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Exercises

Workout warm up exercises: the four stages before your first set

Published October 24, 2026

Warm up for a workout in four stages that take about ten minutes: five easy minutes on the rower, 10 leg swings per leg and 5 walkouts, 15 band pull-aparts and 12 glute bridges, then three or four light sets of your first lift that climb toward your working weight. The first three stages get you warm and moving; the ramp-up sets rehearse the exact lift you are about to load.

  1. Rowing Machine Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats
  2. Leg Swings Hamstrings, Glutes
  3. Walkout Abs, Shoulders, Chest
  4. Band Pull-Apart Shoulders, Upper Back
  5. Glute Bridge Glutes
  6. Barbell Back Squat Quads, Glutes, Adductors
  7. Barbell Bench Press Chest

Stage 1: raise your temperature

Five minutes of easy cardio is enough to get warm and breathing a little faster. The rower works legs, back and arms at once, which suits a gym workout; jumping jacks do the same job at home.

Whole-body easy cardio

Rowing Machine

Quads, Hamstrings, Glutes, Lats

It warms legs, hips, back and arms together, so the next stages start on warm tissue. Keep the effort conversational and quicken it a little each minute.

How to do it

  1. Strap your feet in and sit tall holding the handle with arms straight.
  2. Push with the legs, then lean back slightly and pull the handle to your lower ribs.
  3. Return arms, body, then legs, and keep an easy stroke rate.

Cues

  • Legs drive first, arms finish.
  • Breathe easily; you should be able to talk.

Common mistakes

  • Pulling with the arms before the legs have pushed.

Swap for: Ski Erg, Stationary Bike

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No-equipment cardio

Jumping Jack

Calves, Quads

When there is no machine, two minutes of jumping jacks raises your heart rate and swings the arms overhead.

How to do it

  1. Stand tall, feet together, hands relaxed.
  2. Hop your feet out wide as your arms swing up overhead.
  3. Hop back to the start and keep a steady rhythm.

Cues

  • Stay light on the balls of your feet.
  • Full arm range on every rep.

Common mistakes

  • Landing flat-footed and heavy.

Swap for: Star Jump, Skipping in Place

Build a session with Jumping Jack

Stage 2: move the joints you will load

Two drills cover most workouts: leg swings for the hips and walkouts for hamstrings, shoulders and core. Do them right after the cardio while you are still warm.

Hip range

Leg Swings

Hamstrings, Glutes

Squats, deadlifts and lunges all need the hip to flex and extend fully, and the swings take it there without load.

How to do it

  1. Stand side-on to a rack, wall or chair and rest one hand on it.
  2. Swing your outside leg forward and back like a pendulum, letting each swing climb a little higher.
  3. Do every swing on one leg, turn around, and repeat on the other.

Cues

  • Keep your torso tall so the hip moves, not your lower back.
  • Start small and let the height come on its own.

Common mistakes

  • Kicking hard at the top before the hip has loosened.

Swap for: Cossack Squat, High Knees

Build a session with Leg Swings

Hamstrings and shoulders

Walkout

Abs, Shoulders, Chest

Five slow reps stretch the back of the legs and put weight through the shoulders, which prepares both pushing and hinging days.

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

Stage 3: switch on the muscles that hold position

Two light drills for the upper back and glutes, the muscles that keep your shoulders set on a bench and your hips driving in a squat. Stop each set well short of any burn.

Upper back

Band Pull-Apart

Shoulders, Upper Back

Pulling the band apart squeezes the shoulder blades together, the position you hold on every press and row.

How to do it

  1. Hold a light band at shoulder height with straight arms and hands about shoulder width.
  2. Pull your hands apart until the band touches your chest.
  3. Let the band bring your hands back slowly.

Cues

  • Squeeze the shoulder blades together at the end.
  • Keep your ribs down.

Common mistakes

  • Bending the elbows to make it easier.

Swap for: Band Face Pull, Band Scapular Retraction

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Glutes

Glute Bridge

Glutes

A dozen bridges with light or no weight get the glutes working before a lower-body session asks them to.

How to do it

  1. Lie face up, knees bent, with a light bar across your hips or no weight.
  2. Press your heels down and raise your hips until your body is straight from knees to shoulders.
  3. Pause, then lower until your hips nearly touch the floor.

Cues

  • Tuck your chin and keep your ribs down at the top.
  • Feel it in your glutes, not your lower back.

Common mistakes

  • Overarching the lower back at the top.

Swap for: Single-Leg Glute Bridge, Hip Thrust

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Stage 4: ramp-up sets of your first lift

Light sets of the lift itself that climb toward your working weight: the empty bar for 8 to 10, then about half, two thirds and 85 percent of the work weight for fewer reps each time. They teach the groove at today's speed and leave you fresh. RIRLift logs them as warm-up sets.

First lift on lower days

Barbell Back Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Its ramp-up sets prepare hips, knees and back in the exact pattern you are about to load heavy.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar on your upper back and walk it out of the rack in two or three steps.
  2. Brace, sit down between your hips to your usual depth.
  3. Drive up until you stand tall.

