How many warm-up sets before working sets?

Do 2 to 4 warm-up sets before your first heavy lift, and add sets as the working weight gets heavier and the reps get fewer. Start with the empty bar, then go to about 40%, 60% and 80% of your working weight, with fewer reps at each step. Later lifts for muscles that are already warm need 1 warm-up set or none.

Below is one rule for how many sets, the ramp by lift and by rep range, what to do on your second and third exercise, and what the studies do and do not show.

How many warm-up sets do you need?

The number follows the working weight, not the clock. The heavier the bar and the fewer the reps, the more steps it takes to get there.

• Light sets above 12 reps, or anything close to the empty bar: 1 set or none.
• Moderate sets of 8 to 12 reps: 2 sets.
• Heavy sets of 3 to 6 reps: 3 to 4 sets.
• Close to a 1RM (one-rep max, the heaviest weight you can lift for one clean rep): 4 to 5 sets.

Not sure how close your working weight sits to your max? Put a recent hard set into our 1RM calculator and compare.

Most guides give a range and stop there. Hevy says 3 to 4 sets is generally enough. Steady says 2 to 4 for compound lifts. Bay Strength gives novices 2 sets of 5 with the empty bar, then 3 sets with more weight. The sources agree on the range. They leave out what sets the number, which is the weight on the bar and the reps you are about to do.

How should you ramp the weight?

The last warm-up lands at about 80% of your working weight. Everything before it is a short climb to get there. A ramp is that climb: the weight goes up at each step and the reps come down.

Our overhead press guide has a warm-up calculator that uses this ramp:

• Empty bar: 10 reps.
• About 40% of the working weight: 5 reps.
• About 60%: 3 reps.
• About 80%: 2 reps.

It works with a 20 kg or a 15 kg bar.

Here is a worked example. You squat 100 kg (225 lb) for sets of 5.

Round each step to the plates you have. The calculator on our exercise guides rounds down to what your plates can make. Before sets of 5 or fewer reps, or a working weight of 100 kg (225 lb) or more, it also adds 1 rep at 90% of the working weight. In this example that is 90 kg for 1, still well under your max.

The reps fall as the weight rises for a reason. Each step gives you practice with the movement and a feel for the heavier bar, without adding fatigue. A warm-up should never feel like a working set.

Rest briefly between the light steps, about as long as it takes to load the bar. Rest a little longer before the first working set. Our post on how long to rest between sets covers the working sets.

Does the ramp change by lift?

Yes. Heavier lifts need more steps, and lighter lifts need fewer.

Squat and deadlift: these carry the heaviest working weights, so they get the full ramp. On the deadlift, the first step is often 1 or 2 plates a side, not the empty bar. Full-size plates put the bar at the right height off the floor, so you practise the same start position you will lift from.

Bench press and overhead press: the working weights are lighter, so the steps sit closer together. The calculator skips any set within 5 kg (10 lb) of the one before. A 60 kg bench, for example, needs fewer steps than a 140 kg squat. Check your gym's bar weight before you count. Many US gyms have 45 lb bars. The bench press guide has its own warm-up calculator in kg and lb.

Barbell row, lat pulldown, machines and isolation lifts: 1 light set to find the groove is usually enough. On a machine, balance is not your limit. You only need to check the seat and get a feel for the weight.

Each of our exercise guides gives the ramp in kg or lb from your working weight and reps.

Does the rep range change the warm-up?

Yes. The fewer reps you plan, the more steps you take, and the fewer reps you do at each step.

• Working sets of 3 to 5 reps: the full ramp, with a last warm-up of 1 to 2 reps near 80%.
• Working sets of 8 to 12 reps: 2 steps. The site's calculator keeps only the 40% and 80% sets before sets of 8 or more. Keep the reps low on both and do not grind them.
• Sets of 15 reps or more: the first working set is close to its own warm-up. Start it a little lighter if your joints feel stiff.

RPE helps you judge this. RPE stands for rate of perceived exertion: how hard the set felt, from 1 to 10. Warm-ups should stay well below an RPE of 6. If a warm-up feels like a 7 or 8, it was too heavy or too long. Our post on RPE explained shows how to rate your sets honestly.

Do you warm up again for the second and third exercise?

Only the first lift for a muscle group needs the full ramp. By the second exercise, the muscles and joints are already warm.

A new movement gets 1 feeler set. After squats, for example, Romanian deadlifts start with 1 set at about 60% of the working weight. That checks your hinge before the weight gets heavy.

Isolation work after compound lifts needs no warm-up sets. Lateral raises after overhead presses can start at the working weight.

This also keeps the session within the time you have. A full ramp on every exercise can add 20 minutes and leave less in the tank for the sets that count. Our post on how long a session should be gives 45 to 75 minutes as a range that covers almost everyone.

What does the research say about warm-up sets?

The evidence is small. It supports a heavy last step for strength on the day. It does not show that warm-ups prevent injury.

Ribeiro and colleagues (2020) compared specific warm-ups on the squat and the bench press. On the squat, force was highest after 1 set of 6 reps at 80% of the training weight. On the bench press, it was highest after 2 sets: 6 reps at 40% and 6 reps at 80%. A few reps at a light weight were not enough.

Abad and colleagues found that a general warm-up plus a specific one gave a higher leg-press 1RM in trained people than the specific warm-up alone. A few minutes of easy cardio before your first bar is worth doing.

What drives the effect is less clear. A 2025 study in trained people says it is still unclear whether the benefit comes from the heavier warm-up weights or from the number of sets.

On injury, the picture is thinner. Fradkin and colleagues (2006) reviewed randomised trials in sport and found the evidence inconclusive. A systematic review of upper-body warm-ups found no injury-prevention studies at all.

So here it is plainly. No study shows that warm-up sets prevent injury in lifting. The 80% step is the part with studies behind it, and those tested the bench press and squat, not every lift. Our barbell row guide says the same about the row. The rest of the ramp is coaching habit. It is a sensible habit, but it is still a habit.

What mistakes make warm-ups cost you reps?

Most warm-up mistakes either tire you out or skip the steps you need.

• Too many reps on the warm-ups: 10 reps at 80% is a working set. Cut it to 2.
• Jumping from the empty bar straight to the working weight on a heavy day. The first working set then becomes your warm-up, and it costs you reps.
• Skipping the general warm-up on a cold morning. Our workout plan for over 40 uses a 10-minute warm-up for this reason.
• Taking a near-max single to feel it before a set of 5. You spend effort on a rep the plan did not ask for.
• Rushing the steps to save time. Do not rush the first ones to save time. Cut a step on the light end before you cut one near 80%.

How does Trackist handle warm-ups?

The Trackist app has no planned warm-up sets, no warm-up calculator and no plate calculator. You do the ramp yourself before the first working set.

Trackist does not move your top set during warm-ups. The weight moves from one session to the next, from the working sets you log. From your second session of an exercise, a line above it suggests today's weight from your last session's sets, target reps and logged RPE.

For the warm-up numbers, use the calculators on our exercise guides. They give warm-up sets and plates per side from your working weight and reps. Then log your working sets in Trackist.

Putting it together

• First heavy lift: 2 to 4 steps, the last one at about 80% for 1 to 2 reps.
• Heavier weights and fewer reps: more steps.
• A new movement later in the session: 1 feeler set.
• Isolation work: no warm-up sets.
• Warm-ups stay well below an RPE of 6.

Log your next session in Trackist

Trackist writes a plan around your week and your gym, and suggests your next weight from the sets you logged.