RIRLift app icon RIRLift

Exercises

Warm up for leg day: bike, mobility, activation, then ramp-up sets

Published October 24, 2026

To warm up for leg day, ride a stationary bike easily for 5 minutes, then do 10 leg swings per leg, 5 walkouts, 6 cossack squats per side, 12 glute bridges and 10 lateral band walk steps each way, which takes about 5 more minutes. Finish with 3 or 4 light sets of your first lift, climbing from the empty bar toward your working weight while cutting the reps, and start your first hard set within a few minutes of the last one.

  1. Stationary Bike Quads, Hamstrings
  2. Leg Swings Hamstrings, Glutes
  3. Walkout Abs, Shoulders, Chest
  4. Cossack Squat Quads, Adductors
  5. Glute Bridge Glutes
  6. Lateral Band Walk Abductors
  7. Goblet Squat Quads, Glutes
  8. Barbell Back Squat Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Step 1: Five minutes of easy cardio

Start with the bike or the rower at a pace where you could hold a conversation. You are done when you feel warm and are breathing a little faster, not when you are tired. Five minutes is enough; going longer only spends energy your squats need.

Raise: easy cardio

Stationary Bike

Quads, Hamstrings

Pedaling bends and straightens your knees hundreds of times with almost no load, which makes it the gentlest way to raise your temperature before squats.

How to do it

  1. Set the seat so your knee keeps a small bend when the pedal is at its lowest point.
  2. Pick a light resistance and pedal at a steady, easy pace for 5 minutes.
  3. Raise the resistance a notch for the last minute so your legs feel ready for work.

Cues

  • Talking pace
  • Warm, not winded

Common mistakes

  • Riding hard intervals before lifting: save that effort for the session.

Swap for: Rowing Machine, Elliptical

Build a session with Stationary Bike

Raise: easy cardio

Rowing Machine

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats

The rower takes your hips and knees from fully bent to straight on every stroke, so it doubles as light mobility for a squat or deadlift day.

How to do it

  1. Strap your feet in and sit tall with your arms straight, shins vertical.
  2. Push with the legs first, then lean back slightly and draw the handle to your lower ribs.
  3. Return in the reverse order, arms first and knees last, at an easy rate for 5 minutes.

Cues

  • Legs, then body, then arms
  • Smooth and easy

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with the arms before the legs have finished: let the legs do most of the stroke.

Swap for: Stationary Bike, Ski Erg

Build a session with Rowing Machine

Step 2: Move the hips, knees and ankles through their range

Leg day asks your hips to fold deep, your knees to bend fully and your ankles to let the shins travel forward. Leg swings, walkouts and cossack squats take each of those joints a little further every rep, so your first squat already reaches its full depth.

Mobility: hips

Leg Swings

Hamstrings, Glutes

Swinging a straight leg forward and back loosens the front and back of the hip in a few seconds, and you can do it holding the squat rack.

How to do it

  1. Hold the rack or a wall with one hand and stand on one leg.
  2. Swing the free leg forward and back like a pendulum, starting small.
  3. Let each swing go a little higher until you reach your comfortable limit, then do 10 and switch legs.

Cues

  • Tall torso
  • Bigger every swing

Common mistakes

  • Arching the lower back to get the leg higher behind you: keep the swing in the hip.

Swap for: Standing Side Leg Raise, Walkout

Build a session with Leg Swings

Mobility: hamstrings and trunk

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

Folding down and walking your hands out stretches your hamstrings and then loads your trunk in a plank, two things leg day relies on.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, bend at the hips and reach your palms to the ground, bending your knees as much as you need.
  2. Walk your hands forward until you reach a high plank with your body in a straight line.
  3. Walk the hands back to your feet and stand up. That is one rep; do 5.

Cues

  • Hands walk, feet stay
  • Firm plank at the far end

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag in the plank: squeeze the glutes before walking back.

Swap for: Leg Swings, Plank to Push-Up

Build a session with Walkout

Mobility: hips, groin and ankles

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

Shifting side to side into one deep bent knee opens the inner thighs and the hips in a way regular squats do not, which helps if your knees cave or your depth stalls.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your feet about twice shoulder width apart, toes turned out a little.
  2. Sit down into your right hip while the left leg stays straight, toes pointing up.
  3. Go as low as you can with the right heel down, then press back to center and switch sides. Do 6 per side.

