Background and objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of specific warm-up on squat and bench press resistance training.

Methods: Thirty-four resistance-trained males (23.53 \pm 2.35 years) participated in the current study. Among these, 12 were evaluated in the squat and 22 in the bench press. After determining the maximal strength load (1RM), each participant performed a training set (3 \times 6 repetitions) with 80% 1RM (training load) after completing a specific warm-up and without warming up, in random order. The warm-up comprised 2 \times 6 repetitions with 40% and 80% of the training load, respectively. Mean propulsive velocity, velocity loss, peak velocity, mechanical power, work, heart rate and ratings of perceived exertion were assessed.

Results: The results showed that after the warm-up, the participants were able to perform the squat and bench press at a higher mean propulsive velocity in the first set (squat: 0.68 \pm 0.05 vs. 0.64 \pm 0.06 m\cdots{}^{-1}, p = 0.009, ES = 0.91; bench press: 0.52 \pm 0.06 vs. 0.47 \pm 0.08 m\cdots{}^{-1}, p = 0.02, ES = 0.56). The warm-up positively influenced the peak velocity (1.32 \pm 0.12 vs. 1.20 \pm 0.11 m\cdots{}^{-1}, p = 0.001, ES = 1.23) and the time to reach peak velocity (593.75 \pm 117.01 vs. 653.58 \pm 156.53 ms, p = 0.009, ES = 0.91) during the squat set.

Conclusion: The specific warm-up seems to enhance neuromuscular actions that enable a higher movement velocity during the first training repetitions and to allow greater peak velocities in less time.