Band Face Pull

Shoulders, Upper Back

Fifteen easy reps set the shoulder blades back before you press or pull.

How to do it

  1. Anchor a band at head height and hold an end in each hand.
  2. Pull the band toward your face, splitting your hands beside your ears.
  3. Return slowly to straight arms.

Cues

  • Elbows stay high.
  • Finish with thumbs pointing back.

Common mistakes

  • Leaning back to move the band.

Swap for: Face Pull, Band Pull-Apart

Build a session with Band Face Pull

Deep core

Dead Bug

Abs

It teaches you to keep the lower back still while the limbs move, which is the brace you want under a bar.

How to do it

  1. Lie on your back with arms pointing at the ceiling and knees bent at 90 degrees above your hips.
  2. Slowly reach one arm overhead and straighten the opposite leg toward the floor.
  3. Return both and switch sides.

Cues

  • Lower back stays pressed into the floor.
  • Breathe out as the limbs extend.

Common mistakes

  • Arching the back to reach farther.

Swap for: Windshield Wipers, Plank

Build a session with Dead Bug

Step 4: rehearse the first lift with ramp-up sets

Finish with light sets of the first exercise, adding weight each set and cutting reps: for a deadlift, maybe 8 reps at 40 percent, 5 at 60, 3 at 75 and 1 or 2 at 85 percent of your working weight. These sets practice the movement at today's speed. RIRLift logs them as warm-up sets, separate from your work.

Example first lift

Barbell Deadlift

Glutes, Lower Back

The deadlift asks the most of your whole body at once, so it shows the ramp clearly: four sets climbing from light to almost working weight.

How to do it

  1. Stand with the bar over your midfoot, grip just outside your shins.
  2. Flatten your back, take the slack out of the bar and push the floor away.
  3. Stand tall, then lower the bar back down along your legs.

Cues

  • Same setup on every ramp set.
  • Bar stays close to your body.

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the light sets with a sloppy setup.

Swap for: Trap Bar Deadlift, Romanian Deadlift

Build a session with Barbell Deadlift

Put them together: example sessions

Each session below picks from the exercises above for one situation, with the sets, reps, rest and RIR filled in. Open one in the session builder to change a pick, price it from a recent set, and add it to RIRLift.

Session 1

Heavy deadlift day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets20 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentExercise Bike, Barbells

Your strength session opens with deadlifts.

Deadlifts are heavy and use the whole body, so this plan runs every step and gives the lift four ramp-up sets. The bike warms the legs without tiring them, and the dead bugs rehearse the brace you will hold on the bar.

Deadlift day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stationary BikeSeconds. Five minutes, one resistance level higher each minute. 5 × 60 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5–6 4 15 s
Dead BugPer side. 1 × 8–10 4 15 s
Barbell Deadlift4 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 3 min
How to run it
Bike, walkouts, dead bugs, then deadlift. Ramp-up loads around 40, 60, 75 and 85 percent of the working weight.
How to progress
Add 5 to 10 pounds when all working sets reach 5 reps at 2 RIR; keep the warm-up the same.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Before a hard cardio session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets27 a week
  • Per workout~10 min
  • EquipmentTreadmill, Elliptical, Dumbbells

Your workout is intervals or a long session on a machine.

Hard cardio needs the heart and lungs warmed gradually, so this plan stretches the cardio step to two machines and keeps only a short mobility step. The elliptical's last minutes run at your session's starting pace, which works as the rehearsal.

Cardio warm-up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Treadmill WalkSeconds. Five minutes, speed or incline up each minute. 5 × 60 4 0 s
EllipticalSeconds. Three minutes, rising to session pace. 3 × 60 4 0 s
Dumbbell Lateral LungePer side, light dumbbells. 1 × 6 4 15 s
How to run it
Treadmill walk, elliptical, then lateral lunges, then start your intervals.
How to progress
Add a minute to the elliptical each time the first interval still feels rough.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Cold, stiff morning session

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets32 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentExercise Bike, Dumbbells, Resistance Bands, Barbells

You train first thing and feel stiff for the first ten minutes.

When you are stiff the general step matters most, so this plan gives cardio twice as long and adds a second mobility drill before light activation. The first lift is still a deadlift, but with an extra ramp-up set.

Morning warm-up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stationary BikeSeconds. Ten easy minutes back to back. 10 × 60 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 6 4 15 s
Dumbbell Lateral LungePer side. 1 × 6–8 4 15 s
Band Face Pull 1 × 15 4 15 s
Barbell Deadlift5 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 3 min
How to run it
Ten minutes on the bike, then walkouts, lateral lunges and face pulls before the deadlift.
How to progress
As mornings get easier, trim the bike back to six minutes.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What is the proper way to warm up?

General to specific: easy cardio, mobility for the joints you will use, light activation, then light sets of the first lift.

What are the 5 stages of a warm-up?

Different coaches split it differently. This page uses four steps; some add a fifth by separating the final ramp-up into practice reps and potentiation sets.

How do I warm up my body fast?

Two or three minutes of brisk cardio, one walkout set, then straight into ramp-up sets of your first exercise.

How do I warm up if I'm cold?

Spend longer on easy cardio, up to ten minutes, and wear an extra layer until you are sweating lightly.

What is a good cardio warm-up?

Five minutes on a bike, elliptical or treadmill, starting easy and getting a little harder each minute.

How many warm-up sets should I do?

Two for light or isolation exercises, three or four before a heavy compound lift.