Warm-up calculator
Say what you are working up to. Every step below is rounded down to a weight the plates can actually make — 62.4 is arithmetically right and useless under the bar.
| Set | % of max | Reps | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Empty bar | 10 | — |
| 2 | 40% | 5 | — |
| 3 | 60% | 3 | — |
| 4 | 75% | 2 | — |
| 5 | 90% | 1 | — |
| 6 | Working set | — | — |
Where these percentages come from
They are a convention, not a measurement: a ladder coaches have used for decades, not a result from a study. Treat them as a starting shape and move them around — heavier singles want more steps, a light day wants fewer.
Each step rounds down, never up: a warm-up that comes out heavier than planned is not a warm-up. If the rack has no 1.25 kg plates, the lowest steps will land further apart than the percentages suggest.
Questions this raises
- How many warm-up sets should I do?
- Enough to arrive at the working weight feeling ready, and few enough that you are not tired when you get there. Four or five steps suits most people on a heavy day; a light day or a second exercise in the same session needs two or three, because the body is already warm. The reps come down as the weight goes up — the point is to rehearse the movement, not to accumulate work.
- Should I warm up with the same percentages every time?
- No, and the ladder here is a starting shape rather than a rule. A heavy single wants more steps and fewer reps near the top, so the last rehearsal is as close to the real thing as you can get without spending it. A day of sets of ten needs barely any — two steps and you are warm. Cold rooms, early mornings and anything that hurts all argue for more steps, taken smaller.
The rock won't move itself.
Log the set instead of retyping it. The app keeps the history and draws the curve.
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