For Coaches: Programming Warm-Ups That Prepare, Not Exhaust
Updated: 24 hours ago
I'll admit something. For a stretch when I first started coaching, my warm-ups were small workouts. Three rounds of burpees, lunges, push-ups and a run, then some mobility, then a few more rounds "to get the heart rate up." Athletes were sweating hard before we'd touched a barbell, and I took that as proof the warm-up had worked.
It hadn't. By the time we reached the heavy squats or the short, fast workout, people were already tired, their positions were worse, and the part of class I cared about most suffered for it. A warm-up that exhausts isn't a warm-up. It's an extra, unplanned workout that competes with the real one.
I'm still a newer coach, and warm-up design is something I keep learning about, from courses, from more experienced coaches and from watching my athletes. Here's the template that's working for me so far, plus three worked examples. Take what fits your classes and leave the rest.
IN THIS ARTICLE
What a Warm-Up Has to Do
A good warm-up has a short job description. It raises body temperature and heart rate, moves the joints through the ranges the session will use, rehearses the day's movements at low intensity, and gradually builds toward the effort or load the athletes are about to meet. When it's done, athletes should feel ready, alert and slightly warm, not fatigued.
Many coaches will recognize this as a version of the widely used RAMP framework: raise, activate and mobilize, then potentiate. You don't need the acronym. You need the order, and you need to design each part around the specific session ahead instead of running the same general routine every day.
For most group classes, 10 to 15 minutes is enough. Heavy lifting days and very high-intensity sprints can justify the upper end. Longer, moderate efforts usually need less.
A Four-Part Template
This is the structure I use when writing any class warm-up. Each part has a purpose, and each gets a time allowance.
Raise (2 to 4 minutes): easy monostructural work such as rowing, biking, jumping rope or jogging, at a conversational effort.
Mobilize (2 to 4 minutes): dynamic movements through the positions the session demands, such as deep squat holds, hip openers, or shoulder circles and band pass-throughs.
Rehearse (3 to 5 minutes): the day's movements with an empty bar, light implement or scaled version, focusing on position and the cue of the day.
Ramp (2 to 4 minutes): short efforts or build-up sets that approach the intensity of the session without piling up fatigue.
The template keeps me accountable. If your "raise" section includes forty burpees, it isn't raising anything except fatigue. If your "rehearse" section skips the most technical movement of the day, you'll spend the workout coaching it at speed, which is the hardest time to fix anything.
Three Worked Examples
Heavy back squat day
Raise with 3 minutes of easy rowing. Mobilize with slow goblet squat holds, gently shifting side to side, plus a few hip and ankle openers. Rehearse with two sets of 5 empty-bar back squats, cueing "whole foot" and a braced torso. The ramp happens inside the strength block itself: the build-up sets toward working weight are part of the warm-up. That means the general warm-up can stay short, around 10 minutes, and the energy goes into the squats.
Short, fast couplet
Take a workout like a sub-7-minute couplet of thrusters and pull-ups. Raise with 3 minutes on the bike, building gently. Mobilize with front rack stretches and shoulder work. Rehearse thrusters with an empty bar and pull-ups at a scaled level. Then ramp with two short bursts, such as 5 thrusters at workout load followed by 3 to 5 pull-ups, with full rest between. Athletes should feel what the first round will feel like, then recover fully before the clock starts.
I learned this one the hard way as an athlete. I've skipped the ramp before a short sprint more than once, figuring I'd warm up in the first round, and that first minute felt awful every time: heavy legs, breathing all over the place, bar path drifting. For short, intense efforts the ramp matters most, because going from cold to maximal effort is when bodies feel worst and positions break down.
Long aerobic piece
For a 25- to 30-minute steady effort, the first few minutes of the workout will finish warming everyone up. Keep the warm-up brief: easy movement, a few minutes of mobility and one practice round at conversational pace. Spending 15 minutes here adds fatigue to a session that already has plenty of volume.
Coach's cue: Prepare the body, don't spend it.
Warming Up a Mixed Group
In a class, your warm-up has to work for the newest member and the most experienced athlete at once. The easiest way I've found to handle that is to keep the warm-up movements simple and the intensity self-selected. Give clear effort targets, such as "easy enough to chat," rather than rep targets that push less experienced athletes to rush.
The rehearsal section is also the best moment to settle scaling. When someone is practicing the pull-up progression they'll use in the workout, you can see whether it fits. It's far better to adjust in minute eight than to discover in minute forty that the version you chose is too hard.
Watch for athletes who treat the warm-up as a competition. I see it every week: one or two members racing the easy row like there's a leaderboard for it. I get it, because I was that athlete once. A calm reminder that the warm-up is preparation, not a score, usually helps. So does not putting a clock on anything that doesn't need one.
Signs a Warm-Up Is Too Much
You can tell a lot by watching the first few minutes of the main session. If athletes look flat, their breathing is already heavy, or positions that looked fine in the rehearsal fall apart immediately, the warm-up probably did too much. Other signs include people asking for extra rest before the workout starts, or class consistently running behind because the warm-up keeps growing.
On the other side, if athletes look stiff and hesitant through the first round, or tell you the first few minutes feel awful, the warm-up may be too short or missing a ramp. Adjust, then see how the next class responds. As always, anyone who feels sharp pain during the warm-up should stop and talk to you before continuing.
Program the Warm-Up Like It Matters
The warm-up is the first thing every athlete experiences in your class, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. Program it with the same care you give the main workout: know its purpose, keep it specific, and cut anything that doesn't serve the session. When I finally started doing that, the difference showed up right away. Athletes walked into the main piece looking sharp instead of already cooked. Coaches with more years on the floor may structure this differently, and I'd love to hear how.
If you're building your own class programming, or you want to see how a structured plan layers aerobic and gymnastics work alongside class without piling on fatigue, Sphere Programming is one example of how I approach it. And if you want to talk warm-up design or programming questions with me directly, send me a message here.
Your turn. I'm still learning as a coach too. If you run this differently in your gym, share it in the comments below. I read every one and would love to learn from you. If it was useful, tap the heart so more coaches find it.
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Coach Fritz Bautista · Head Coach, ATHLETESPHERE
CrossFit Level 2 Trainer (CF-L2) ✓ · CrossFit Programming Certificate · MBA · Digital Marketing Certified · Coaching athletes from all walks of life online
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