Warm-up sets are an often overlooked piece of the training puzzle, and the way they’re used, or not used, can improve or inhibit your training. Whether you’re new to the gym, or you’re a seasoned vet with years of training under your belt, warm-up sets are an area of training where most people could stand to improve. There are plenty of ways to set up your warm-up sets, and there certainly isn’t just one right answer, but there are a few common mistakes regarding their use.
Benefits Beyond Just Warming Up
Warm-up sets provide benefits outside of just getting you ready to lift. If you are new to training, the additional sets provide an opportunity to work on technique and groove efficient patterns. In the beginning of your training journey, one of the biggest limitations you face is your lack of experience. Warm-up sets allow you to put in additional work at relatively low stress levels, and helps you to expedite the process of becoming proficient at these movements.
Warm-up sets are also a great opportunity to work on bar speed. Since you’ll be using lighter loads, you’ll be able to move the bar faster than you will during your working sets. Bar speed is often a major limiting factor for beginning lifters, and the intent to move the bar as fast as possible can then carry over into the working sets, and help to improve your strength and power numbers.
For More Than Just Your Main Lift
Warm-up sets should be used for most of your movements in the gym. For curls or lateral raises you probably don’t need them because you’ll be handling relatively light weight and they’re not complex movements. For most other movements, especially compound movements, you will probably need at least one warm up set, and the stronger you are the more warm-up sets you’ll need.
For example, RDL’s may not be your main lift on any given day, but you’ll probably be using relatively heavy weight, and you’ll want to get comfortable with the hip hinge before you load up the bar with your working weight. The same goes for your rowing, pressing, and lunge variations.
Too Few/Too Light
One, is not doing enough and/or heavy enough warm-up sets. Unless you’re brand new to the gym and your strength numbers are extremely low, having no warm-up sets or just a single warm-up set with an empty bar isn’t going to cut it. Prior to handling heavy weights and training at a high intensity your muscles and central nervous system (CNS) both need to be warmed up. Warm-up sets allow you to ease your body into training for the day and it gives your body a preview of what’s to come. By gradually increasing the weight or intensity of what you’re doing, you groove your movement patterns for the training session and prime your body for a high level of performance.
Too Many/Too Heavy
At the other end of the spectrum is the lifter who does a million warm-up sets. You don’t want to do so many warm-up sets that you’re worn out by the time you get to your working sets. The stronger you are the more warm-up sets you will require, but since you are handling heavier weight you will need to make a greater effort to manage fatigue within your working sets. This likely means as you get above 75% of your working weight for that day, using just 1 or 2 reps per warm-up set. The goal is to prime your muscles and CNS to move some heavy weight, and to get a feel for the movement.
Setting Up Warm-Up Sets
There are a few ways to set up your warm up sets, but I’ll show you how I like to do it for myself and my stronger athletes. For beginner athletes the first 3 warm-up sets will probably suffice.
Empty bar x6
40-50% (depending on strength level) of working weight x3-5
60-75% of working weight x3
75-85% of working weight x1
85-90% of working weight x1
Working sets
So to use a 400lb deadlift as an example:
Empty bar x6
160 x5
240 x3
300 x1
360 x1
400 for working sets
Try adding these warm-up sets to your next training session and see how much better you feel and perform. For training inquiries or questions shoot me an email or leave a comment!
MAY 31, 2018 FITNESS
3 Tips for a Bigger Deadlift
The deadlift is considered by many to be the king of lifts, and it’s easy to see why-you either pick it up off the ground and stand up tall, or you don’t. There isn’t a question about depth like there is in the squat, and it’s generally loaded much heavier than the bench press. It certainly won’t make a balanced program by itself, but it’s a good starting point for most strength plans. If you want to work towards a bigger deadlift here are a few tips that should help you out.
Don’t Wear Tennis Shoes
Since you’re pulling the bar off the floor, it’s advantageous to minimize the distance you have to pull as much as possible, and tennis shoes are often thick and have a heel lift, meaning you’ve increased the distance the bar has to travel. So, no shoes or Chuck’s are best for your deadlift day. An added benefit of lifting barefoot or in Chuck’s instead of tennis shoes is that it will be easier for you to put force into the floor. Tennis shoes are soft and it’s more difficult to produce force on a soft surface because you have the added demand of stabilizing yourself (think about jumping out of sand instead of off the gym floor).
Set Up Faster
I see a lot of lifters taking their time in the bottom position, grabbing the bar and tinkering with their set-up. When you’re ready to lift, set your feet, brace hard, take a big breath in, and then grab the bar and go! By setting up fast you’ll be able to take advantage of the stretch shortening cycle and and this may help you move more weight. A word of caution on this-it’s not for beginners. Beginners need to groove their set-up, and doing it as fast as possible will make this difficult. Also, as a beginner you’ll make progress pretty quickly just by getting some reps under you belt, so no need to try anything special.
Do Heavy Hip Thrusts
A lot of lifters struggle with locking out their hips at the top of a deadlift. They need to get stronger through end range hip extension, and heavy hip thrusts are a great way to do that. The glutes are primarily responsible for end range hip extension, and they can be an overlooked part of many training programs. Lifters assume that by squatting and deadlifting they’re getting plenty of glute work, but many of them are not. Bret Contreras has repeatedly shown that there is greater glute activation during the hip thrust than the squat or deadlift. During the hip thrust, the hamstrings are shortened more than the squat or deadlift because the knees are flexed (bent) and the hips are extended simultaneously, both of which shorten the hamstrings, creating active insufficiency. This means the hamstrings can’t produce enough force to get the hips to end range extension due to how much they’ve been shortened, so the glutes have to help more.
Try these tips out and shoot me an email with any training inquiries!
References
Contreras, Bret. “Hip Thrust and Glute Science.” bretcontreras.com, 6 April, 2013, https://bretcontreras.com/hip-thrust-and-glute-science/