Curious what everyone's actual warmup looks like, because mine is lazy and I keep getting little tweaks early in sessions. For those who rarely get hurt, what's your real pre-lift routine?
Nothing fancy, but consistent. My template:
The ramp sets are the real injury insurance. Most tweaks happen jumping to heavy weight cold.
- 5 min easy cardio to raise temperature (bike or brisk walk)
- Dynamic mobility for the day's movements (leg swings, band pull-aparts, arm circles)
- Ramp-up sets on the first big lift - lots of small jumps to working weight
The ramp sets are the real injury insurance. Most tweaks happen jumping to heavy weight cold.
I definitely skimp on the ramp sets and get to my working weight in two jumps.
That's almost certainly your culprit. Add more, smaller ramp sets - they cost nothing and wake everything up under progressive load.
Target the cranky areas specifically. I've got fussy shoulders so I do band work before any pressing. Five minutes on the actual joints that bother you beats a generic full-body routine.
Warming up should leave the first work set feeling easy. If set one feels like a grind, the warmup was too short. That simple gauge cut my tweaks right down once I started using it.
That's a great gauge - more ramp sets, target my problem joints, first work set should feel easy. Trying it today, cheers all.