Cues

  • Same depth on the empty bar as on the top set.
  • Knees follow the line of your toes.

Common mistakes

  • Cutting depth on light sets because they feel trivial.

Swap for: Goblet Squat, Leg Press

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First lift on upper days

Barbell Bench Press

Chest

Pressing the empty bar first lets you rehearse the setup and bar path before any real weight is on it.

How to do it

  1. Lie with eyes under the bar, feet planted, shoulder blades pinched.
  2. Unrack, lower the bar to your lower chest under control.
  3. Press back up over your shoulders.

Cues

  • Same touch point on every set, light or heavy.
  • Keep your upper back tight on the bench.

Common mistakes

  • Bouncing light sets off the chest.

Swap for: Flat Dumbbell Press, Push-Up

Build a session with Barbell Bench Press

First lift at home

Push-Up

Chest

With no bar, an easy set of push-ups well short of failure is the ramp-up for a bodyweight session.

How to do it

  1. Place your hands a bit outside shoulder width with your body in one line.
  2. Lower until your chest is a fist off the floor.
  3. Press back up to straight arms.

Cues

  • Elbows angle back about 45 degrees.
  • Squeeze your glutes to stay rigid.

Common mistakes

  • Letting the hips sag.

Swap for: Push-Up Plus, Flat Dumbbell Press

Build a session with Push-Up

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
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets22 a week
  • Per workout~25 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Barbells

Your session opens with back squats you take close to your limit.

Heavy squats load hips, knees and spine together, so all four stages lead into the squat, and the four ramp-up sets climb gradually to the first working set. The warm-up blocks sit 4 reps short of effort; the working sets stop 1 to 2 reps short to leave room for the rest of the session.

Squat day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. Five easy minutes, a little quicker each minute. 5 × 60 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 10 4 15 s
Walkout 1 × 5 4 15 s
Glute Bridge 1 × 12–15 4 15 s
Barbell Back Squat4 warm-up sets first 3 × 4–6 2 3 min
How to run it
Do the blocks in order, then squat. Load the ramp-up sets at roughly the bar, 50, 70 and 85 percent of your working weight.
How to progress
Add weight to the working sets when all three reach the top of the range at 2 RIR; the warm-up stays the same.
Open in the session builder

Session 2

Bench press day

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts2× a week
  • Working sets20 a week
  • Per workout~20 min
  • EquipmentRowing Machine, Resistance Bands, Barbells, Flat Bench

Your session opens with the bench press.

Pressing days need the shoulders warm and the upper back switched on, so this plan swaps the bridges for band pull-aparts and keeps the walkouts for shoulder loading. Three ramp-up sets are plenty, since the bench moves less mass than a squat.

Bench day
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Rowing MachineSeconds. Five easy minutes. 5 × 60 4 0 s
Walkout 1 × 5 4 15 s
Band Pull-Apart 1 × 15–20 4 15 s
Barbell Bench Press3 warm-up sets first 3 × 5–8 2 2:30 min
How to run it
Rower, walkouts, pull-aparts, then bench. Ramp at roughly the bar, 60 and 80 percent of your working weight.
How to progress
Add 5 pounds when every working set hits 8 reps at 1 to 2 RIR.
Open in the session builder

Session 3

Bodyweight workout at home

Open in the session builder
  • Workouts3× a week
  • Working sets21 a week
  • Per workout~15 min
  • EquipmentBarbells

You train at home with no equipment and start with push-ups.

Without a machine, jumping jacks do the warming, and without a bar the ramp-up is a single easy push-up set before the hard ones. The leg swings and bridges keep the hips moving for whatever lower-body work follows.

Home warm-up
ExerciseSets × repsRIRRest
Jumping JackSeconds. Two rounds back to back. 2 × 60 4 0 s
Leg SwingsPer leg. 1 × 10 4 15 s
Glute BridgeNo weight. 1 × 15 4 15 s
Push-Up2 warm-up sets first 3 × 8–20 1 90 s
How to run it
Jacks, leg swings, bridges, then push-ups. The first push-up set is the ramp-up.
How to progress
When all three sets reach 20 reps at 1 RIR, slow the lowering to three seconds.
Open in the session builder

Make it fit you

Questions

What are four warm-up exercises?

One per stage: rowing for warmth, walkouts for mobility, band pull-aparts for activation, and light sets of your first lift to ramp up.

How long should I warm up before a workout?

About ten minutes for a lifting session: five of cardio, three of mobility and activation, and two or three ramp-up sets.

Is it warm-up or warmup?

Both appear. "Warm up" is the verb, and "warm-up" or "warmup" is the noun.

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

A warm-up raises temperature and rehearses the session before you train; a cool-down brings breathing down afterward and is where static stretches fit.

Do warm-up sets count toward my workout?

No. They are light enough to leave you fresh, so they are not counted as working sets. RIRLift logs them separately as warm-up sets.