GymtrackEnter your working weight — get a ready ramp of warm-up sets that prepares the lift without stealing from your work sets.
Today’s planned working weight for this exercise. For dumbbells, enter the weight of one dumbbell.
Enter your working weight to see a warm-up ramp.
Warm-up (or ramp-up) sets are lighter sets you do before a working set. They prime the movement, groove your technique, and get blood into the muscles — without adding fatigue that would cost you reps on the sets that actually count.
The idea is simple: start light and build up. As the weight rises toward your working load, the reps come down, so you arrive at the first hard set prepared rather than tired.
Enter the working weight you plan to lift today. The calculator builds a ramp as a share of that weight — not of a one-rep-max estimate — because today’s load is what you’re actually preparing for.
Every weight is rounded to something you can really load: barbell sets snap to whole plates on each side, and dumbbell or machine sets round to your chosen increment. Loads at or above your working weight are dropped, and duplicate steps are collapsed, so the ramp is always usable.
It depends on the load and where the exercise sits in your session. A first heavy compound deserves a full ramp; a later compound that shares a movement pattern needs only a setup set or two; most accessories need little or nothing.
Pick the protocol to match the day: “quick” for a time-crunched session or a later lift, “standard” for most first exercises, and “heavy” for low-rep top sets where you want an extra step near your working weight.
For a barbell, the ramp starts with the empty bar when there’s room for it, then adds plates. For dumbbells, the loads are shown per hand — the way you pick them off the rack. Machines and cables usually need less of a ramp, since the movement is guided and the setup is stable.
These are sensible starting points, not a rulebook. Adjust the loads, reps, and number of sets to the exercise, the day, and how you feel.
Roughly two to five before your first heavy compound, and fewer as the session goes on. Later compounds usually need one or two setup sets; most accessories need none. Heavier working weights justify more warm-up steps.
Ramp up as a share of your working weight — start light for easy reps, then climb toward the working load while the reps drop. This calculator does that split for you and rounds each step to a weight you can actually load.
They shouldn’t. Warm-up sets prepare you; they aren’t hard working sets, so counting them would inflate your volume and muddy your progress. Gymtrack labels warm-up and working sets separately so your volume, PRs, and estimated 1RM stay accurate.
The logic is the same — ramp the load and drop the reps — but dumbbell loads are handled per hand, matching how you record the exercise. Fixed-increment dumbbells simply round to the nearest pair you own.
No. The best warm-up depends on the exercise, the load, your experience, and the day. Treat the ramp here as a solid default to adjust, not a universal prescription — and never as medical or injury-prevention advice.
Not fully. Give your first heavy compound a proper ramp; after that, most exercises share muscles and patterns you’ve already prepared, so a quick setup set — or nothing — is usually enough.
Warm up right, then log it. Gymtrack keeps warm-up and working sets separate, so your volume, PRs, and estimated 1RM stay accurate.
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