Share your warm up for lifting

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  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,268 Member
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    ritzvin wrote: »
    I just do warmup sets, starting with empty bar and incrementing up to working weight.

    Yup this is what I do as well.
  • nossmf
    nossmf Posts: 8,997 Member
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    Back in my track days in school, we would warm up before runs with dynamic stretches...swinging legs, lunges, etc. Only after did we do static stretches...touching toes, etc.

    For lifting upper body, my first lift of the day I'll do the exercise with an empty bar, then add 25% of working weight, then 50%, then 75%, finally getting to my working weight. Later exercises in the same session I either won't bother with a warmup set (if the movement is basically the same...BB vs DB, etc), or a single warmup set using 50% of working weight (if the movement hits the same muscle but with a different motion).

    For leg day lifting, jumping 25% at a time would be rather significant jumps as my legs are considerably stronger than my upper body. So I'll instead do a warmup set every 40-50 pounds. Consequently my leg warmups take a long time compared to my upper body, but that's ok, as I usually start with just the bar and feeling rather stiff, but by the time I get up in weight my range of motion has increased and the stiffness has disappeared.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,876 Member
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    Luluetduet8 wrote: »
    Hey guys! I’m going to be starting a lifting routine and I’m curious what everyone does to warm up before they start lifting heavy??

    Mike matthews says to do four lifts at increasing amounts before lifting “heavy” for that body part, but part of me feels like this isn’t enough and that I should be doing jumping jacks or dynamic stretches.

    I would love to hear what you guys do for leg day, back day, chest day, total body, or however you do it! I especially want to hear from people who are great at avoiding injury!

    Typically warmup sets of the lift I'm doing with lighter weight. I usually only have to do it on a couple of full body lifts and then everything is ready to go for the rest of the session.
  • davew0000
    davew0000 Posts: 125 Member
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    To the coaches and other experienced lifters. What do you think I did wrong yesterday?

    It was upper body session which currently starts with Arnold presses. I didn’t do stretches and instead my warm up comprised of a couple of sets with lower weight (10kg dumbbells). I did my first working set and managed to strain my trap muscle on the right side.

    I had a pull session with deadlifts two days before and also did a set of pull ups earlier in the day. I’d say I was still recovering from that.

    Instinctively I feel like I should have done more warm up movements such as shoulder rotations before lifting.

    I’m also going to check my form on the Arnold Presses and am wondering about dropping them altogether. They seem riskier than most exercises, or at least, easier to get wrong.

    It’s annoying though. I’m expecting to take a week off and am hoping I don’t need longer.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,505 Member
    edited September 2021
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    I do some cardio before the weights, and begin the weights with the halo warmup for shoulders, i.e. grab a plate and hold above the head then rotate it around the head. As recommended by Athlean here. I should probably do all the suggestions in this short video.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSLxrePAGjo
  • davew0000
    davew0000 Posts: 125 Member
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    ninerbuff wrote: »
    davew0000 wrote: »
    I am following Matthew’s program and also felt, as a 41yo, just the lifting warm ups were insufficient. I do 5 mins of targeted CV, e.g. rowing on pull day, and some stretching of the muscles involved before starting my warm up sets.
    Actually science shows that stretching of muscle before heavy lifting hampers your progress.

    https://www.bu.edu/articles/2015/stretch-before-exercise-not-so-fast

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    It’s an interesting article. Not sure whether I learned the right lesson but it was this, together with the general conversation and a desire to keep my sessions efficient, that resulted in me skipping my 5 minutes of related cardio and a few stretches before starting with my warm up sets.

    I think I’ll go back to the cardio, stretches, warm up weights routine.
  • Speakeasy76
    Speakeasy76 Posts: 961 Member
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    davew0000 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    davew0000 wrote: »
    I am following Matthew’s program and also felt, as a 41yo, just the lifting warm ups were insufficient. I do 5 mins of targeted CV, e.g. rowing on pull day, and some stretching of the muscles involved before starting my warm up sets.
    Actually science shows that stretching of muscle before heavy lifting hampers your progress.

    https://www.bu.edu/articles/2015/stretch-before-exercise-not-so-fast

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
    9285851.png

    It’s an interesting article. Not sure whether I learned the right lesson but it was this, together with the general conversation and a desire to keep my sessions efficient, that resulted in me skipping my 5 minutes of related cardio and a few stretches before starting with my warm up sets.

    I think I’ll go back to the cardio, stretches, warm up weights routine.

    I'm not an expert by any means, but read enough about fitness to know that static stretches are not necessary and may be harmful as part of a warm-up, especially if doing with cold muscles. You can do some mobility stuff that's more like active stretching, like moving from downward dog to upward dog, if you're familiar with yoga. Warm up sets can also accomplish the same thing, but if you're injury-prone or have old injuries, you may need more. I'm 45 with past injuries and some joint issues, so take my time with my warm up as well.

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