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When I go to the gym I often see people who start lifting weight without or only with a very short warm-up. This can lead to injuries easily. A proper warm-up at the beginning of each workout is very important. I cannot emphasize this enough.

To warm up your muscles will help you in two ways:

1) After an intense warm-up your it will be easier for your body to handle more weight and this is important for maximum muscle growth as well as muscle stimulation.

2) The risk of getting injured is a lot lower when you warm up properly before you start your workout.

I think these are two really good reasons to invest some time in your warm-up. I suggest about 15 to 20 minutes.

So what does a good warm-up phase look like?

Start with a few minutes of moderate cardiovascular training, for example using a treadmill, a cross trainer or a bike. This kind of warm-up increases the secretion of synovial fluid to lubricate your joints. Another positive effect is that your lungs and your heart will be stimulated and your body’s core temperature will go up.

During your warm-up I recommend that you focus on your training program and visualize your weight lifting exercises. This will not only help your mind but also your body to prepare for the workout.

For your success your mental attitude is really important. This fact is often ignored by many weight lifters.

So let’s say you spent 5 minutes on cardio, then it’s time for the next part of your warm-up:

Choose the first compound exercise of your training program and perform for five warm-up sets. For example if today is the day when you train your legs and you a main part of your leg training is doing squats then do five warm-up sets of them.

Begin with a high number of reps using a light weight. Increase your weight and lower the number of reps set by set.

Ok, now here is one important thing that you should always keep in mind during your warm-up:

You must not exhaust your muscles when performing these fives sets – under no circumstances!

What you do is just a warm-up to improve the blood flow and prepare your body for the weight lifting exercises that will follow.

You may ask now how many repetitions you should do and how much weight you should use.

Well, this depends on the total weight you use for your muscle-building exercises. Let me give you a simple rule that usually works very well:

Set 1: Use 50 percent of your max muscle-building weight and perform 10 reps
Set 2: Use 60 percent of your max muscle-building weight and perform 6 reps
Set 3: Use 70 percent of your max muscle-building weight and perform 4 reps
Set 4: Use 80 percent of your max muscle-building weight and perform 3 reps
Set 5: Use 90 percent of your max muscle-building weight and perform 1 rep

After you’re done with your warm-up start your actual training immediately.

Please don’t ignore the tips regarding your warm-up that I gave you in this article. They will help you to stay injury-free and to achieve better results.

Click here for a complete training course that covers warming up, weight lifting exercises and nutrition plans to lose fat and build muscles fast.

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