Winter Warmup

Most athletes use the warmup to tick a box. Five minutes on the bike, a few arm circles, maybe some half-hearted movement, then straight into working sets. Then they wonder why the first few reps feel terrible, why they’re tight halfway through the session, or why they keep picking up niggles that shouldn’t be happening.

A good warmup is about preparing your body to move well under load. Done right, it takes 10–20 minutes depending on what you’re training. Done wrong, it’s either a waste of time or your not getting the full benefit of your training session.

Here’s what a proper warmup looks like and why each phase matters.

The 4 Phases of a Proper Warmup

A warmup has one job: get your body ready to perform without wasting energy you need for the actual session. That means raising your body temp, improving range of motion, activating the right muscles, and priming the movement patterns you’re about to load.

Phase 1: General Movement (3–5 minutes)

What it does: Raises core temperature, increases heart rate, gets blood flowing to working muscles.

What it looks like: Low-intensity, full-body movement. Bike, rower, jog, skipping, or even just bodyweight circuits (inchworms, walkouts, light squats, arm swings). The goal is to break a light sweat and feel your body warming up, not to get tired.

Common mistake: Going too hard here. If you’re breathing heavy after your general warmup, you’ve overdone it. Save that intensity for the session itself.

Example for different training types:

• Lifting session: 5 minutes on the bike or rower at conversational pace
• Running session: 10 minutes easy jog, building from shuffle pace to comfortable
• Court/field training: Light jogging, side shuffles, backpedaling, gradually build intensity.

Phase 2: Dynamic Stretching (4–6 minutes)

What it does: Improves range of motion, activates muscles through movement, prepares joints for loaded ranges.

What it looks like: Controlled movement through full range of motion. Leg swings, walking lunges, hip openers, arm circles, spinal rotations. Don’t hold stretches here, move through them with control.

Common mistake: Doing static stretching. Holding stretches before training reduces power output and doesn’t prepare you to move dynamically. Save static stretching for after your session.

Example routine (pick 3-4 based on what you’re training):

• Leg swings (forward/back, side-to-side): 10 each leg
• Walking lunges with rotation: 10 total
• Inchworms: 6–8 reps
• Hip openers (world’s greatest stretch): 5 each side
• Arm circles (small to large): 10 each direction
• Spinal rotations: 10 total
• Cossack squats: 6 each side

Phase 3: Activation (3–5 minutes)

What it does: Turns on the muscles that tend to be lazy or under-recruited, so they’re ready to contribute when you load them.

What it looks like: Low-load, high-control exercises targeting specific muscle groups that need to fire properly during your session. Glute bridges, clamshells, band walks, scapular retractions, dead bugs. The goal is to wake up muscles that might otherwise stay dormant.

Common mistake: Skipping this entirely or treating it like a workout. Activation work should focus on quality, not fatigue. If you’re breathing hard, you’re doing it wrong.

Example based on training focus:

For lower body / running sessions:

• Glute bridges: 2 x 12
• Clamshells: 2 x 10 each side
• Single-leg balance holds: 20 seconds each leg

For upper body / pressing sessions:

• Band pull-aparts: 2 x 15
• Scapular push-ups: 2 x 10
• Dead bugs: 2 x 8 each side

For Olympic lifts / explosive work:

• Glute bridges: 2 x 10
• Band pull-aparts: 2 x 12
• Plank shoulder taps: 2 x 10 each side

Phase 4: Movement Prep (3–5 minutes)

What it does: Primes the specific movement patterns you’re about to load. Gets your nervous system ready for the session.

What it looks like: Lighter versions of the movements you’re about to do, gradually building intensity. If you’re squatting, do bodyweight squats, then goblet squats, then empty bar squats, then light working sets. If you’re running intervals, do some strides at 60%, 70%, 80% before hitting your target pace. If you’re doing plyometrics, start with low-intensity jumps before progressing to max-effort bounds.

Common mistake: Jumping straight to working weight or pace without ramping. Your first heavy set shouldn’t be the first time your body sees that load or speed.

