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Exercises

Upper body warm-up: one routine for chest, back, shoulders and arms

Published October 24, 2026

For an upper body warm-up, row or jump rope easy for 3 minutes, do 5 walkouts and 6 rotational push-ups per side, then 15 band pull-aparts, 10 push-up pluses and a 20 to 30 second dead hang, and finish with 2 or 3 light ramp-up sets of your first press and your first pull. It takes about 8 minutes and warms everything an upper day will load.

  1. Rowing Machine Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats
  2. Walkout Abs, Shoulders, Chest
  3. Rotational Push-Up Chest
  4. Band Pull-Apart Shoulders, Upper Back
  5. Push-Up Plus Chest
  6. Dead Hang Forearms
  7. Barbell Bench Press Chest
  8. Lat Pulldown Lats

Raise: 3 minutes on the rower or rope

Upper days need warm arms and a warm upper back, not just warm legs. The rower pulls with the arms on every stroke, and the jump rope keeps the shoulders and wrists busy. Keep the effort at a level where you could still talk.

Raise: easy rowing to warm the back, legs and arms together

Rowing Machine

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats

It is the one cardio machine that warms the lats, upper back and arms as well as the legs, which suits an upper day.

How to do it

  1. Strap your feet in, sit tall, and grab the handle with straight arms.
  2. Push with your legs first, then lean back slightly, then pull the handle to your lower ribs.
  3. Return in the reverse order, arms, body, then knees, at an easy pace you could talk through.

Cues

  • Legs, body, arms; arms, body, legs
  • Conversational effort

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with the arms before the legs finish their push: it turns an easy row into an arm workout.

Swap for: Ski Erg, Air Bike, Stationary Bike

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Raise: quick rope skipping that loads the wrists and shoulders lightly

Jump Rope

Calves, Quads

Quick and portable: a few minutes keeps the wrists, forearms and shoulders moving while your heart rate climbs.

How to do it

  1. Hold the handles at hip height with your elbows tucked near your sides.
  2. Turn the rope with your wrists and hop just high enough for it to pass under your feet.
  3. Stay on the balls of your feet and keep the jumps small and even.

Cues

  • Wrists turn the rope
  • Small, quiet hops

Common mistakes

  • Swinging the rope with whole-arm circles: let the wrists do the work and the elbows stay in.

Swap for: Jumping Jack, High Knees, Skipping in Place

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Dynamic mobility for shoulders, chest and spine

Two drills cover most of it: walkouts open the hamstrings and put weight through the shoulders, and rotational push-ups open the chest and turn the upper back. Add arm circles if your shoulders still feel tight after them.

Mobility: hinge, walk to a plank and back

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

Walking the hands out loads the shoulders in a plank and stretches the backs of the legs, so it doubles as a whole-body check-in.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, bend at the hips, and put your palms down by your feet.
  2. Walk your hands forward until you reach a high plank with your shoulders over your wrists.
  3. Walk your hands back toward your feet and roll up to standing.

Cues

  • Shoulders over wrists in the plank
  • Small hand steps

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag in the plank: squeeze your glutes before you walk back.

Swap for: Bear Crawl, Spider Plank, Plank Shoulder Tap

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Mobility: push-up that opens into a side reach

Rotational Push-Up

Chest

The reach to the ceiling opens your chest and rotates your upper back, two things a bench and a row both need.

How to do it

  1. Start in a high plank hands below your shoulders.
  2. Do one push-up, then rotate onto one hand and reach the other arm straight to the ceiling.
  3. Bring the hand back down, do another push-up, and rotate to the other side.

Cues

  • Follow the top hand with your eyes
  • Stack the shoulders

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the turn: pause a beat with the arm up so the upper back actually rotates.

Swap for: Push-Up, Plank Shoulder Tap, Walkout

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Mobility: shoulder circles that grow from small to large

Arm Circles

Shoulders

A backup when one shoulder still feels stiff after the push-ups: a few big circles each way are enough.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your arms out sideways at shoulder height.
  2. Draw small forward circles with your hands, then make them gradually bigger.
  3. Do the same number backward, keeping your ribs down and your neck relaxed.

Cues

  • Start small, finish big
  • Both directions

Common mistakes

  • Shrugging your shoulders up to your ears: keep them low while the arms turn.

