Much like sports, you also need a good warmup before your ranked matches in CS2 to perform well. The importance of a warm-up is highlighted by the fact that every pro spends a few minutes warming up before they get into their matches. These are the best of the best, and if they think warming up is important, it is.

However, it’s easy to get confused about what warmup routine to follow or how to warm up, in general. Surprisingly, warm-up isn’t as complicated as most players think. In this article, we will tell you how to warm up and help you create your warm-up routine.

What To Warm Up Before A Match

If all you are doing for a warm-up is headshotting bots on a map, then you are doing it wrong. A routine is supposed to warm up all your mechanics, including movement and aim.

You need to make a balanced warm-up routine that targets everything. Here are things you should warm up in a routine.

Aim: Flicking, Tracking, Crosshair Placement

Movement: Strafing, Peeking, Strafe Jumps/Bunny Hops

The aim part makes sure you don’t miss your shots when it matters. Now, there are tons of ways to practice these fundamentals, so feel free to do what you like for these. But we will get into different exercises later on.

On the other hand, movement is also something you should work on before a match. You should be able to strafe and peek smoothly, and land strafe jumps and bunny hops when needed.

A Basic Warm-Up Routine For Beginners

If you are confused about what exercises to do to warm up the things we mentioned, don’t worry, we have got you covered.

Aim

For aim, go to any aim training Workshop map and start off by just one-tapping bots.

Flicking: Start off slow and prioritize precision, and then speed up gradually. You can do this for about a minute or two.

Tracking: Then, it’s time for tracking. Put your crosshair on a bot’s head and then start moving left and right, and try to keep the crosshair on the head. This will warm up your tracking, but there is one more exercise.

Put the bots on strafe mode so they move left and right, and then track their head. These two exercises should be enough to warm up your tracking.

Crosshair Placement: Lastly, for crosshair placement, hop into a Deathmatch and force yourself to use perfect crosshair placement. Make sure your crosshair is always at head-level, no matter where you are, and try to adjust the crosshair if you mess up the placement.

Movement

The great thing about movement training is that you can do it while aiming training.

Strafing: It’s as simple as it sounds, just hop into a training map and strafe while clicking bot heads. Just make sure to be precise, even if you have to do it slowly.

Peeking: In the same map, find a wall or any cover to get behind, then practice different peeks. Try jiggle peeking, wide peeks, crouch peeks, etc. Make sure to do this until you are comfortable peeking from any angle.

Strafe Jumps/Bunny Hops: You can do this anywhere; all you need to do is practice bunny hops and long strafe jumps.

The last thing to do is hop into a couple of deathmatches or a casuals to give yourself some actual duels to warm up with.

This is a very basic routine with a lot of room for customization. It covers all the basics you need to warm up before getting into a ranked session.

How to Create Your Own Warm Up Routine.

When it comes to making your warm up routine, it comes down to finding what you like and what you don’t. And what your play style is.

If you don’t enjoy tapping bots in aim training maps, then find an alternative. For instance, Deathmatch can be used to warm up anything you want. If you want to warm up your headshot accuracy, just force yourself to only aim for heads.

In addition to that, it’s also important to warm up according to how you play. If you are an AWPer, it might be a good idea to warm up your AWP shots as well. On the other hand, if you are the entry fragger, it might be a good idea to warm up site entries.

There are many ways to warm up, so find one that you enjoy and stick to it. Just make sure it covers all the basics you need to warm up before a match.

A lot of people (myself included) enjoy aim trainers like Aimlabs or Kovaaks; they are also great tools to warm up. But if you don’t like them, then just stick to in-game routines.

If you don’t know what you like, then try out different stuff. Watch how your favorite pros warm up and try that.

A warm-up isn’t supposed to be complicated, and it shouldn't last more than 10-15 minutes. It’s just a small routine to get you into the zone before queuing for ranked.

Conclusion

To sum up, if you are confused about how to warm up, use the routine we mentioned, and as time passes on modify it to your liking. At the end of the day, a warm-up shouldn’t feel like a chore; it should be enjoyable. So, find what you like and stick to it.