Warm-up sets are the lighter sets of your first lift that climb to your working weight. Enter your first working set, and the calculator lays out the ramp, rounded to weights you can load. How it builds the ramp, and the research behind it, is below.
Build your warm-up sets
For dumbbells, enter the weight of one dumbbell. Warm-up weights are rounded to loads you can make: 5 lb or 2.5 kg steps, never below the empty bar. The math runs in your browser; nothing is stored or sent.
The empty bar, then 4 warm-up sets, then your working set: 225 lb × 5.
| Set | Weight | Reps | Plates per side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty bar | 45 lb | 10 | Nothing |
| About 45% | 100 lb | 8 | 25 + 2.5 |
| About 60% | 135 lb | 5 | 45 |
| About 75% | 170 lb | 3 | 45 + 10 + 5 + 2.5 |
| About 85% | 190 lb | 1 | 45 + 25 + 2.5 |
| Working set | 225 lb | 5 | 45 + 45 |
The calculator needs JavaScript, which looks to be switched off. The table above is the worked example, and the rules below work by hand.
Why do warm-up sets?
A 2021 review of time-efficient training splits a warm-up into two parts: a general one to raise body temperature, and a specific one, the lift itself with lighter weights, to switch on the working muscles and rehearse the movement.1 Warm-up sets are the specific part, and it has the better support: a systematic review of upper-body warm-ups found strong evidence that high-load dynamic warm-ups improve strength and power.2
How heavy the warm-up gets matters. In 40 trained men, 14 tested on the squat and 26 on the bench press, a warm-up of six reps at 40% of the weight they were about to train with was the weakest of three tested; the two that included a set at 80% of that weight did better.3 That's why the ramp here climbs close to your working weight instead of stopping at light sets.
The evidence isn't all one way. In 15 men doing sets to failure at 80% of their max on the bench press, squat and arm curl, total reps came out about the same with or without a warm-up.4 So think of warm-up sets as getting ready for your heaviest sets and rehearsing the lift, not as a way to squeeze out extra reps.
How many warm-up sets
Fewer reps in the working set means more warm-up sets. The same 2021 review says a warm-up is likely more important with low reps and heavy weights, because with higher reps the first reps of the set can act as a warm-up.1 The calculator starts from the table on how to warm up before lifting:
| Your working set | The ramp, before rounding |
|---|---|
| 5 reps or fewer | 8 reps at about 45%, 5 at 60%, 3 at 75%, 1 at 85% |
| 6 to 11 reps | 8 at about 50%, then 4 at 75% |
| 12 reps or more | 10 at about 50% |
On a barbell, every ramp under 12 reps also starts with 10 easy reps on the empty bar, which rehearse the lift before any plates go on and aren't counted as a warm-up set.
Then the weight decides. Each set is rounded to a weight you can load, and a set that would land within 20 lb (10 kg) of the set before it, or of your working weight, is dropped (for dumbbells, 10 lb or 5 kg): a smaller jump isn't worth a separate set, so lighter working weights get fewer warm-up sets. For 5 reps on a 45 lb bar, 225 lb gets four after the empty bar, 185 lb three, 135 lb two and 95 lb one.
How heavy each warm-up set should be
The percentages are of the weight you're about to lift, not of a one-rep max, the way the 40% and 80% warm-ups above were set.3 A study of 13 trained people warming up for a leg-press max used one set of eight at about half their estimated max, then three reps at about 70%.5 Either way the pattern matches the calculator's: start around half, finish close to the working weight, and cut the reps as the weight climbs.
None of the warm-up sets should be hard. Stop each one with plenty of reps left; how to judge that is reps in reserve. If one feels heavy, the jumps are too big for you today: repeat that weight, or put a set between.
Barbell loads round to 5 lb or 2.5 kg, the jump a pair of 2.5 lb or 1.25 kg plates makes; dumbbells round to the same steps, so if your rack goes up differently, take the nearest pair. The plates per side come from the plate calculator, which also handles a rack that is missing a size.
How long to rest between warm-up sets
Not long. In the warm-up study above, the two warm-up sets were a minute apart, and the first working set came three minutes after the warm-up.3 About a minute between the light sets is enough. Before the first working set, rest as you would between working sets; how long that is depends on the lift, and rest between sets has the numbers.
When to skip them or cut them short
- Sets of 12 or more. One light set, or none: the first reps of the set do the warming up.1
- Later exercises for the same muscles. To save time, the 2021 review suggests limiting warm-up sets to the first exercise for each muscle group.1 A leg press after squats needs one light set at most.
- A working weight close to the bar. When the working set is within a jump or two of the empty bar, the bar is the warm-up, and the calculator says so.
- A machine you know well, with light or high-rep sets: one easy set is plenty.
- Short on time. Cut the general part of the warm-up first and keep the warm-up sets. The whole warm-up, and what to cut, is on how to warm up before lifting.
Don't cut the ramp before your heaviest lift of the day. That's the set it's built for.
Questions
Do warm-up sets count toward weekly sets?
No. Count your working sets. Warm-up weights follow from the working weight, so a workout log only needs the sets you're trying to beat.
What if the working weight can't be loaded exactly?
The ramp is built from the weight you enter, and a note under the table names the nearest weights you can load.
Can the ramp start from a one-rep max instead?
Not directly: the ramp is a share of your working weight. If your program gives the working weight as a percentage of a max, get it from the one-rep max calculator first, then enter it here.
Cardio after the lifting? The heart rate zone calculator works out the zones.
The ramp is the easy part to plan. If you'd rather have the whole session, and next week's, built around your week, apply here.
General education only, not medical advice. If you have a medical condition, are pregnant, or take medication, check with your doctor before changing how you train or eat.
Sources
- Iversen VM, Norum M, Schoenfeld BJ, Fimland MS. No time to lift? Designing time-efficient training programs for strength and hypertrophy: a narrative review. Sports Medicine, 2021. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8449772/ (accessed October 21, 2026).
- McCrary JM, Ackermann BJ, Halaki M. A systematic review of the effects of upper body warm-up on performance and injury. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2015. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25694615/ (accessed October 22, 2026).
- Ribeiro B, Pereira A, Neves PP, et al. The role of specific warm-up during bench press and squat exercises: a novel approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7558980/ (accessed October 22, 2026).
- Ribeiro AS, Romanzini M, Schoenfeld BJ, et al. Effect of different warm-up procedures on the performance of resistance training exercises. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2014. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25153744/ (accessed October 22, 2026).
- Abad CC, Prado ML, Ugrinowitsch C, et al. Combination of general and specific warm-ups improves leg-press one repetition maximum compared with specific warm-up in trained individuals. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2011. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21544000/ (accessed October 22, 2026).