Warm-Up or Waste of Time? Get Specific and Get Strong

by: Josh Bryant

8 years ago, a much larger, more gravitationally-gifted Josh speaks on warm-ups.

Warming up is like putting on a collared shirt so you can get into the country club’s party and eat the prime rib smorgasbord for free—you don’t want to do it, but sometimes you gotta deal with a little bullsh*t to get the big reward. 

The problem? 

Some people turn warm-ups into a second workout. I’ve seen lifters spend more time on a foam roller than actually lifting weights. If your warm-up takes longer than your training session, we have a serious problem.

The India Wake-Up Call

A few years back, I was in Bangalore, India, running a seminar at the Movement Center, owned by strength demigod Azmat. These weren’t your average gym bros; these were some of the smartest, most educated people I’ve ever met—hungry to learn, dedicated to training.

Every day, I’d show up at 3 PM, train for an hour, then head across the street to chow down on some lamb and rice, spiced up with real Indian heat. Meanwhile, at 3:30 PM—a full 90 minutes before the seminar—some of the attendees would roll in to start their warm-up.

What did that look like? An hour and a half of foam rolling and “mobility drills”, preparing for what? A sub-300-pound deadlift.

This is unnecessary and as useless as tits on a bullfrog! 

Outside of a powerlifting context, if you’re a tactical athlete, you don’t get 90 seconds, let alone 90 minutes, to foam roll before a foot chase. You need usable, on-demand strength, speed, and mobility—not some elaborate pregame ritual. Be ready, stay ready, and move with intent.

Specificity is king when it comes to warming up. Your range of motion, joint integrity, and tissue tolerance should be built through proper training, not an hour of floor yoga. What good is extra mobility if it takes you forever to get there, and by the time you do, you’re as weak as near beer?

What the Best Actually Do

I’ve been around the strongest of the strong—masters strength athletes that dominate the Open division, legends still moving big weights decades later. Not one of them wasted time on excessive mobility drills or or some ineffective tinfoil hat, all hat and no cattle ‘activation’!

Instead, their warm-ups followed a simple, battle-tested formula:

1. For strength training:
   • A quick general warm-up to raise body temperature
   • Straight into the main movement with submaximal weights, gradually ramping up
   • Focus on speed, technique, and intent
2. For bodybuilding:
   • Feeler sets—lighter weights ramped up slowly to ignite that mind-muscle connection

It’s that simple. No hours wasted. No fluff.

The Science Backs It Up

Still not convinced? Let’s look at what the lab coats say about warm-ups: My lab doesn’t deal in test tubes—we’re in the business of changing the metrics of human performance, one heavy barbell at a time. But let’s defer to science for a minute and see what the research says.

🔥 More is NOT better. Studies show that a mix of general and specific warm-ups improves strength performance by 8.4%, but excessive warm-ups add unnecessary fatigue.

🔥 Specific warm-ups enhance performance. Research has proven that high-load dynamic warm-ups directly increase power and strength output—especially in the upper body.

🔥 General warm-ups alone are weak. A study in the British Journal of Sports Medicine found that low-load, general warm-ups don’t enhance performance variables. In other words, spending 30 minutes doing bodyweight lunges and band work isn’t going to move the needle.

🔥 Specific warm-ups increase movement velocity. Research shows that doing warm-up sets of the actual lift improves movement speed, meaning you generate more force, more explosiveness, and better execution from rep one.

🔥 Warming up too much reduces output. Overdoing general warm-ups causes fatigue before you even touch a barbell. Think of it like this: If your warm-up takes an hour, it’s no longer a warm-up—it’s a workout.

How to Warm Up Without Wasting Time

Here’s a no-BS approach to warming up effectively:

Step 1: General Warm-Up (Every Training Day, 3-8 Minutes Max) the general warm-up is just about getting the body moving and raising core temperature. Could be a brisk walk, light jog, jump rope, or even hitting a cardio machine for 5-10 minutes. The goal is to elevate the heart rate and get some blood flow going before the real work starts.

Next a very quick dynamic warm-up to get blood flowing, loosen joints, and prime the CNS:

The Jailhouse Strong Dynamic Warm-up in the video takes less than 2 minutes

Step 2: Specific Warm-Up (Lift to Get Ready to Lift)

The best way to warm up for a heavy bench, squat, or deadlift is to bench, squat, or deadlift. Simple. Example for bench day: 

For bench pressing 225 pounds, you would do the same general and dynamic warm up, then bench press 45 x 6 x 4 sets, 95 x 6 x 2 sets, 135 x 4 reps, 165 x 2 reps, 190 x 1 rep, 210 x 1 rep, 225

Deadlifting 500 pounds would be involve the same general and dynamic warm up but in the following fashion for the submaximal build up 135 x 6 x 2 sets, 225 x 4 reps, 315 x 2 reps, 365 x 1 rep, 405 x1 1 reps, 455 x 1 rep.

Deadlifting 500 pounds would be involve the same general and dynamic warm up but in the following fashion for the submaximal build up 135 x 6 x 2 sets, 225 x 4 reps, 315 x 2 reps, 365 x 1 rep, 405 x1 1 reps, 455 x 1 rep.

For Squatting 405  45 x 6 reps x 4 sets, 135 x 6 x 2 sets, 225 x 3 reps, 285 x 1 rep, 330 x 1 rep, 365 x 1, rep, 405 x 1 rep.

🚀 For explosive movements (jumps, throws, sprints): Start with low-impact explosive movements before your main work. Example:  Low box jumps before power cleans

🚔 For tactical athletes: Sprint drills, reactive agility drills, and movement patterns should match the actual demands of the job. If you’re in a situation where reaction time is life or death, you better be training accordingly.

Quit the Circle-Jerk Warm-Ups

Most warm-ups are complete circle jerks—a time-killing routine people do because someone told them they should, not because they actually help. 

You want to lift more weight? Move efficiently, warm up with intent, and get to work.

You want to build muscle? Ramp up intelligently, connect with the movement, and push yourself.

You want to be fast, strong, and dangerous? Ditch the foam roller and train like it.

I’ve seen firsthand—from Bangalore to backwoods America—that the strongest, most capable lifters keep it simple, specific, and effective.

I’ve taught this method around the world, and the results speak for themselves. No need to ask—just train smart, train hard, and stop wasting time.

Get Specific and Strong with one of my programs HERE.