Swap for: Plate Halo, Dumbbell Around the World, Jumping Jack

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Activate the back of the shoulders and the shoulder blades

Pressing and pulling both depend on shoulder blades that can move and hold position. Pull-aparts, push-up pluses and a short hang from the bar get them working in three directions: back, forward and up.

Activation: upper back and rear delts with a band

Band Pull-Apart

Shoulders, Upper Back

It wakes the muscles between the shoulder blades that you will press against on the bench and squeeze on every row.

How to do it

  1. Hold a light band in front of your chest with straight arms and hands shoulder width apart.
  2. Pull the band apart until it touches your chest, pinching your shoulder blades.
  3. Let it come back slowly to the start without losing tension.

Cues

  • Lead with the hands, not the neck
  • Pause at the chest

Common mistakes

  • Arching the lower back to finish the rep: use a lighter band.

Swap for: Band Face Pull, Band Rear Delt Fly, Band Scapular Retraction

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Activation: push-up with an extra push at the top for the serratus

Push-Up Plus

Chest

Spreading the shoulder blades at the top balances the squeezing from the pull-aparts.

How to do it

  1. Start in a high plank hands below your shoulders.
  2. Do a push-up, and at the top keep pushing so your upper back rounds a little and the shoulder blades spread.
  3. Let the blades come back together, then start the next rep.

Cues

  • Push the floor away at the top
  • Body stays in one line

Common mistakes

  • Sagging the hips while you reach: brace before each rep.

Swap for: Kneeling Push-Up, Plank Shoulder Tap, Incline Push-Up

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Mobility: hang from a bar to open the shoulders and lats

Dead Hang

Forearms

Hanging lengthens the lats and lets the shoulders sit fully overhead before pulldowns or pull-ups.

How to do it

  1. Grip a pull-up bar overhand with your hands about shoulder width.
  2. Lift your feet and let your body hang with straight arms.
  3. Breathe slowly and let your shoulders rise toward your ears, then step down.

Cues

  • Relaxed, straight arms
  • Slow breathing

Common mistakes

  • Swinging or kicking: hang still so the stretch reaches the lats.

Swap for: Straight-Arm Pulldown, Pull-Up, Arm Circles

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Ramp-up sets for the first press and pull

An upper day usually opens with one press and one pull. Take light sets of both before the working sets, climbing in two or three steps. Later exercises need at most one light set, because the muscles are already warm.

First lift: barbell bench press with ramp-up sets

Barbell Bench Press

Chest

The usual first press of an upper day; its ramp-up sets are the most specific warm-up you can do for it.

How to do it

  1. Lie back with your eyes under the bar, feet planted, shoulder blades pulled back and down.
  2. Unrack, lower the bar to your mid-chest with the forearms vertical.
  3. Press up and slightly back toward your face until your arms lock out.

Cues

  • Blades pinned to the bench
  • Bar to the same spot every rep

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing the bar off the chest on the light sets: practice the same touch you will use heavy.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Smith Machine Bench Press, Machine Chest Press

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First lift: lat pulldown with ramp-up sets

Lat Pulldown

Lats

The usual first pull; a couple of light sets let the elbows and lats find the path before the weight goes up.

How to do it

  1. Sit with your thighs under the pad and grip the bar a little wider than your shoulders.
  2. Pull the bar to your upper chest, elbows driving down and back.
  3. Let it rise until your arms are straight and your lats stretch.

Cues

  • Elbows to your back pockets
  • Lean back only slightly

Common mistakes

  • Pulling the bar behind the neck or swinging the torso: pull to the chest with a steady body.

Swap for: Neutral-Grip Lat Pulldown, Pull-Up, Single-Arm Lat Pulldown

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First lift: bent-over barbell row with ramp-up sets

Barbell Row

Upper Back, Lats

If your day opens with rows instead, the ramp-up sets also rehearse holding the hinge.

How to do it

  1. Hold the bar at your thighs, hinge forward until your torso is near 45 degrees, back flat.
  2. Row the bar to your lower ribs with the elbows tucked near your sides.
  3. Lower to straight arms and keep the torso angle.

Cues

  • Brace before every rep
  • Bar to the belly button

Common mistakes

  • Standing taller each rep as it gets heavier: if the hinge goes, the set is over.

Swap for: Pendlay Row, Dumbbell Bent-Over Row, T-Bar Row

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Primer: standard push-up for the whole pressing pattern

Push-Up

Chest

The home version of the first press: a set at an easy effort before the harder push-up sets.

