Meaning trap
warm up
prepare the body
To do gentle exercises before a sport or activity to get your body ready and help prevent injury.
Don't mix these meanings
Same phrase, different job.
To do gentle exercises before a sport or activity to get your body ready and help prevent injury.
Another meaning of 'warm up' is 'become friendlier'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.
Hear it in context
Notice where the phrase sounds natural.
It's important to warm up before you go for a run.
Before my PE class, I always warm up to avoid getting hurt during exercise.
Fix the pattern
One small grammar move makes it sound right.
Not: I always warm up myself before running.
Say: I always warm up before running.
Intransitive here — don't add 'myself'.
Which sounds natural?
Tap the one a native speaker would say.
'Warm up' is the everyday verb for limbering up; the formal version is textbook.
Build natural chunks
Words that usually travel with it.
warm up + before
- before a game
- properly
- your muscles
- first
Don't confuse it
Related
Other meanings and phrases to compare.
- warm up (become friendlier) — Another meaning of 'warm up' is 'become friendlier'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.