Cues

  • Heel stays planted
  • Chest up, hips back

Common mistakes

  • Rushing to the bottom: move slowly and let the range grow over the reps.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Bodyweight Squat

Build a session with Cossack Squat

Step 3: Wake up the glutes

A short set of bridges and band walks gets the glutes working before the heavy lifts, so your hips push as hard as your quads from the first rep. Stop each set well short of a burn; the goal is to feel the muscle, not to tire it.

Activation: glutes

Glute Bridge

Glutes

A few bridges teach your glutes to finish the hip extension that squats and deadlifts both end with. Bodyweight is enough here, or an empty bar across your hips.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up, knees bent, feet flat, hip-width apart, near your hips.
  2. Press your heels down and raise your hips until your body is straight from knees to shoulders.
  3. Squeeze the glutes for a second at the top, lower slowly, and do 12.

Cues

  • Push through the heels
  • Ribs down at the top

Common mistakes

  • Arching the lower back to get higher: stop when the hips are level with the knees and shoulders.

Swap for: Single-Leg Glute Bridge, Band Hip Thrust

Build a session with Glute Bridge

Activation: side glutes

Lateral Band Walk

Abductors

Stepping sideways against a band wakes the side of the glutes, the muscles that keep your knees tracking over your toes when you squat.

How to do it

  1. Put a mini band just above your knees or around your ankles and stand in a quarter squat.
  2. Step sideways with one foot, then follow with the other without letting the band go slack.
  3. Take 10 steps one way and 10 back, staying low the whole time.

Cues

  • Stay low
  • Toes forward

Common mistakes

  • Standing up straight between steps: hold the same quarter-squat height throughout.

Swap for: Clamshell, Band Standing Hip Abduction

Build a session with Lateral Band Walk

Step 4: Ramp-up sets of your first lift

The last part of the warm-up is the lift itself. Do 3 or 4 light sets that climb toward your working weight, with fewer reps each time, so the final warm-up set feels close to the real thing without tiring you. A goblet squat bridges the gap if the empty bar still feels stiff. Long static stretches belong after training, not here.

Ramp-up: squat pattern

Goblet Squat

Quads, Glutes

Holding one dumbbell at your chest lets you sink into a deep, upright squat and groove the pattern before a barbell goes on your back.

How to do it

  1. Cup one end of a light dumbbell at your chest, holding it upright.
  2. Squat down between your heels, keeping your elbows inside your knees and your chest up.
  3. Pause briefly at the bottom, stand up, and do 8.

Cues

  • Elbows inside the knees
  • Sit between the heels

Common mistakes

  • Letting the heels lift: widen your stance slightly or turn your toes out a bit more.

Swap for: Bodyweight Squat, Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat

Build a session with Goblet Squat

First lift: back squat with ramp-up sets

Barbell Back Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

The squat is where most leg days start, so it is where your warm-up has to end. Three or four ramp-up sets from the empty bar take your joints and your technique the rest of the way, and RIRLift logs them as warm-up sets so they never count against your working sets.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar at mid-chest height, step under it and rest it across your upper back.
  2. Unrack, step back, and set your feet about shoulder width with your toes turned out slightly.
  3. Brace, sit down between your hips until you reach your normal depth, and drive back up.
  4. Climb in 3 or 4 jumps from the empty bar to your working weight, cutting reps from about 8 down to 2.

Cues

  • Brace before each rep
  • Same depth on every warm-up set

Common mistakes

  • Doing heavy triples as warm-ups: the last ramp-up set should be a short, easy set, not a test.

Swap for: Front Squat, Leg Press

Build a session with Barbell Back Squat

Second lift or first hinge

Romanian Deadlift

Hamstrings, Glutes

On a day that starts with a hinge, the Romanian deadlift takes over the ramp-up role. Two light sets are usually enough after squatting.

How to do it

  1. Start standing with the bar at your thighs with a shoulder-width grip and soft knees.
  2. Send your hips back and let the bar slide down your thighs until you feel a strong pull in your hamstrings.
  3. Drive the hips forward to stand tall, keeping the bar against your legs.

Cues

  • Hips back, bar close
  • Stop at the hamstring stretch

Common mistakes

  • Bending the knees more to lower the bar further: the range ends where your hamstrings stop it.

Swap for: Dumbbell Romanian Deadlift, Stiff-Leg Deadlift

Build a session with Romanian Deadlift

First lift on a machine day

Leg Press

Quads, Glutes

When the machine opens the session, 2 or 3 lighter sets with a deep range warm up the knees and hips without any balance demand.

