Warming-up for competitive and Olympic weight lifting is one thing; warming-up for a muscle building routine is entirely different.  Too many guys warm-up like a weightlifting competitors before starting their routines.  Using lighter weights, they performs three to four additional sets of every exercise, insisting that it will help to gain muscle mass.

You must remember. A natural bodybuilding program is designed to produce maximum increases in strength,  and muscle mass. The  mindless performance of additional sets is not required to warm-up your muscles.  When performing multiple sets, only one set of each exercise is responsible for the total muscle gains produced.  Additional sets are a waste of time and effort.  They actually deplete your recovery ability and reduce your rate of muscle gains.

So, what is the best way to warm-up before performing a workout?  Considering that the number of repetitions performed in a specific exercise will be six or greater, the repetitions, themselves, will provide the warm-up for you.  If performing ten repetitions of the barbell curl, repetitions one through to nine will be enough of a warm-up for the muscles involved.

The initial nine repetitions permit you to use maximum intensity in the performance of the tenth and final repetition. It is the tenth repetition that actually stimulates muscle growth. Not the nine before it.  As a result, the ideal warm-up for a ten repetition barbell curl is each and every repetition that is performed before the tenth.  Lightly stretching the entire body before commencing each workout is also recommended.  Nothing else is needed.