How to Warm Up the Right Way

A good warm-up is not twenty minutes of static stretching — it is a short ramp that wakes up the movement pattern and grooves your technique before the weight gets heavy.

The ramp-up method

1. 01Start with the empty bar or a light set for 8–10 easy reps.
2. 02Jump to roughly 50 percent of your working weight for 5 reps.
3. 03Then 70 percent for 3 reps.
4. 04Then 90 percent for 1 rep, and rest before your first real set.

The point is to touch progressively heavier loads without building fatigue. By the time you reach your working weight, the groove is set and nothing feels like a surprise.

Warm-ups are rehearsal, not exercise. Keep them light enough to leave every real rep in the tank.

Log them or not?

Mark warm-up sets as warm-ups so they do not pollute your volume and PR numbers. In Bikkel a warm-up set is flagged separately — it keeps your history honest while still reminding you how you ramped in.