How to warm up properly before a strength session
A strength warm-up is movement that raises temperature, activates the muscles you are about to load and builds to your working weight. It is not a long static stretch. James Bowen writes that structure into personal training and group classes at Adapt in North Sydney. Written on 2 June 2026.
Why you warm up before lifting
Warmer muscle contracts faster. Joint fluid moves more easily. The nervous system recruits better for heavy compounds when it has already done the pattern at lighter loads. Walking from the street into a working set skips all of that. The warm-up is the first part of the session, with less load on the bar while you organise the movement.
Dynamic warm-up or static stretching
Static stretching still has a place after training or on rest days. It is a poor primary warm-up when you are about to lift heavy.
| Dynamic warm-up | Static stretching | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Raises heart rate, activates muscle and rehearses the pattern | Reduces stiffness and can lower muscle activation after long holds |
| When to use it | Before working sets | After training or on rest days |
| Holds | Rhythmic movement through a growing range | Long holds over about 30 seconds can reduce power for a short window |
A three-part strength warm-up
General movement for three to five minutes raises temperature: a bike, a row, skipping or brisk bodyweight work. Keep it short. Then spend a few minutes on the joints you are about to load. Hips and ankles for lower body days, thoracic rotation and shoulders for upper body, plus glute activation. Finish with warm-up sets of the first lift, adding load and dropping reps until you reach the working weight. If your first squat is 80 kilograms, you might do the empty bar, then 40, then 60, then start the work.
Eight to twelve minutes covers most sessions. If you have a shoulder or hip history, add the extra mobility your coach has given you rather than skipping the sets.
What changes in a warm-up after 40
Joints often need more time, and cold tissue feels stiffer under load. The same three parts still apply; the general and activation blocks usually run a little longer. In a coached session that time is already in the hour. In group classes the warm-up is written into the session rather than left as optional cardio.
Questions about warming up
Talk to a coachIs static stretching useful before a heavy lift?
Not as the main warm-up. Long static holds can reduce how readily a muscle produces force for a short time afterward. Use rhythmic movement and warm-up sets before the work, and keep longer stretches for after the session or rest days if you are chasing range.
Should I foam roll as part of a warm-up?
A couple of minutes can ease stiffness, then you still need activation and warm-up sets. Rolling alone is not a warm-up. Keep it brief so it does not steal the time that actually prepares the lift. The foam rolling article covers what those minutes can and cannot change.
What should I cut if I only have ten minutes?
Keep activation for the joints you will load and keep the warm-up sets. Cut the general cardio first. Arriving at a working set with no rehearsal of the pattern is the part worth protecting, especially on squat, hinge and press days.
Does a warm-up look different on upper and lower days?
Yes. Lower body days spend more time on hips, ankles and glutes. Upper body days spend more time on thoracic rotation and the shoulders. Your coach writes that into the session so you are not guessing from a generic circuit.