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I see many people at the gym jumping straight into their heavy lifting sets without doing warm-ups.

This is a recipe for disaster; not warming up is one of the leading causes of injury.

To add insult to injury ( excuse the pun) many people who don’t warm up properly also seem to be the same people piling the weight onto the bar to squeeze one rep out with shoddy form.

The double whammy almost guaranteed to get you injured is lifting weights that are too heavy without warming up.

I’ve found that the solution to this is:

1. Don’t lift too heavy ( very low rep training). training close to your one-rep max is much riskier for injury.
2. Use a science-based warm-up that you can repeat for any exercise.
3. Don’t train in the 1-5 rep range. I’ll go no lower than six reps per set when I perform a set now. Higher rep training puts less stress on your joints and is much lower risk than training in the 1-5 rep range.
4. Use perfect form.
5. Always use a full range of motion. Squat ass to grass, touch the bar on your chest when you bench press etc.

A Science-Based Warm-Up Routine For Your Weightlifting Workouts

Warm-up set 1: Lift 50% of your working weight sets for eight reps.

Warm-up set 2: Lift 70% of your working weight sets for four reps.

Warm-up set 3: Lift 90% of your working weight sets for two reps.

Here’s what this warm-up routine may look like if you were going to barbell deadlift 100kg for your working sets.

Warm up set 1 – 50kg x 8 reps.

Warm up set 2 – 70kg x 4 reps.

Warm up set 3 – 90kg x 2 reps.

Then you perform your work sets.

I haven’t just pulled this warm up routine out of thin air I got this warm up routine from the book The Muscle And Strength Pyramids (training version) which is a book written by Dr Eric Helms who is a natural bodybuilding coach and is a scholar in the realm of all things natural bodybuilding and strength training.

What happens if you don’t warm up?

When you lift heavy weights without warming up, your muscles will be colder, which will mean they’re stiffer and less pliable, making them more vulnerable to micro tears and sprains in the muscles, ligaments, and joints (when the muscles contract under load).

When you warm up, you pump blood through your muscles, joints, and connective tissue, making them more pliable.

When your muscles are warm, they’re more pliable, and your body is much better prepared for lifting heavy weights.

I injured my wrist from doing heavy weighted chin-ups last year, primarily because I didn’t warm up properly.

Conversely, every time I’ve warmed up properly, I’ve never got injured.

The Bottom line

I recommend that you don’t lift in the 1-5 rep range; it’s more risky, and I recommend you train in the 6+ rep range. Always warm up ( use the routine in this article), and always use perfect form and a full range of motion. Not only does warming up protect you against injury it also enhances your performance.

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