Tools
Warm-up sets calculator
Type the weight of your working set. The calculator gives the warm-up sets before it: the empty bar for 8 reps, then 40 percent for 5, 60 percent for 3 and 80 percent for 2, each rounded to a weight your plates can make. It is the ramp the Masheen app uses.
The ramp
Warm up for 140 kg with 4 sets: 20 kg × 8, 55 kg × 5, 85 kg × 3, 112.5 kg × 2.
Tap a set to load the bar with its plates.
Set 3 of 5, warm-up
85 kg × 3
60% of 140 kg is 84 kg, rounded to 85 kg, a weight your plates can make.
Bar
Every set, with its plates
| Set | Load | Reps | Each side | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 20 kg | 8 | bar only | Bar |
| 2 | 55 kg | 5 | 15 + 2.5 | 40% |
| 3 | 85 kg | 3 | 25 + 5 + 2.5 | 60% |
| 4 | 112.5 kg | 2 | 25 + 20 + 1.25 | 80% |
| Work | 140 kg | yours | 25 + 25 + 10 | 100% |
How the ramp is worked out
The ramp has four steps. Each is a share of the working weight, with fewer reps as the weight rises.
| Step | Share of the working weight | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| First | The empty bar | 8 |
| Second | 40 percent | 5 |
| Third | 60 percent | 3 |
| Fourth | 80 percent | 2 |
Two rules then thin the list. A set that would be as heavy as the working set is dropped. So is a set that lands on a weight already in the list, which is what happens when 40 percent of a light working weight rounds down to the empty bar.
It is the same rule the Masheen app runs, with the same rounding, so the weights here are the ones the app adds to a workout.
Rounding to plates you own
Each warm-up weight is moved to the nearest step above the bar. A step is two of your lightest plate, one for each side. With plates down to 1.25 kg that is 2.5 kg; with plates down to 2.5 lb it is 5 lb.
A weight exactly half-way between two steps goes up. With 2.5 kg as your lightest plate, 60 percent of 62.5 kg is 37.5 kg, and the set is loaded as 40 kg.
Untick a plate you do not have and the drawing uses only what is left. If the plates cannot make your working weight exactly, the page says how much is left over.
Warm-up sets for common working weights
On the standard bar with a full set of plates. Follow a weight to load it into the calculator.
| Working weight | Warm-up sets |
|---|---|
| 40 kg | 20 kg × 8, 25 kg × 3, 32.5 kg × 2 |
| 50 kg | 20 kg × 8, 30 kg × 3, 40 kg × 2 |
| 60 kg | 20 kg × 8, 25 kg × 5, 35 kg × 3, 47.5 kg × 2 |
| 80 kg | 20 kg × 8, 32.5 kg × 5, 47.5 kg × 3, 65 kg × 2 |
| 100 kg | 20 kg × 8, 40 kg × 5, 60 kg × 3, 80 kg × 2 |
| 120 kg | 20 kg × 8, 47.5 kg × 5, 72.5 kg × 3, 95 kg × 2 |
| 140 kg | 20 kg × 8, 55 kg × 5, 85 kg × 3, 112.5 kg × 2 |
| 180 kg | 20 kg × 8, 72.5 kg × 5, 107.5 kg × 3, 145 kg × 2 |
| Working weight | Warm-up sets |
|---|---|
| 95 lb | 45 lb × 8, 55 lb × 3, 75 lb × 2 |
| 115 lb | 45 lb × 8, 70 lb × 3, 90 lb × 2 |
| 135 lb | 45 lb × 8, 55 lb × 5, 80 lb × 3, 110 lb × 2 |
| 185 lb | 45 lb × 8, 75 lb × 5, 110 lb × 3, 150 lb × 2 |
| 225 lb | 45 lb × 8, 90 lb × 5, 135 lb × 3, 180 lb × 2 |
| 275 lb | 45 lb × 8, 110 lb × 5, 165 lb × 3, 220 lb × 2 |
| 315 lb | 45 lb × 8, 125 lb × 5, 190 lb × 3, 250 lb × 2 |
| 405 lb | 45 lb × 8, 160 lb × 5, 245 lb × 3, 325 lb × 2 |
Bench press, squat and deadlift
The ramp does not change with the lift. It reads the working weight, the bar and your plates, and nothing else. What differs between lifts is the weight you type: a heavier working set leaves more room between the bar and 80 percent, so all four warm-up sets survive.
Pick the bar you lift with. A 15 kg bar starts the ramp at 15 kg, and every weight above it is counted from there.
What the app does with warm-up sets
In Masheen, the plates sheet under a barbell set shows this ramp with one button to add it. The sets go in front of that exercise's working sets, marked as warm-up.
A warm-up set stays out of your volume total and your estimated max, and the next session's suggested weight is worked out from the working sets only. Finishing a warm-up set does not start the rest clock.
What the studies say
We read two studies of warm-up sets before lifting, and they point in different directions.
In the first, 15 men did four sets to failure at 80 percent of their max in the bench press, squat and arm curl, after no warm-up, a specific warm-up, an aerobic one, or both. Total reps did not differ between the four.
In the second, 40 trained men warmed up with six reps at 40 percent of the training weight, six at 80 percent, or both, before three sets of six. In the squat, bar speed was slightly higher after the 80 percent warm-up than after the 40 percent one. In the bench press, the two-step warm-up gave more total work than the light set alone. The authors note that their groups were small.
Neither study tested the ramp on this page. It is the app's default: a place to start, not a tested prescription.
Sources
Read on 12 November 2026.
- Ribeiro AS, Romanzini M, Schoenfeld BJ, Souza MF, Avelar A, Cyrino ES. Effect of different warm-up procedures on the performance of resistance training exercises. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 2014; 119(1): 133–145. The study of 15 men. We read the abstract, not the full paper.
- Ribeiro B, Pereira A, Neves PP, Sousa AC, Ferraz R, Marques MC, Marinho DA, Neiva HP. The Role of Specific Warm-up during Bench Press and Squat Exercises: A Novel Approach. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2020; 17(18): 6882. The study of 40 trained men: 14 on the squat, 26 on the bench press.
Questions
How many warm-up sets does the calculator give?
Up to four: the empty bar, then 40, 60 and 80 percent of the working weight. Light working weights get fewer, because sets that round to the same weight are dropped. At 50 kg on a 20 kg bar there are three: 20 kg × 8, 30 kg × 3 and 40 kg × 2.
How many reps is each warm-up set?
The reps fall as the weight rises: 8 with the empty bar, 5 at 40 percent, 3 at 60 percent and 2 at 80 percent. That is 18 reps in all when no set is dropped.
How many warm-up sets for bench press, squat and deadlift?
The same ramp for all three. It depends on the working weight, the bar and your plates, not on the lift: a 60 kg bench press and a 60 kg squat get the same sets. A heavier working weight keeps all four sets more often.
Do warm-up sets count as sets?
Not as working sets. In the Masheen app a warm-up set is logged with its own type. It is left out of your volume total and your estimated max, and the next session's suggestion is worked out from the working sets only.
Are warm-up sets worth doing?
The studies we read do not agree. In one, with 15 men, the kind of warm-up made no difference to the reps they reached at 80 percent of their max. In another, with 40 trained men, a warm-up that went up to 80 percent of the training weight did slightly better than one light set, on bar speed in the squat and on total work in the bench press.
What if my working weight is close to the empty bar?
Then there is little to ramp through. A set that would round down to the bar, or up to the working weight itself, is dropped. At the bar's own weight or less, the calculator gives no warm-up sets.