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Happy New Year!
I wanted to start 2026 the way more of us should start our time doing bench. So many lifters warm up for bench by doing a couple empty bar sets and hoping their shoulders cooperate. That can work until it doesn’t. But a better approach is to spend 10 to 15 minutes ramping up in a predictable order so your pressing muscles are warm, your shoulders move well, and your stabilizers are awake before the loads get real.
The simplest bench warm-up structure is four steps. Heat, move, stretch with motion, then activate. Each part is short, and each part has a job. Raise body temperature first with 5 to 15 minutes of easy cardio, enough to break a light sweat.
Then do one to three quick mobility drills mentioned in the guide for the tissues that get restricted in bench, usually lats, pecs, and your thoracic spine. Follow that with two to three minutes of dynamic upper body movement to take the shoulder through a full range without long holds. Finish with one or two activation moves that prime scap control and the small stabilizers, think scapular push-ups and band pull-aparts.
If you are rushed, keep the order and cut the volume, not the steps. Five minutes of heat, one mobility drill, one dynamic series, one activation exercise. If you have cranky shoulders, keep the activation slow and controlled and stop a rep or two early, the goal is priming, not fatigue. Then take your warm-up sets on the bench seriously, clean reps, steady pauses, same setup every time.
A warm up is a performance tool. When you show up to your first heavy set already warm, mobile, and stable, you press with more confidence, better speed, and fewer weird shoulder surprises.
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