Whether you're a pro football player, basketball player, or your average counter-strike player, the warm up is a crucial part of your success. If you want to be in peak form when you play you need to put in the practice and effort to get better outside of the matches so you can be better in them. This guide aims to show you what I find to be the most optimal way to warm up and get the most of your time doing so. I’ve broken the guide into sections so it is easier to follow.

The physical pre-warm up.

This sounds rather counter-intuitive as the warm up is supposed to be before the game. But the pre-warm up is just as important as the actual warm up. The pre-warm up has to do with making sure you are in the optimal environment to play. First, make sure that you have an open desk space so you are able to move your mouse as freely as needed to drag to players. Ensure your monitor is in a comfortable position where you can see all player models clearly. Be sure that you are seated comfortably in your chair. Make sure that you are in a room where you are not too cold or too warm. I’ve had many days where I or other players aim is slightly off because we are shivering or our hands are too cold.

The mental pre-warm up

Additionally, you want to make sure that you are mentally prepared to play. If you had a stressful day at work or school you should take a quick breather before hoping on. I recommend exercising, taking a shower, making some food, or laying down for a few minutes. Even just resting for 10-15 minutes before playing can improve your attitude, clear your mind, and prevent you from tilting when you get into game.

The actual warm up:

So now that we have done everything we can to prepare to play we are ready to start the actual warm up. In this section I will go over several maps that help improve your aim, reflexes, and movement.

- Aim Botz by Mr. uLLeticaL

This is a map that spawns you in the middle of an arena where bots surround you on all side. The purpose of this is to practice your aim on targets that are located at several different distances. The map also allows you to shoot at targets under many different circumstances such as peeking around crates/boxes, shooting at moving targets, and shooting at targets from extremely long ranges. This map is especially great because it offers you a wide variety of features such as changing elevations, distances, the way in which the bots move as well as the speed, and many other features. I highly recommend sitting in here for at least five to ten minutes before playing your competitive matches for the day.

- Fast Aim/Reflex Training by yolokas.

This map also puts you in an arena where you are surrounded by bots but works differently than Aim Botz. In this map you are put on a pillar in the middle of the map and the bots will run in different directions at you attempting to jump at you and stab you. Your goal is to kill as many bots as possible before dying. The name of the map says it all. The point of this map is to build up your ability to quickly get your crosshair from target to target as well as increase the speed and accuracy of your reflexes. If nothing else the map is a ton of fun. I suggest spending five minutes in here or so just to keep your reflexes up to snuff.

- Recoil Master by Mr. uLLeticaL

Another map by uLLeticaL has made it onto the list and that is because the man makes good maps. This map puts you in a room where you can select any gun and you are given several options to choose from with the purpose of helping improve your recoil control. Some of the options include moving/multiple targets, bullet time, and show impacts. I suggest spending about 5 minutes in here but if you are comfortable with your spray control this is can be skipped.

- Community/Valve Death Match Servers.

Another great option is death matching. This allows you to play against other players and work on your aim versus actual people who move in ways that bots will not. If you are new to the game I recommend staying away from community death match servers as the level of skill in those are generally higher and should be avoided until you feel more comfortable with the game. Conversely, if you feel the Valve servers are too easy then maybe it is time to try community servers. Another word of caution is that people do not play quite the same in death match as they do in competitive matches. People play much more aggressively in death match so be careful not to pick up too many bad habits. Some people just do 10-15 minutes of death match before they play. This is certainly viable if you feel comfortable doing so.

- Practice Maps

There are several different maps that allow you to practice your flash bangs, smoke grenades, and incendiaries (often called things such as “ Smoke Practice”. I highly recommend at least once a week hopping onto these servers and making sure you know all the good spots to throw your grenades. These maps have helped me and people I know immensely in our push from Legendary Eagle Master to Global Elite.

Conclusion:

In conclusion, you should do whatever you feel you need to do to make yourself play your best. These are just some tips that helped me on the rank climb. Hopefully some of you found this useful and best of luck in your matches.