Warm-up set

Also called warmup set, ramp-up set, warm-up sets

A warm-up set is a lighter set of the same exercise done before the working sets, with the weight climbing as the reps fall.

Set 3: 100 kg for 5. Before working sets of 5 at 100 kg: the 20 kg bar for 8, 40 kg for 5, 60 kg for 3, 80 kg for 2.

In plain words

Warm-up sets are the steps up to your working sets. They use the same exercise, less weight, and fewer reps as the weight climbs, so you arrive at the working weight ready rather than tired. Masheen builds the ramp this way: the empty bar for 8 reps, then 40% of the working weight for 5, 60% for 3 and 80% for 2. Each weight is rounded to one your plates can actually make, a step that would repeat a weight is dropped, and no warm-up sits at or above the working weight. Other coaches ramp differently. This is the ramp Masheen uses, not the only one.

An example

Your working sets are 5 reps at 100 kg on a 20 kg bar. The ramp runs 20 kg × 8, then 40 kg × 5, 60 kg × 3, 80 kg × 2. That is four warm-up sets and 18 reps before the first working set, and none of them is hard. Then you load 100 kg and start counting the sets that the program asked for.

Often confused with

Working set Working sets are the ones the program counts; warm-up sets come before them and are lighter.

Go deeper

Your first four weeks in the gym A gym workout plan for beginners. Twelve sessions over four weeks, three days a week, with the sets, the reps and a weight rule for every session. Updated 12 November 2026

Updated 12 November 2026. How these pages are researched and corrected: editorial policy. Every term in the glossary.