Warm-up set calculator
Warming up badly costs you either a session or a shoulder. This warm-up calculator builds the ramp to your working weight: enough sets to prepare the movement, light enough to cost nothing, and rounded to loads you can actually make with plates.
The default ramp
Percentages of your working weight, with reps falling as the bar gets heavy.
| Set | % of working | Reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 40% | 5 |
| 2 | 55% | 4 |
| 3 | 70% | 3 |
| 4 | 85% | 2 |
| 5 | 100% | Working set |
Reps go down as weight goes up
The pattern is always the same: the first sets are about grooving the movement, the last are about meeting the weight. So reps fall — 5, then 3, then 2, then 1 — while load climbs. Never take a warm-up close to failure; if a warm-up set is hard, it was a working set and you just spent it.
Heavier working weights need more steps. A 60 kg squat needs two warm-ups; a 200 kg squat needs five, because the gaps between them have to stay jumpable.
Warm up the first exercise, not every exercise
The full ramp belongs to the first heavy movement of the session. After that you're already warm: one or two lighter sets is plenty for the second compound, and isolation work usually needs none. Lifters who run a five-set ramp on every exercise turn a 50-minute session into 80 minutes of mostly light lifting.
In Tanko, warm-up sets are logged as warm-ups — they show up in your session but never pollute your PRs, volume, or e1RM charts.
Frequently asked questions
How many warm-up sets should I do?
Three for a moderate working weight, five when the bar is heavy relative to your max. The goal is that no single jump feels like a shock.
Should I warm up with cardio first?
Five minutes of easy cardio raises body temperature and does no harm, but it doesn't replace ramping the actual lift. The specific warm-up is the one that matters.
Do warm-up sets count as volume?
No. Only hard sets near failure drive adaptation — that's the number to count for hypertrophy.
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