How to Warm Up Before Your Gym Sessions

Why Warming Up For The Gym Matters

If you're an adult playing sports, chances are you've got a few tight muscles or lingering injuries that just won’t go away. Sound familiar? The good news is, with the right approach to warming up, you can help tackle these issues and keep your body in top condition.

Many gym-goers rely on the classic warm-up: a quick stint on the treadmill, followed by a few leg swings, and then straight into their workout. But this method isn’t the most effective way to prepare your body. As a personal trainer and strength & conditioning coach, I use a different approach—one that not only gets you ready to train but also helps keep those persistent aches and pains at bay.

The Smart Warm-Up Routine

Instead of going through the motions with a generic warm-up, I recommend choosing 3-4 exercises that specifically target your problem areas. Run them in a circuit style for two rounds, and you’ll not only increase your heart rate but also work on mobility and stability where you need it most.

Why This Method Works

This type of warm-up isn’t just about getting your body warm; it’s about prehab—doing the exercises that help prevent injuries before they happen. If you’ve ever been to a physio, you’ll know they often prescribe exercises to help with recovery. But let’s be honest—once the pain subsides, most people stop doing them. Then, before you know it, the injury is back. Sound familiar?

By incorporating these exercises into your warm-up, you’re making sure you actually do them, keeping your body strong and preventing injuries from recurring.

What Exercises Should You Include in Your Gym Warm Up?

The exercises you pick should focus on your trouble spots, such as a tightness in the lower back, your hip flexors, or tightness in your upper back. If you aren’t sure where to start, then pick a particular area and have a quick scan on youtube or socials to find exercises which target this specific area. I would always advise keeping the exercises dynamic as opposed to static stretching though to get the muscle activated before you complete your gym session.

Here are some common gym warm up exercises that I recommend for common problem sites

Warm up for lower back

In my experience with clients, the lower back is often stiff and immobile. I love to get them moving their lower back using the cat-cow exercise first. Once we’ve got the lower back moving, I like to target the glutes with a simple glute bridge from the floor. I’d suggest doing single leg variations to see whether or not you have any strength differences between the sides too. 10 reps of each is perfect.

Cat Cow: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIVJZZyZ2qM 

Warm up for hip flexors

The hip flexors are another key site of tightness and pain for many and can be the cause of many other issues down the chain. Now I always like to keep up to date with relevant information for health and fitness and I came across this video by David Grey (Physiotherapist - he makes great and very informative content). It has two exercises which I have personally found to be great for targeting the hip flexors actively; the toe off hip flexor stretch and a hip flexor bias split squat.

Warm up for Hamstrings

Long gone should be just attempting to touch your toes to activate and warm up your hamstrings. I like to prescribe the inchworm as a substitute for the toe touch and it gradually increases the hamstring stretch as you move back towards your toes but also allows you to bend your knees when you have reached your end range. One pattern which targets the hamstrings is learning to hinge at the hip without excessively bending the knees. This is why I like to use the bodyweight single leg rdl with a reach, this adds some need to balance too which is helpful for aiding proprioception.

Inchworm: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv_8CdDPAAk 

Single Leg RDL with reach: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X28U6NKcaWc 

Warm up for the T-Spine & Upper Back

Hunched over with tight shoulders is the norm for most people these days so here’s a couple of exercises to target this specifically. The shoulder blades (Scapulas) are often stuck and unable to move around the rib cage smoothly. This is where the scap push up comes in by actively pushing the shoulder blades back but also out and around the ribs - whilst also getting the T-Spine to move at the same time. Secondly, the smaller muscles in the rear shoulders and upper back will be lazy if you don’t actively engage them, so I like to get clients to use the prone swimmer, keeping the forearms just off the floor each rep and coming to the lower back with some rotation.

Scap Push-Up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jUP8u_WSu2w 

Prone Swimmers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adaYRRBFG2M 

How Long Should Your Gym Warm-Up Be?

A good warm-up doesn’t have to take ages but it should do the job of raising your heart rate and getting the blood flowing into the joints and muscles you’re planning to train. With this method, you can be ready to go in under 10 minutes, sometimes even 5 if you don’t require much equipment. Just pick your exercises, go through them twice, and you’re ready to go knowing that you’ve tackled some problem areas

What If You’re Already Injured?

This warm-up method is great for maintaining your body, but it’s not a substitute for professional medical advice. If you’re dealing with a serious injury, make sure to see a medical professional before attempting any new exercises. Sometimes, you might be able to self diagnose things but just like doing DIY in your house for the first time, it’s always quicker to get a professional in to know it’s done perfectly and correctly. You only get one body, so I'd always advocate for getting on top of injuries asap!

What if you don't have any lingering injuries?

Well if this is you, then you’re one of the lucky ones and I hope it continues to be that way. Although you may not have any injuries, it’s likely that you have some areas which are tighter than others. For the office worker, this often tends to be tight hip flexors from sitting at a desk for most of the day along with a

Wrapping It Up

So, to recap:

• Pick 3-4 exercises that address your tight or weak areas.
• Run them in a circuit for two rounds.
• Keep it quick and effective—10 minutes is plenty.
• If you’re struggling with an injury, please see a medical professional asap!

Give this a try next time you hit the gym, and you’ll notice the difference!

‍

About Me & How I Can Help

I’m Sam, a personal trainer dedicated to helping people train smarter, not just harder. 

Whether you’re a beginner looking to get started or someone who wants to break through a plateau, I can help you build muscle, gain confidence, and train more effectively.

I offer personal training services from my private facility in Stourbridge, UK, and also support clients online with personalised training plans.

If you’re looking to improve your workouts and see real results, get in touch today! Let’s work together to create a training plan that actually works for you.

Got questions? Drop me a message—I’d love to help!