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Warm-up calculator

Enter the weight of your first working set and the equipment you use. The calculator gives you two or three warm-up sets that climb to 80% of that weight, with the reps for each and the plates per side, the same ramp the RIRLift app puts in front of your first heavy lift.

For dumbbells, one dumbbell. For a Smith or plate-loaded machine, the plates only.

Unit
Equipment

Barbell only. Leave empty for a standard bar.

Warm-up sets

Example result

Warm-up sets

3

First set

40kg

No rest timer between warm-ups: load the next weight and go.

Warm-ups for 100 kg
SetLoadRepsPlates per side
Warm-up 140 kg510
Warm-up 260 kg520
Warm-up 380 kg325 + 5
Build a session with warm-ups

Warm-up examples

Four lifters, four working weights. The number of warm-ups changes with the load and the equipment, not just the loads inside them.

  • Example 1

    A 225 lb squat, first lift of the day

    An intermediate lifter about to squat 3 sets of 5 at 225 lb on a 45 lb bar.

    Working weight
    225 lb
    Equipment
    Barbell
    Warm-up sets
    Auto
    • Warm-up sets3
    • First set90 lb

    Three sets, 13 reps in all, and the heaviest is 180 lb for 3. Load the next weight as soon as each one is done, then take your full rest before the first set of 5.

    Build a session with warm-ups Open with these numbers

  • Example 2

    Six weeks into squatting

    A beginner whose working weight is 40 kg on a 20 kg bar.

    Working weight
    40 kg
    Equipment
    Barbell
    Warm-up sets
    Auto
    • Warm-up sets2
    • First set22.5 kg

    Only two warm-ups, because a 40% rung would be 16 kg, under the empty bar. The two that are left still climb to about 80%. As the working weight grows, the third set comes back on its own.

    Build a session with warm-ups Open with these numbers

  • Example 3

    A heavy squat day with five warm-ups

    A powerlifter working up to a 180 kg top set who wants a longer ramp and picks 5 warm-up sets.

    Working weight
    180 kg
    Equipment
    Barbell
    Warm-up sets
    5
    • Warm-up sets5
    • First set55 kg

    Five sets start lighter and take smaller jumps, but the last one still stops around 80%. The extra sets buy more practice, not a heavier last warm-up. Keep the reps as written and leave every warm-up far from failure.

    Build a session with warm-ups Open with these numbers

  • Example 4

    Dumbbell squats in a home gym

    A lifter squatting with a 30 kg dumbbell in each hand, in 2.5 kg steps.

    Working weight
    30 kg
    Equipment
    Dumbbells
    Warm-up sets
    Auto
    • Warm-up sets2
    • First set15 kg

    Dumbbells get two warm-ups, rounded down to pairs you own: 15 kg, then 22.5 kg. If your rack skips 22.5 kg, use 20 kg rather than rounding up toward the working weight.

    Build a session with warm-ups Open with these numbers

How many warm-up sets should you do?

Fewer than most ramps suggest. The calculator picks three for a barbell or Smith machine lift and two for dumbbells, machines and cables, and uses fewer when the lighter sets can't be loaded, like a light squat where 40% would be under the bar. Pick a number yourself if you want more.

A muscle you have already trained in the session needs less. In the RIRLift app, the second exercise for the same muscle gets one warm-up fewer, and a single-joint exercise after it gets none.

Warm-up sets the RIRLift app adds by default
ExerciseFirst lift for that muscleMuscle already warm
Barbell or Smith squat, press, hinge or pull32
Same movement on dumbbells, a machine or a cable21
Single-joint exercise (curls, raises, extensions)10

Why the last warm-up stops at 80%

A warm-up is there to make the first working set better, not to be a set of its own. In a study of 15 men with at least six months of training, one warm-up set of 5 reps at 80% of the 10-rep-max load led to more total training volume across the session than warm-ups of 10 reps at 60% or 15 reps at 40%.

So the ramp climbs quickly and the reps fall as the weight rises: 5, 5, then 3. Going higher, like a single at 90%, adds fatigue right before the set that counts.

Squat technique

The lift in the examples

Barbell Back Squat

Quads, Glutes, Adductors

Warm-ups are where you set your depth and your brace before the weight is heavy. Squat every warm-up rep to the same depth as your working sets, so the first working set feels like more of the same.

How to do it

  1. Set the bar in the rack at about armpit height, step under it and rest it on the meaty part of your upper back, hands just outside your shoulders.
  2. Squeeze your shoulder blades together, stand up to lift the bar off the hooks and take two or three short steps back.
  3. Set your feet about shoulder width, toes turned slightly out, then breathe deep into your belly and tighten your trunk as if bracing for a punch.
  4. Bend at the hips and knees at the same time and sit straight down between your heels, knees moving forward and out in line with your toes.
  5. Go down until the crease of your hip passes below the top of your knee, keeping your whole foot on the floor.
  6. Drive up through your midfoot, keep your chest and hips rising at the same speed, and breathe out only once you are standing tall.

Cues

  • Big breath and brace before every rep
  • Knees out over your toes
  • Chest and hips rise together

Common mistakes

  • Cutting warm-up reps short because the weight is light: shallow warm-ups don't rehearse the depth you need at the working weight.
  • Hips shooting up first out of the bottom: the bar ends up over your toes and the set turns into a good morning, so drop the load and push your upper back into the bar as you stand.

Full squat guide

Make it fit you

  • Enter your real bar

    Women's bars are 15 kg or 35 lb, and many gyms have lighter technique bars. Change the bar weight so the plates per side are right.

  • Smith and plate-loaded machines

    Enter the plates only. The calculator, like the app, counts what you load, not the sled or the bar.

  • Dumbbells are per hand

    Enter one dumbbell's weight. Each warm-up rounds down to the next pair, so it never creeps up toward your working weight.

  • Want a longer ramp?

    Pick 4 or 5 sets on days your joints feel stiff or before a heavy single. The extra sets come in lighter, and the last one still stops around 80%.

  • Short on plates?

    If a warm-up asks for a plate you don't have, use the plate calculator to find the closest load you can make, and go lighter rather than heavier.

  • Skip warm-ups on later exercises

    Third exercise for the same muscle? Go straight to your working sets. The muscle is already warm and a ramp only costs time.

Questions

How many warm-up sets should I do?

Two or three before the first heavy lift for a muscle, and fewer after that. In one study of trained men, a single warm-up of 5 reps at 80% led to more training volume in the session than lighter warm-ups of 10 or 15 reps.

How do you calculate warm-up sets?

Take shares of your working weight that climb to about 80%, and round each one to a load you can make. With three sets that is 40%, 60% and 80% for 5, 5 and 3 reps.

How many reps should a warm-up set be?

Five on the light sets and about three on the last one. Warm-ups should never come close to failure: eight reps at 80% is a working set, not a warm-up.

How long should I rest between warm-up sets?

Only as long as it takes to change the plates. Before your first working set, take your normal rest.

Do warm-up sets count toward my weekly sets?

No. Weekly volume counts hard sets taken close to failure, and warm-ups are far from it. Warm-up sets explains how counting them inflates your volume.

What working weight should I enter?

The weight of your first working set. If you don't know it yet, the one-rep max calculator turns a recent set into loads for any rep range.

Sources

Warm-ups written in for you

RIRLift puts these warm-up sets in front of the first heavy lift for each muscle, works them out from the weight it sets for your working sets, and cuts them when the muscle is already warm.

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