I am convinced that some training methods will produce quick, short term gains, while other methods produce slower gains, but are better for long term progress. High intensity training and heavy weights tend to be more beneficial for those who are most interested in a short term plan. The main drawback with this type of training is that a training plateau will show up earlier than those who use a long term plan.
A long term training plan generally starts out with lighter weights, more training volume, and a lower training intensity. Strength may not be built as quickly, but lifters who apply a long tem plan often find that they can gradually increase their training load for a long time before hitting a plateau. Since the inclusion of plenty of training volume is of often a key to a long term training plan, one way to accomplish this is to include plenty of training volume through the use of an extensive amount of warm up sets. You may feel that this will weaken you and diminish your strength before doing your heaviest set(s), but in the long run, if you learn how to effectively increase the load of your warm up sets, your strength will improve.
Periodize Your Warm up Sets Instead Of Your Work Sets
Most lifters periodize their training by loading weight onto their heaviest set(s) which are often referred to as work sets, but if your strength doesn’t seem to budge by trying to increase the load of your heaviest set, periodizing your warm up sets may prove to be a more effective solution. Accentuated warm up sets can help you achieve this. More explanation is needed.
When performing warm up sets, the first set is generally done with a light weight. Weight is added from set to set before finishing with one or more work sets. For example, if you are doing squats, you may start out by doing four progressively heavier warm up sets and finish with one work set which is your heaviest, hardest set. We’ll imagine the squat workout consists of the following sets:
4 Warm up sets
1 set x 10 reps: Use 30% of your single rep max
1 set x 5 reps: Use 50% of your single rep max
1 set x 3 reps: Use 60% of your single rep max
1 set x 2 reps: Use 70% of your single rep max
1 Work Set:
1 set x 6 reps: Use 80% of your single rep max
Accentuating a Warm up Poundage
The warm up portion of the workout listed above can easily be periodized by accentuating the amount of sets done with one of the poundages. This simply means to repeat several sets with one of the warm up poundages. For example, when using the first warm up weight of 30% for a set of ten reps, this warm up poundage can be accentuated by repeating sets until you have done five warm up sets with 30%. The rest of the warm up poundages are done for one set each. The work would now be done as follows:
Repeat (or Accentuate) the 1st warm up poundage for several sets
Warm up Sets
5 sets x 10 reps: Use 30% of your single rep max: Accentuated poundage
1 set x 5 reps: Use 50% of your single rep max
1 set x 3 reps: Use 60% of your single rep max
1 set x 2 reps: Use 70% of your single rep max
1 Work Set:
1 set x 6 reps: Use 80% of your single rep max
Five sets for the first warm up poundage may sound like a lot, but that’s why you are only using 30% of your single rep max for five sets, and it is why the weight and reps are carefully chosen for all of the warm up sets. The warm up sets must not be too hard when using the accentuated warm up poundage method.
After accentuating (or repeating) the first warm up poundage during the first week, a different poundage will be accentuated in each of the following three weeks. By the fourth week, all four warm up poundages will have been accentuated for a week. The second through the fourth week would be done as follows:
Week 2
Repeat (or Accentuate) the 2nd warm up poundage for several sets
Warm up sets
1 set x 10 reps: Use 30% of your single rep max
5 sets x 5 reps: Use 50% of your single rep max: Accentuated Poundage
1 set x 3 reps: Use 60% of your single rep max
1 set x 2 reps: Use 70% of your single rep max
1 Work Set:
1 set x 6 reps: Use 80% of your single rep max
Week 3
Repeat (or Accentuate) the 3rd warm up poundage for several sets
Warm up sets
1 set x 10 reps: Use 30% of your single rep max
1 set x 5 reps: Use 50% of your single rep max
5 sets x 3 reps: Use 60% of your single rep max: Accentuated poundage
1 set x 2 reps: Use 70% of your single rep max
1 Work Set:
1 set x 6 reps: Use 80% of your single rep max
Week 4
Repeat (or Accentuate) the 4th warm up poundage for several sets.
Warm up sets
1 set x 10 reps: Use 30% of your single rep max
1 set x 5 reps: Use 50% of your single rep max
1 set x 3 reps: Use 60% of your single rep max
5 sets x 2 reps: Use 70% of your single rep max: Accentuated Poundage
1 Work Set:
1 set x 6 reps: Use 80% of your single rep max
Add Weight To Your Warm Up Poundages
At the end of the four week cycle, you may or may not be able to add weight to your work set. Either way, add five pounds to each warm up poundage and repeat the four week cycle of accentuated warm up sets. Eventually you will become strong enough to increase the weight of your work set. When using this long term approach to strength training, you automatically add weight to your warm up sets from cycle to cycle. However, adding weight to your work sets is not necessarily automatic, you only do so when your body is ready.
It is very important that you use the correct amount of weight for your work set. If you are pushing to failure every time you do your work set, it’s going to be hard to add weight every four weeks (unless you are a beginner or intermediate lifter who has been lifting less than a year). Instead of pushing to failure on your work sets, only push to your marker rep at the beginning a training cycle. This means to keep repeating reps of a work set until your rep speed starts to slow down. Stop on the very first rep where you notice that your rep pace is slower. For example, if your rep speed slows down on the 6th rep, stop after you complete the 6th rep. Keep doing workouts where you stop at your 6th rep until you gain enough strength to do all six reps without slowing down when you reach your sixth rep. If you succeed at this by the end of a four week training cycle, you can add weight to your work set when starting the next four week training cycle. If not, just focus on loading your warm up sets until you gain enough strength to add to your work set.
If you have hit a plateau and can’t seem to add weight to your work sets, periodizing your warm up sets as suggested in this article is just one way that you can start making progress again. It’s an option that you can use as needed. Best of training to you.