Online Tool Store
Warm-Up Set Calculator
Enter your working weight and reps to generate a progressive warm-up set scheme (bar, 40%, 60%, 80%...) leading up to your first work set.
🔒 This tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.
How Warm-Up Set Calculator works
- Enter your work set's weight and reps, your bar weight, and the smallest plate increment you have available — a 225 lb × 5 sample is pre-filled.
- The tool generates five progressive steps: bar only, then 40%, 60%, 80%, and 90% of your work weight, with reps tapering from 8 down to 1 as the weight climbs.
- Every weight is rounded to the nearest weight you can actually load with your chosen plate increment, and any step that would duplicate the weight before it is dropped automatically.
- Your work set is shown highlighted at the bottom as the final step of the sequence.
This percentage-based ramp — bar, 40%, 60%, 80%, 90% — is the standard warm-up progression used across most barbell strength programs, built to prep joints and nervous system for the work weight without burning meaningful fatigue before the set that counts.
FAQ
Why does the number of warm-up sets sometimes change?
For lighter work sets, several of the percentage steps round to the same plate-loadable weight — the tool automatically drops a step whenever it would duplicate the one before it, rather than showing you two identical sets in a row.
Why does the rep count go down as the weight goes up?
Warm-up sets exist to prep your joints and nervous system for the work weight without adding meaningful fatigue — staying at high reps as the weight climbs would start eating into the effort you want to save for the work set itself, so reps taper from 8 down to 1 as the percentage climbs.
What does "round to nearest" control?
It matches the smallest plate increment you can actually load per side — 5 lb steps assume 2.5 lb plates are available, 2.5 lb steps assume 1.25 lb plates, and 10 lb steps assume only 5 lb plates. Every suggested weight is rounded to something you can physically load with that plate set.
How we compare
| Feature | Online Tool Store | Doing it manually | A generic online tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| No file upload — runs in your browser | ✓ | N/A | ✗ |
| No sign-up required | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Free, no watermark | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ |
Doing warm-up math in your head between sets means guessing at plates and rounding poorly. This tool computes every step and rounds it to your actual plate increment, so you can read the numbers straight off your phone at the rack.