Training guide · 3 min read · MyoAmigo
Warming Up That Works
A practical pre-lift routine that earns its time
Most warmup time is wasted on things that do not prepare you to lift. A five-minute general raise of your core temperature (a brisk walk, light row, or jump rope) gets blood moving and loosens the joints without accumulating fatigue. That is all you need before you touch the bar. The goal is to arrive at the barbell feeling ready, not tired.
Static stretching (holding a position for 20–60 seconds) belongs at the end of a session or on recovery days. Done immediately before lifting, it temporarily reduces the stiffness that tendons and muscles rely on to produce force. You may actually be slightly weaker after a long static stretch than you would have been with no warmup at all. Save it for after the session, where it has a place.
Ramp Sets Are Your Real Warmup
Once you are warm, your actual preparation happens through progressively loaded sets on the first exercise of the session. The goal is to rehearse the movement pattern, prime the nervous system, and arrive at your working weight without meaningful fatigue.
A simple ramp for a working weight of, say, 100 kg looks like this:
- Bar only (or lightest available load): 8–10 smooth reps, full range
- ~50% of working weight: 5 reps
- ~70% of working weight: 3 reps
- ~85%: 1–2 reps (optional for heavier sessions)
- Working weight: begin your programmed sets
Rest 60–90 seconds between ramp sets. These are not training sets; do not count them as volume. Their only job is to groove the pattern and wake up the muscles you are about to load. Doing them with full attention to form is worth more than rushing through them.
Subsequent Exercises Need Less
If squats are first and Romanian deadlifts are second, your hips and posterior chain are already warm. A single lighter set before your working weight is usually enough for the second movement, and later exercises in the session often need nothing at all. Use judgment: if a movement targets a muscle group that has not been loaded yet, give it one ramp set. If it is a direct follow-on from the same pattern, you are probably already ready.
The App Can Handle the Math
MyoAmigo can add warmup ramps to your working sets automatically, so you never have to calculate percentages mid-session.
The most important warmup habit is consistency: do it every session, keep it short, and get to work. A warmup that drags past 15 minutes while you scroll your phone is not preparation; it is procrastination with extra steps. Ten minutes of purposeful work is more than enough.
