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Exercises

Warm up for squats: rehearse the depth, then climb the bar

Published October 24, 2026

To warm up for squats, row easily for 4 minutes, then do 10 slow bodyweight squats with a pause at the bottom, 5 cossack squats per side, 8 dead bugs per side and 8 heels-elevated goblet squats. Then squat the empty bar for 8 to 10 reps and add weight in 3 or 4 jumps, cutting to 5, 3 and 1 or 2 reps, so your last warm-up set is a little lighter than your first working set. Rest 1 to 2 minutes between the heavier jumps.

  1. Rowing Machine Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats
  2. Bodyweight Squat Quads
  3. Cossack Squat Quads, Adductors
  4. Dead Bug Abs
  5. Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat Quads
  6. Barbell Back Squat Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Row for 4 minutes

The rower bends your knees and hips almost as far as a squat does, so it warms the joints you need while raising your temperature. Keep the pace easy.

Cardio with squat-like range

Rowing Machine

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats

Each stroke takes your hips and knees through a deep bend, so it doubles as easy mobility for the squat.

How to do it

  1. Sit, strap in, and grab the handle with straight arms.
  2. Drive with your legs, then swing back slightly and pull the handle toward your ribs.
  3. Reverse the order on the way back and keep an easy rate for 4 minutes.

Cues

  • Legs first
  • Easy breathing

Common mistakes

  • Rushing the slide forward: let the return take twice as long as the drive.

Swap for: Stationary Bike, Air Bike

Build a session with Rowing Machine

Rehearse the bottom of the squat

Most squat warm-ups fail at depth: the first heavy rep is the first time your hips and ankles reach the bottom. Paused bodyweight squats and cossack squats get you there several times before any load.

Depth rehearsal

Bodyweight Squat

Quads

Slow squats with a two-second pause at the bottom let your hips and ankles settle into the depth you will hit with the bar.

How to do it

  1. Stand in your squat stance with your toes turned out the way you squat with the bar.
  2. Lower slowly to full depth and hold the bottom for two seconds.
  3. Stand up and do 10, going a little deeper each time if you can.

Cues

  • Pause in the hole
  • Same stance as your squat

Common mistakes

  • Using a narrow stance you never squat with: match the stance you will use under the bar.

Swap for: Goblet Squat, Band Squat

Build a session with Bodyweight Squat

Hip and ankle range

Cossack Squat

Quads, Adductors

Going deep on one side at a time stretches the inner thigh and asks the ankle for full bend, both common limits on squat depth.

How to do it

  1. Stand very wide with your toes turned out slightly.
  2. Shift into one knee and sit low, keeping the heel flat and the other leg straight.
  3. Rise and shift to the other side. Do 5 per side.

Cues

  • Heel flat
  • Slow descent

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing at the bottom: stay controlled and let the range open.

Swap for: Dumbbell Lateral Lunge, Gorilla Walk

Build a session with Cossack Squat

Knee tracking

Lateral Band Walk

Abductors

A few band steps wake up the side glutes that keep your knees pushed out in the bottom of a squat.

How to do it

  1. Loop a mini band just above your knees and sit into a shallow squat.
  2. Step sideways, keeping tension on the band and your toes forward.
  3. Take 10 steps each way.

Cues

  • Knees out
  • Stay in the shallow squat

Common mistakes

  • Letting the trailing foot snap in: control both feet.

Swap for: Clamshell, Band Squat

Build a session with Lateral Band Walk

Practice the brace

A heavy squat needs your trunk to stay rigid. Dead bugs teach you to hold your ribs down and your lower back still while your limbs move, the same brace you use under the bar.

Bracing practice

Dead Bug

Abs

Holding your lower back still while you reach an arm and leg away is the same skill as keeping your torso rigid under a heavy bar.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up with your arms straight up and your hips and knees bent at 90 degrees.
  2. Press your lower back into the floor, then reach one arm overhead and straighten the opposite leg toward the floor.
  3. Return and switch sides, 8 per side, slowly.

Cues

  • Lower back pinned down
  • Exhale as you reach

Common mistakes

  • Arching off the floor as the leg goes out: only lower the leg as far as you can keep your back down.

Swap for: Plank, Pallof Press

Build a session with Dead Bug

Load the pattern lightly

A goblet squat with your heels on a plate lets you sit upright and deep with a light dumbbell, the closest thing to a squat without a bar on your back.

Light loaded squat

Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat

Quads

Raising the heels lets you sit straight down with an upright torso, which helps you find depth and lets the quads do the work.

How to do it

  1. Stand with your heels on a small plate or wedge and your feet close together.
  2. Hold a light dumbbell upright at your chest.
  3. Squat down until your hamstrings touch your calves, then stand. Do 8.

Cues

  • Knees forward over the toes
  • Torso tall

Common mistakes

  • Holding a heavy dumbbell: this is a warm-up, keep it light.

Swap for: Goblet Squat, Front Squat

Build a session with Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat

Light loaded squat, flat feet

Goblet Squat

Quads, Glutes

If you have no plate for your heels, a regular goblet squat does the same job.

How to do it

  1. Hold a light dumbbell upright at your chest.
  2. Sit between your heels with your elbows inside your knees.
  3. Stand up and do 8 slow reps.

Cues

  • Elbows push the knees out
  • Slow down, quick up

Common mistakes

  • Rounding the upper back: keep the dumbbell close and the chest up.

