And yet you are asking me WHAT TO ADD to a workout (in the form of a warm-up) which, by nature, is the exact opposite of what you asked me above.
“Performing on demand” (e.g. a fireman being suddenly called to a fire) means just that: being able to perform at a high level without having to do preparatory work.
Does it make sense to look for stuff to do before you train… to become good a performing without having to do stuff before you train???
Pavel talks about this, you can train your body to not require much if any warming up. But doing just that and accepting that in the short-term performance might be lesser, but gradually your body will become better at it.
Of course, Pavel’s style relies on submaximal loads (mostly in the 70-80% range for 3-5 reps) which might not need as much warming up as if you go with maximal loads. But the point is still valid.
It is my firm opinion, that the more warming up you do, the more you make yourself reliant on the warm-up to perform.
There is a temporal element to training. Like an internal clock if you will, which plays a huge role in workout performance.
It plays a role in how long you can sustain a workout before losing focus an motivation (my wife is a prime example, at the 45 minutes mark she ALWAYS become bored, unfocused and asks if she is done… that’s why she loves Crossfit).
But the same is also true for “getting into the workout”. Your internal clock can be programmed to be efficient after 20-30 minutes into the workout.
Now, let’s say that you are someone who starts to perform 30 minutes “in”. If your warm-up lasts 10 minutes, it will take you 20 minutes to lift optimally.
If you start doing all sort of junk in your warm-up and it now lasts 30 minutes you will be able to perform well in your lifting right off the bat (NOT because you are sweating or anything, because you reached the temporal zone in which you start to perform). This gives the ILLUSION of performance on-demand as your lifting is good right from the start. But in reality you have not fixed the issue, you just filled the first 30 minutes with other types of work until you get in the proper temporal zone.
If you want to train yourself to be able to perform right out of the gates with as little work as possible (training or warming up) then that’s what you need to do. And likely find other ways to get in the right mindset and CNS activation, like visualization or mental rehearsal while getting to the gym. Of developing a “mental trigger” that turns everything on internally.
The solution to performance on demand is not adding more work prior to your performance.
So you could try mental rehearsal while preparing to hit your workout. And only perform a few sets of the main lift (1-3) before starting the actual workout.
BUT…
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Those sets must be force with maximal INTENT. Try to be VIOLENT with the bar and produce maximum tension. Squeeze the bar brutally hard with your hands, brace like crazy and have the intent to kill that weight.
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Once the last preparation set is done have a mental cue that you scream in your head to get fired up, kinda like a Spartan war cry but in your head. This signals the start if the war with weights.
ONE MORE tip…
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Don’t do any warm-up BUT start your session with assistance/single-joint exercises before doing your main lifts. While it still means doing work before the main lift, it can start to change your temporal programing and making you better at lifting from the start.
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THEN over the weeks move the main lifts closer and closer to the start of the session, still without warm-up. After a few weeks you should have switched your temporal programing to perform early on the big lift.
For example:
Phase I (3-4 weeks): start with single-joint work, then multi-joint assistance then main lift(s)
Phase II (3-4 weeks): start with multi-joint assistance, then main lift(s), then single-joint
Phase III (3-4 weeks): start with main lift(s)
This is incidentally how I train powerlifters, but for different reasons.
Ok, I LIED, one more thing…
- Be intellectually involved in your workout right from the start. This means developing the skill to have an intense mental focus on either the muscle you are training or the movement you are doing while doing it AND reflecting on the quality of your effort and what you can do better on your next set. Being intellectually involved will activate the nervous system and in many ways will have the same benefit as doing activation work.
NOW I’m done. 