How to do it

  1. Sit with your back flat against the pad and place your feet shoulder width on the platform.
  2. Unlock the sled and lower it until your knees come close to your chest without your hips lifting off the seat.
  3. Press back up without locking your knees, and climb the weight across your ramp-up sets.

Cues

  • Lower back stays on the pad
  • Knees follow the toes

Common mistakes

  • Shortening the range to move more plates: use the full depth from the first warm-up set.

Swap for: Hack Squat, 45-Degree Leg Press

Build a session with Leg Press

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 squat day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets17 a week
  • Per workout~40 min
  • EquipmentExercise Bike, Barbells, Resistance Bands

You open the week's hardest session with heavy back squats and want every joint ready for the first working set.

The full four-stage warm-up takes about 12 minutes including ramp-ups. Keeping every warm-up block 3 to 5 reps short of tired means nothing you do here takes away from the squat, which you then run 1 to 2 reps short of failure so you can recover for the next leg day.

Heavy squat day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stationary BikeSeconds. Five easy minutes. 5 × 60 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 6 4 15 s
Glute Bridge 1 × 12 4 15 s
Lateral Band WalkSteps each way. 1 × 10 4 15 s
Barbell Back Squat4 warm-up sets firstRamp from the empty bar. 4 × 4–6 2 3 min
Romanian Deadlift2 warm-up sets first 3 × 6–10 2 2 min
How to run it
Do the blocks in order with little rest between them, then load the bar for your first ramp-up set. The romanian deadlift follows as your second lift with its own 2 lighter sets.
How to progress
As your working squat climbs, add one more ramp-up set rather than more reps in each, so the jumps between sets stay small.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Short on time

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets8 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentExercise Bike, Barbells, Dumbbells

You have 45 minutes for the whole session and need the warm-up done in about 6.

Two minutes of cardio and one move per stage keep the warm-up short. The ramp-up sets do most of the work here, because practicing the lift you are about to train warms up the exact joints it uses. The goblet squat replaces the first empty-bar set.

Quick leg day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Stationary BikeSeconds. Two easy minutes. 2 × 60 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 6 4 0 s
Glute Bridge 1 × 12 4 15 s
Goblet Squat 1 × 8 4 30 s
Barbell Back Squat3 warm-up sets first 3 × 5–8 2 2:30 min
How to run it
Ride for 2 minutes, run straight through the cossack squats and bridges, then go to the squat rack.
How to progress
On a busy week keep this version; on a normal week go back to the full warm-up.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Stiff hips and knees in the morning

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts1× a week
  • Working sets19 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Resistance Bands, Leg Press, Dumbbells

You train early, your hips feel tight out of bed, and the first squat usually feels awful.

A longer cardio block and two rounds of the mobility moves give stiff joints more time. Starting on the leg press with a deep range before any loaded squat lets your knees and hips open up under support, and the press still gets ramp-up sets.

Morning leg day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. Six easy minutes. 6 × 60 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 2 × 10 4 0 s
Walkout 2 × 5 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 2 × 5 4 15 s
Lateral Band WalkSteps each way. 1 × 10 4 15 s
Leg Press3 warm-up sets firstFull depth. 3 × 8–12 2 2 min
Goblet Squat 3 × 8–12 2 90 s
How to run it
Do the mobility round twice, then the activation once. The leg press is the first lift today; squat later in the week when you feel looser.
How to progress
When mornings feel easier, cut back to one mobility round and move the squat back to first.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How do I warm up for leg day?

Do 5 minutes of easy cardio, then a few minutes of leg swings, walkouts and cossack squats, then glute bridges and band walks, then 3 or 4 ramp-up sets of your first lift. The whole thing takes 10 to 12 minutes.

Should you stretch before leg day?

Use moving stretches like leg swings and cossack squats before you lift. Save long held stretches for after the session, when your muscles are already warm.

How long should a leg day warm-up be?

About 10 minutes before your first ramp-up set, and 5 to 6 minutes on a short day. Ramp-up sets add a few more minutes, and they count as part of the warm-up.

How to warm up for quad day?

Keep the same stages and lean on the squat side: goblet squats, cossack squats and ramp-up sets of the squat, leg press or hack squat you start with. A few slow bodyweight squats before the first set also help.

How many warm-up sets before squats?

Three or four, climbing from the empty bar and dropping the reps each time. Lighter working weights need fewer; very heavy ones may need five.

What's the difference between a warm-up and a cool-down?

A warm-up raises your temperature and rehearses the session's movements before you lift. A cool-down is easy movement and stretching after you finish, to bring your breathing and heart rate back down.