Swap for: Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat, Bodyweight Squat

Build a session with Goblet Squat

How many warm-up sets before squats

Three to five, depending on how heavy you go. Start with the empty bar for 8 to 10, then cut reps as the weight rises so you stay fresh: roughly 5 reps at half your working weight, 3 at about 70 percent, and 1 or 2 at about 85 to 90 percent. The plans below apply this to a high-bar, a low-bar and a box squat.

High-bar back squat

Barbell Back Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

The high-bar squat is the one most people train. Its warm-up sets climb from the empty bar, and RIRLift logs them as warm-ups so only the working sets drive your next weight.

How to do it

  1. Put the bar on top of your upper back, just below the bony part of your neck.
  2. Unrack, step back into your stance, and take a breath into your belly.
  3. Squat to depth and drive up. Add weight in jumps, cutting reps each time.

Cues

  • Breathe and brace every rep
  • Same depth every set

Common mistakes

  • Skipping straight from the bar to a heavy set: take at least two jumps in between.

Swap for: Front Squat, Smith Squat

Build a session with Barbell Back Squat

Low-bar back squat

Barbell Low-Bar Squat

Quads, Glutes

With the bar lower on the back and more forward lean, the low-bar squat lets you move more weight and needs more warm-up jumps to get there.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar across the back of your shoulders, a few inches lower than a high-bar squat, with a wider grip.
  2. Sit your hips back as you descend, letting your chest lean forward.
  3. Drive your hips up out of the bottom. Use 4 or 5 jumps to reach a heavy working weight.

Cues

  • Hips back first
  • Chest follows the hips up

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips shoot up before the chest: keep the back angle the same as you stand.

Swap for: Barbell Back Squat, Box Squat

Build a session with Barbell Low-Bar Squat

Box squat for consistent depth

Box Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Sitting back to a box gives you the same depth every rep, which helps if your warm-up sets wander in depth.

How to do it

  1. Place a box behind you at a height where your hips sit just at or below your knees.
  2. Sit back to the box under control and pause briefly without relaxing.
  3. Drive up off the box. Use the same box for every warm-up and working set.

Cues

  • Sit back, don't drop
  • Stay tight on the box

Common mistakes

  • Crashing onto the box: lower slowly and touch it lightly.

Swap for: Barbell Back Squat, Goblet Squat

Build a session with Box Squat

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 high-bar squat day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Dumbbells, Barbells

Your working sets are heavy back squats for 3 to 5 reps.

The full warm-up ends with four bar jumps, because the heavier the work, the more steps you need between the empty bar and the working weight. Working sets stay at 1 to 2 reps in reserve so technique holds and you recover for the next squat day.

Heavy squat
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. 4 × 60 4 0 s
Bodyweight Squat2 s pause at the bottom. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 5 4 0 s
Dead BugPer side. 1 × 8 4 15 s
Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat 1 × 8 4 30 s
Barbell Back Squat4 warm-up sets first 4 × 3–5 2 3 min
How to run it
Row, do the depth and brace work, then the goblet squat, then go to the bar.
How to progress
When your working weight goes up 20 lb or more, add a jump.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Low-bar squat for strength

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~30 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Resistance Bands, Dumbbells, Barbells

You squat low-bar and your working weight is high.

Band walks join the warm-up because low-bar depends on the hips and knees staying out. Five bar jumps cover the bigger distance to your working weight, with rest growing as the weight rises.

Low-bar squat
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. 4 × 60 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 5 4 0 s
Lateral Band WalkSteps each way. 1 × 10 4 0 s
Dead BugPer side. 1 × 8 4 15 s
Goblet Squat 1 × 8 4 30 s
Barbell Low-Bar Squat4 warm-up sets first 3 × 3–5 2 4 min
How to run it
Same order as the heavy plan, with band walks after the cossack squats.
How to progress
Add weight when every working set hits 5 reps at 2 reps in reserve.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Box squats to fix depth

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets24 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Dumbbells, Barbells

Your depth changes from rep to rep, or you lose confidence at the bottom.

More depth work and a box set at your target depth. Lighter working weights and 2 to 3 reps in reserve let you own the bottom position before you push the load.

Box squat
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. 3 × 60 4 0 s
Bodyweight Squat2 s pause at the bottom. 2 × 10 4 0 s
Cossack SquatPer side. 1 × 5 4 0 s
Heels-Elevated Goblet Squat 2 × 8 4 30 s
Box Squat3 warm-up sets first 4 × 5–6 2 2:30 min
How to run it
Do the bodyweight squats twice, then the heels-elevated goblet squats, then build up on the box.
How to progress
Once depth is consistent at 2 reps in reserve, move back to free squats at the same depth.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

How many warm-up sets before squats?

Three to five. Light working weights need about three; heavy weights near your max need four or five, with fewer reps on each as the weight climbs.

How do you warm up for squats?

Easy cardio, slow paused bodyweight squats, cossack squats, a bracing drill like the dead bug, a light goblet squat, then bar jumps from the empty bar to your working weight.

Should I stretch before squats?

Use moving range instead of long holds: paused squats and cossack squats take your hips and ankles to depth while keeping you warm.

How much rest between squat warm-up sets?

Little rest on the light jumps, 1 to 2 minutes on the last two, so you start your first working set fresh.

Will 20 bodyweight squats a day make a difference?

For depth and comfort at the bottom, a daily set helps many people. For strength or muscle, you need loaded squats close to failure.

What are common mistakes when warming up for squats?

Doing too many reps on heavy warm-up sets, skipping depth until the first working set, and jumping from the bar straight to a heavy weight.