Doing warm up sets in a proper manner is absolutely critical for long term weight training success. If I had to point to one of the biggest villains for ineffective training it would be messing up when it comes to warm up sets. It is very common for lifters to waste their strength on lighter weights, only to work up to heavier weights that they struggle to lift because they squandered their energy on their earlier sets.
Avoid a Fatiguing Warm Up
Keep in mind that warm up sets should be utilized to prepare your muscles and fully turn your nervous system on in order maximize your strength when you work your way up to heavier lifting. If you overdo it during your warm up, it will produce fatigue and compromise your strength, instead of maximize your strength when using heavier weights that take the most strength to lift.
Explosive Warm up Reps
Even though warm up sets should not cause fatigue and should be done to prepare your muscles for heavier weights, it should produce other benefits as well. A good warm up can produce an actual training effect. In other words, you are doing more than just preparing for heavier lifting, you are actually activating the strength building process if you do your warm up sets properly. This can be done by lifting with explosive force when warming up with light weights. Lifting forcefully with light weights enhances strong nerve firing and activates fast twitch muscle fibers. With sufficient repetitions, an increase of blood flow will be directed to the working muscles, and the viscosity of your muscles will increase so that your muscles move with greater freedom and ease.
Two Part Warm Up
How do you do warm up sets in a manner that produces the desired benefits without causing fatigue? This can easily be done with a two part warm up. The first part of the warm up is done using explosive reps with light weights and several reps per set. The second part of the warm up is done with heavier weights, but only a single rep is done per set when using heavier weights in order to avoid producing unwanted fatigue. If you work your way up with single rep until you reach a weight that would allow four to six reps (although you will do just one rep as it is a warm up), it will fully turn your nervous system on. If you are not doing a heavy workout, you can still do this two part warm up and then go back down in weight for your work sets.
For these warm up sets, weights are increased each set throughout both parts of the warm up. An example of a two part warm up is listed below:
Part 1: Explosive Warm up
1st Set: 15 reps: Use a light weight that would allow to do 40-50 reps if you pushed yourself
2nd Set: 10 reps: Use a weight that would allow you to do 30 reps if you pushed yourself
3rd Set: 6 reps: Use a weight that would allow you to do 18 reps if you pushed yourself
Part 2: Ascending Single Reps
4th Set: 1 rep: Use a weight that would allow you to do 12 reps if you pushed yourself
5th Set: 1 rep: Use a weight that would allow you to do 8 reps if you pushed yourself
6th Set: 1 rep: Use a weight that would allow you to do 4 to 6 reps if you pushed yourself
When it comes to light warm up sets, don’t worry about what people think if you start out with no weight on the bar or just a ten or a twenty five pound plate on each side. I have seen super strong Olympic lifters start out with no weight on the bar, and super strong powerlifters and body builders do warm up sets with about 25% or less of their max.
In the following two videos, two Mr. Olympias will begin their bench press workout with a light set using 135 pounds. Lee Haney is using about 33% of his max and Ronnie Coleman is using about 24% of his max. Both of them are using explosive reps without strain. If you are only half as strong as these guys, then warm up with just half the weight they use. Don’t reason in your mind that you are training like they are training by doing your first warm up set with 135 pounds unless you are as strong as they are. Go by percentage, not the amount of weight they are using. The important thing is to notice that they are doing an explosive, yet non strenuous warm set.
Lee Haney Warm up Set
Ronnie Coleman Warm up Set
Consider the advice for warm up sets in this article and you will be prepared to make the most of your lifting with heavier weights. Best of training to you.