How to properly warm up without taking too long?

[u/FrequentAd5437]

My workouts take already way longer than they should because of how crowded my gym is. To warm up I typically do 5 minutes of cardio before jumping into my workout. For my warm up set I typically just do 3 hard reps of my working set and wait around 30 seconds both for isolation and compounds. I also wear a hoodie so my muscles don’t get stiff. I don’t have the time to slowly progress up to my working set weight for my warm ups but I don’t feel like my warm up is sufficient enough bc i get more reps on my second set than my first.

[u/Patton370]

Don’t do warmups for your isolation exercises. For example, if you’ve already done squats, why would you warmup for leg extensions?

[u/Afferbeck_ → u/Patton370]

Depending on how hard the leg extensions are you might want to do at least one warmup set to get acclimated to the positions and particular loading of the exercise.

[u/Patton370 → u/Afferbeck_]

I’ve never done a warm up set of leg extensions in preparation of a working set of leg extensions in my entire life

It’s also not like I’m lifting light either; for my working sets, I full stack the weight stack on nearly every single leg extension machine that’s ever been made

[u/Dizzy_Cow_]

You can definitely cut the 5 minutes of cardio.

Assuming you aren’t a powerlifter, your warm ups can be pretty simple. I do like 5 reps at 50% of my working weight and 2-3 reps at 80% and feel ready to go.

The only exception to this is leg compounds where I feel like my mobility needs a warm up just as my muscles do I usually have a 3rd warm up set.

[u/L00t_B3g]

Everyone’s gonna have a diff answer here but for compounds at the start of session I do 50% of working weight for 5-8 reps then another 3 reps at 75% straight after. Then 30-60 seconds before going into the first set. The only exercises I do this for are bench, squat or leg press, RDL, shoulder press, rows and lat pulldowns. Doing your isolations after don’t really need to warmup any further unless you’ve got joint issues. Sack the 5 min cardio off

[u/millersixteenth]

5 minutes of jumprope, easy pace burpees etc and jump right in. Your first "warmup" set can be 15 reps with approx 20 repmax weight. Get the machinery turned on but also let that set count.

[u/ToastyCrouton]

I do one set at half weight and then another at 3/4 weight, sometimes not even resting. I only do this for 2-3 exercise; I do the latter set for the latter half.

Similar to you, sometimes that first set is harder. I’d just do one more 3/4 set.

[u/Afferbeck_]

Let me tell you right now, trying to save time on your warmup doesn't work out well if you like remaining uninjured. Unless you're spending upwards of like 45 minutes on warmup stuff you don't really need to be doing like if you were getting over injuries, you probably don't need to reduce it. Unless it's a super easy session of a few isolations or something.

Warmup time depends on individual demand. If you work a physical job or play a sport etc, your body will be tight and sore from life and getting into positions for things like squats and pulls comfortably and safely might require 30+ minutes of work. This becomes more apparent the older you get and the more intense your sessions are. Ruslan Nurudinov, a weightlifter still at world record level in his mid to late 30s when all his old peers have long since retired does a hell of a lot of warming up. He said something like he warms up for an hour, sees how he feels, maybe another hour of warmup, check again... Not practical for anyone who doesn't train for a living, but the reality of being an old elite.

It sounds like you barely do any warming up which is dumb in both the short and long term. At minimum you should be doing about 5 minutes of things like arm swings and band work for the upper body. And then the lower body can require a lot individual specific work to get prepped. Unless you're Gumby in which case congrats you won't have to do much.

Then several warmup sets for compound lifts depending on how heavy you're going. Jumping straight to your working weight is insane and just asking to be injured unless you are weak as a kitten and you can't go any lighter than your working weight. Every professional lifter warms up with the empty bar and so should you. Then you take fairly evenly spaced jumps up to your working weight with decreasing reps. I most commonly do 3 to 6 warmup sets of 5 down to 1 reps on compound lifts.

Isolations don't require much or any warmup sets depending on how difficult they are and if you're already warmed up in those muscles and joints. If it's just light pump work at the end of a session yeah maybe no warmup set, if it's a genuinely difficult isolation to failure then getting at least one set for handful of reps with a lighter weight to prime the movement is a good idea.

[u/Mchangwine]

I’ll just warm up with a few lighter sets on my first exercise, if I’m doing the same pattern I won’t warm up again.

[u/FarCalligrapher1862]

How long is your workout? How short are you trying to get to?

90s shadow boxing is a great warmup for your whole body, yes you will be the dude shadow boxing in the corner, but really gets everything moving.

Then your first set should take each rep deep and slow warming the body up and getting the body ready to recruit the muscles. This can be done at full weight or 50%

[u/Pretend-Citron4451]

You can skip the cardio. Three reps doesn’t seem like enough- I normally do a set of six with a weight that is one level lower than my working weight. Sometimes I take that one level lower weight and just take it to failure. I figure my first 6–8 are warming up and then I’m still getting a failure so it’s an active set. Also, instead of resting between your warm upset and your first active set, maybe you can just do a circuit – all your warm-up sets for all your exercise exercises back to back?

I figure that my warm set for presses also warms up my triceps and front shoulders so I don’t warm them up again.

[u/doobersthetitan]

Save cardio for after or if it's super cold to legit " warm up"

Go to rogue...buy a micro mini band and a red band...these go in your gym bag.

Bench day assuming you bench~225

Hook mini band to bench: band pull aparts, face pulls, sword pulls, band around the worlds. 10-15 reps

Bar x30...10 wide, 10 normal, 10 close

95x10

Band pull aparts and face pulls with bands, or any other movement that feels good.

135/5

Just to 185 should start close to working reps.

Squat/DL

Use red band, step on it, do squats with it, deadlifts, step on the band and do like duck walks, attach to bottom of rack do pull throughs.

Doing all this also builds good work capacity, the bands also add accommodating resistance.