From the time I walk into the gym, to the time I start squatting, what should I be doing to warm up other than the usual stretching stuff?

 

Alot of current research is showing that a tight muscle is a strong muscle, so sometimes the usual static stretching could do more harm then good. If your going to do squats I could recommend some cardio time for sure, mostly to get blood moving through you. After that look into some active stretching and doing some warm up sets directly activating as much muscle as possible. I mean going through the motion with perfect form and contracting the muscles that should be firing ( not your lower back!).



Squats are a highly debated exercise, but I love them. To avoid injury I'd have these as one of my first exercises on the day.