How to do it

  1. Set your hands a little wider than your shoulders in a high plank.
  2. Lower your chest to just above the floor with the elbows angled about 45 degrees from your body.
  3. Press back up to straight arms in one line from heels to head.

Cues

  • Elbows at 45 degrees
  • Chest leads, hips follow

Common mistakes

  • Flaring the elbows straight out to the sides: tuck them a little toward your ribs.

Swap for: Incline Push-Up, Kneeling Push-Up, Push-Up Plus

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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

Upper day of an upper/lower split

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Resistance Bands, Pull-Up Bar, Barbells +2

You train in a gym and the session opens with the bench press followed by the lat pulldown.

This is the full version: raise, two mobility drills, three activation drills, then three ramp-up sets on the bench and two on the pulldown. The working sets stop 2 reps short of failure so you can keep the same weights across all the sets and still recover for the next upper day.

Upper Day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. Easy. 1 × 60 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5 4 15 s
Rotational Push-UpPer side. 1 × 6 4 15 s
Band Pull-Apart 1 × 15 4 15 s
Push-Up Plus 1 × 10 4 15 s
Dead HangSeconds. 1 × 25 4 0 s
Barbell Bench Press3 warm-up sets firstRamp: bar x10, ~60% x5, ~80% x3. 3 × 5–8 2 2:30 min
Lat Pulldown2 warm-up sets first 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
How to run it
Use it every upper day. The warm-up blocks take about 8 minutes; then go straight into the bench press ramp.
How to progress
The warm-up stays the same. Add weight to the bench and pulldown when every set reaches the top of the rep range with 2 reps in reserve.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Bodyweight upper session at home

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets16 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentJump Rope, Resistance Bands, Pull-Up Bar

You train push-ups and rows at home with a bar or rings, no barbell.

Without a barbell, the push-up is the first press, so it gets an easy ramp set of its own. Jump rope replaces the rower, and the hang from your bar doubles as the lat warm-up before rows.

Home Upper
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jump RopeSeconds. Two rounds. 1 × 60 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 6 4 15 s
Arm CirclesEach direction. 1 × 10 4 15 s
Band Pull-Apart 1 × 20 4 15 s
Dead HangSeconds. 1 × 30 4 0 s
Push-Up1 warm-up set firstFirst set at half effort. 3 × 10–20 2 90 s
How to run it
Run the warm-up blocks straight through, then start the push-up sets. Rest about 15 seconds between drills.
How to progress
When the push-ups reach 20 clean reps with 2 in reserve, move to a harder version and keep the warm-up as it is.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Upper day that starts with rows

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Resistance Bands, Barbells, Flat Bench

You put barbell rows first so your back gets your freshest effort.

Rows load the lower back as well as the upper back, so the walkouts stay and the ramp-up sets of the row also rehearse holding the hinge. Pressing comes later, so it needs only one light set.

Rows First
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. Easy. 2 rounds back to back. 2 × 45 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5 4 15 s
Rotational Push-UpPer side. 1 × 5 4 15 s
Band Pull-Apart 1 × 15 4 15 s
Barbell Row3 warm-up sets first 3 × 6–8 2 2 min
Barbell Bench Press1 warm-up set first 3 × 6–10 2 2 min
How to run it
Do the warm-up, take three ramp-up sets of the row, then press later with one light set.
How to progress
Add weight to the row when every set hits 8 reps with 2 in reserve and your torso angle holds.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What is a good warm-up for upper body day?

Three minutes on a rower or jump rope, walkouts and rotational push-ups for mobility, band pull-aparts, push-up pluses and a short dead hang for the shoulder blades, then light ramp-up sets of your first press and first pull.

How long should an upper body warm-up be?

About 5 to 10 minutes, plus the ramp-up sets of your first lift. Longer than that and you start tiring the muscles you came to train.

Are push-ups a good upper body warm-up?

Yes, in small doses: an easy set of 8 to 10, or rotational push-ups, warms the chest, shoulders and triceps together. Stop several reps short of failure.

Do I need to warm up before every exercise?

The first lift needs 2 to 4 ramp-up sets. Later exercises for warm muscles need one light set at most, and isolation work usually none.

Should the warm-up include stretching?

Use moving drills before lifting. Long holds fit better after the session, when they will not leave you less ready for a heavy set.