Feel shit when you dont play as good when you havent warmed up properly, my hands feel lazier when they havent been warmed up properly so I can't seem to do stuff as cleanly or more effortless than when im warmed up properly. Do even pros have to warm up to perform there full potential or is there a way to be as good as you are without even having to warm up first? Thanks.

Warming up never goes out of style. Of course, it's not quite as vital as with body builders or other athletes who NEED to warm up to prevent pulling muscles and whatnot but nevertheless, playing guitar is a physical activity and warming up is always a good idea. Plus, how long does it really take, anyway? I usually do right when I pick up the guitar just subconsciously.

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I don't really warm up unless i'm going to play a show. Like if i'm just jamming or picking up the guitar, i'll play what I want. But everyone wants to sound really good, so warming is will help.
I know John Petrucci swears by it, he massages all of his muscles, stretches, and plays like grade 1 classical appregios before anything.

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I've read interviews with Steve Vai and Kerry King, and they always warm up before shows. So yeah, don't feel bad, just warm up.

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Its not needed but I like to do it to loosen up my hands. After about 15 minutes of playing you will be warmed up anyway.

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I need to warm up for at least 5 minutes before I play. I do this by helping my left and right hand "remember" how much they're really supposed to move/work in order to sound notes cleanly. I'll go through some really complicated or tough riffs very slow after without a metronome to reinforce the feelings and to get my muscles awake.
Everyone's different, but I find if I blast right into it with sweeping and downpicked riffs I start cramping up like a motherfucker. I used to not warm up years ago when my old band was recording, I seriously think that it affected my playing badly. For an entire week once, my vibrato got so bad and felt so odd that I might as well have just started playing.

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Thanks for the replies. Yeh I get what you mean about crampness. Usually I find playing a fast slayer song all the way through can warm you up a lot. But its like, what if someone who never saw you play guitar before, and asked you to play then and then on the spot without having warmed up previously, you wouldnt be showing your full potential to them would you?

I have that too, if someone comes over and ask me to play some song rightaway then I usually sound pretty bad. So yeah you don't show you full potential at the beginning
those are usually very impatient people
A good trick is to do like "you want to check if the guitar is in tune first" you play some stuff, stop halfway through and say something like: "uhm gonna have to tune it a bit".
Of course the guitar is in tune but this way you already warmed up a little. If you say you have to warm up they think your wierd or something
I always am at my best after like 10 min then things start to go pretty smooth . Its like running when you just got out of bed, you need a minute to get at your normal level.

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I wash my hands with a hot compress and I work out. I use those hand crunches and when I pick up a guitar I pick one scale or arppegio and play it really slow and gradually speed up.

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Most people warm up before they play shows or before band practice. I also do finger stretches by bending them back. It seems to work.

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