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A DPT breaks down the session that will help you feel better during lower body-focused workouts.

Stop ignoring leg day warmups.

Yes, that means you, guy who hits the gym floor and goes straight into your first set of squats with weight on the bar. In our newest episode of “The Fix” physical therapist by Cameron Yuen, DPT, PT, C.S.C.S. is here to guide you through a quick workout to help you reduce your risk of injury and optimize your performance.

This four-part warmup is ideal if you’re doing any squats or deadlifts, and centers around the concept of RAMP. That stands for: Raise our body temperature; Activate key muscles and movement patterns; Mobilize our joints; Potentiate our nervous system.

Read this overview of the routine below, and watch the video to see full demos of each move.

If you’re not at a gym with an air bike or don’t have one at home, try a treadmill or elliptical. Or, go equipment-free and jog in place or do jumping jacks. “But the air bike is really great because [you] can get a full 360-degree effort of [your] legs and get in some deeper hip and ankle ranges of motion,” says Yuen. Maintain a conversational pace for five to 10 minutes.

Now it’s time to activate your muscles. This move targets the often overlooked outsides of our hips. “Really important muscles for stabilizing our hips, and protecting our lower back,” says Yuen. While you do this move, focus on keeping your hips, knees, and toes stable throughout. Do two to three sets, 10 reps on each leg; it shouldn’t be fatiguing.

Assisted Deep Squat and Lateral Rock

Next up? Mobilize the hips, knees, and ankles. Aim to get into your end range, but don’t sweat it if you can’t get as low as our fitness model. Again, we don't want this move to be too tiring. Aim for two to three sets of five to 10 rocks.

Time to potentiate the nervous system. “We want to get all the leg muscles, all the hip muscles working together,” says Yuen. Do three to five reps as hard as you can. Be sure to extend fully through your ankles, knees, and hips to generate maximum power into your box jump.

Once you start your leg day workout, Yuen emphasizes that you should never start at your max weight. Be sure to increase your weight gradually as you work up to your heaviest sets. So if you’re working up to 135 pounds, do two to three sets with just the barbell and then two to three sets at 95 pounds before doing reps with 135 pounds.

A little RAMPing goes a long way. “So remember, raise your body temperature, activate those key muscles and movements, mobilize the entire lower body, the hips, the knees, and the ankles, and finish off by potentiating the nervous system, get everything firing fast and hard,” says Yuen.