Example based on training type:

For a squat session:

• Bodyweight squats: 10 reps
• Goblet squats (light KB): 8 reps
• Empty bar squats: 6 reps
• Bar + 20kg: 5 reps
• Bar + 40kg: 3 reps
• Then start working sets

For running intervals:

• 2 x 100m strides at 60% effort
• 2 x 100m strides at 75% effort
• 1 x 100m stride at 85% effort
• Then start intervals

For field/court training:

• Light jogging → build-ups → 75% sprints → agility drills at moderate intensity → then full-speed work

How Long Should a Warmup Actually Take?

It depends on what you’re training and how your body feels that day.

Minimum: 12 minutes if you’re young, mobile, and feeling good. More would be better.

Standard: 15–20 minutes for most training sessions. Covers all four phases properly without rushing.

Longer: 20–25 minutes if you’re lifting heavy, doing explosive work, or training first thing in the morning when your body’s still stiff. Cold weather can add 5–10 minutes to this because your body takes longer to warm up.

Common Warmup Mistakes That Kill Your Session

Mistake 1: Doing static stretching first. Holding stretches before training reduces power output and doesn’t prepare you to move dynamically. If you want to stretch, do it after your session when everything’s warm and you’re trying to improve flexibility, not before when you need to perform.

Mistake 2: Skipping activation work. If your glutes don’t fire properly during a squat session, your lower back and quads compensate. Over time, that’s how you pick up chronic pain and imbalances. Spending 3 minutes on glute bridges and clamshells could prevent months of physio visits.

Mistake 3: Going too hard in the general warmup. If you’re sweating heavily and breathing hard before you even start your session, you’ve wasted energy you needed for the actual work. The warmup should raise your heart rate, not spike it.

Mistake 4: Not ramping your working sets. Jumping straight from an empty bar to 100kg, or from jogging to sprinting at full pace, is how you pull muscles. Your nervous system needs to see the load or speed coming before it’s ready to handle it properly.

Mistake 5: Using the same warmup for every session. A warmup before a heavy squat session should look different to a warmup before a 5km tempo run. Tailor the activation and movement prep phases to what you’re actually training.

Sample Warmups for Different Training Types

Heavy lower body lifting (squats, deadlifts):

• 5 min bike (easy pace)
• Dynamic stretching: leg swings, walking lunges, hip openers, spinal rotations
• Activation: glute bridges (2×12), clamshells (2×10 each), dead bugs (2×8 each)
• Movement prep: bodyweight squats, goblet squats, empty bar squats, light working sets ramping to target weight

Running intervals:

• 10 min easy jog
• Dynamic stretching: leg swings, walking lunges, high knees, butt kicks, A-skips
• Activation: single-leg glute bridges (2×8 each), clamshells (2×10 each), single-leg balance (20sec each)
• Movement prep: 4 x 100m strides building from 60% to 85%

Upper body pressing (bench, overhead press):

• 5 min rower (easy pace)
• Dynamic stretching: arm circles, wall slides, cat-cows, thoracic rotations
• Activation: band pull-aparts (2×15), scapular push-ups (2×10), dead bugs (2×8 each)
• Movement prep: empty bar presses, light working sets ramping to target weight

Field/court training:

• 5 min light jog + side shuffles + backpedaling
• Dynamic stretching: leg swings, walking lunges, hip openers, arm swings
• Activation: clamshells (2×10 each), single-leg balance (20sec each), glute bridges (2×12)
• Movement prep: build-up runs → 75% sprints → agility drills at moderate intensity

Are You Actually Ready to Train?

After your warmup, you should feel:

• Warm (light sweat, not dripping)
• Loose (full range of motion without restriction)
• Activated (aware of the muscles you’re about to use)
• Ready (first working set or interval should feel smooth, not jarring)

If you still feel tight, cold, or restricted after your warmup, you haven’t warmed up properly. Add another 5 minutes of dynamic movement and activation work before you start loading.

If you’re exhausted after your warmup, you’ve gone too hard. Scale back the intensity next time.

Warmups Aren’t Optional

You can skip a warmup and still get through a session. But you’ll perform worse, feel worse, and over time you’ll pick up injuries that didn’t need to happen.

Bare minimum warmup takes 10–15 minutes. That’s less than 20% of a standard training session. 

Need help fixing movement issues or building a training plan that keeps you injury-free? Book an assessment at VIBE Health & Performance. We’ll identify weak points, improve your movement quality, and make sure you’re training smart.

Book online here or call 1800 4 VIBES.