Enter the working weight you’re building up to and this calculator lays out your warmup sets, with the exact plates to load on each side for every set. Just load what it says and go.
The ramp starts with the empty bar and works up through about 40%, 55%, 70%, and 85% of your working weight. Reps drop as the weight climbs. That gets you warm without burning energy you’ll want for your work sets.
Enter the working weight you’re building up to and your bar. The tool lays out a warmup ramp and the exact plates to load on each side for every set. Example ramp to a 100 kg work set on a 20 kg bar is shown below.
| Set | Reps | Weight | Plates / side |
|---|---|---|---|
| Empty bar | 5-8 | 20 kg | bar only |
| 40% | 5 | 40 kg | 10 |
| 55% | 4 | 55 kg | 15 + 2.5 |
| 70% | 3 | 70 kg | 25 |
| 85% | 2 | 85 kg | 25 + 5 + 2.5 |
| Work sets | work sets | 100 kg | 25 + 15 |
Keep the reps low on the heavier ramp sets so you warm up without burning energy before your work sets.
Table of Contents
Why Ramp Like This
The goal of a warmup is to groove the movement and prepare your body for the load, and then get out of the way. Early sets are light and higher rep to get blood moving. The later sets are heavy enough to make the working weight feel normal, but only a rep or two so they cost you almost nothing.
A common mistake is doing 8 to 10 reps on every warmup set all the way up. By the time you reach your work sets you’ve done half a workout. Keep the reps low once the bar gets heavy.
Adjusting the Ramp
Treat the ramp as a default, and shift it when the day calls for it. Cold morning session or a long layoff? Add a set at the bottom and take smaller jumps. Deadlifting after squats? You’re already warm, so you can usually skip the first set or two. Older lifters and anyone with cranky joints will do better with an extra set early rather than bigger jumps later.
Rest is short on the light sets, 30 to 60 seconds, and closer to 2 minutes on the last one or two ramp sets so you start your work sets fresh.
Related Calculators
If you don’t know your working weight yet, estimate it with the 1RM calculator and take your percentage from there. Warming up for a meet? Your ramp should end at your opener, and the attempt calculator will set that for you.
