Warm Up And And Sets? What Do You Do?

The Wogmeister

Full Member
I'm interested in how you guys do this as I am quite careful with how I work out, I am 49 now and am mindful of causing unnecessary injury.

Lets take my workout this morning for example, I was doing chest so I start with a warm up 15-18 reps at 30kg, 10 reps at 50kg, 10 reps at 70kg, 5-8 reps at 80kg and maybe 3 reps at 90kg my max. I feel I could do a few reps at 100kg but have knackered myself out doing these previous sets. Same with squats, rows, press etc, I'll work my way up.

Do you do this or jump to heavier wight quicker?
 
I'm interested in how you guys do this as I am quite careful with how I work out, I am 49 now and am mindful of causing unnecessary injury.

Lets take my workout this morning for example, I was doing chest so I start with a warm up 15-18 reps at 30kg, 10 reps at 50kg, 10 reps at 70kg, 5-8 reps at 80kg and maybe 3 reps at 90kg my max. I feel I could do a few reps at 100kg but have knackered myself out doing these previous sets. Same with squats, rows, press etc, I'll work my way up.

Do you do this or jump to heavier wight quicker?
Too many reps on sub maximal weights for me.
I typically do if benching 140 for working sets:

Bar x 20
60 x 10
100 x 5
120 x 2
140 x programmed reps
 
You will get differing answers based on ages. I actually do very similar to you. I’ll often do two sets of just 3-4 with the same warm up weights. I won’t do as many higher rep sets earlier on though. I’ll still stick to 8-12. So if I was benching I’d do let’s say 10kg a side for 8 then a 15 kg for 6-7 then 20kg for 2 sets of 3 then a 30 for 2 sets of 2-3 then a 35 for a set of 2 then a working set. Remember warming up when your 20s is a lot different to warming up in your 40s. At 46 I do 4 mins of steady state to raise temp with heater on and hoodie. Then do band mobility work then do mobility moves then I’ll start picking up a weight. Probably 8-10 mins worth of pre weight warm up. Then I’ll do warm ups as above. In my 20s I’d do a set with the bar then stick a 20 on each side and go from there.
 
Too many reps on sub maximal weights for me.
I typically do if benching 140 for working sets:

Bar x 20
60 x 10
100 x 5
120 x 2
140 x programmed reps
See I couldn’t make anything like that kind of jump from 60-100 without feeling like things going to pop. I’d be 60/70/85/100/115/125 then work set.
 
I do a lot of warmups but I’m pretty strong. The weights I’m using are fairly heavy

If I was benching 90kg for my work set I’d probably just do 20 reps on 60kg and then throw 90kg on and hit it

Like wise if I’m doing 270 on Deads I might go 100,140, 180, 220, 245 then stick 270 on. When I was just strong enough to use 140 for my work set I’d just go 60, 100 then 140

The higher the top end the more warm up you need in my experience
 
See I couldn’t make anything like that kind of jump from 60-100 without feeling like things going to pop. I’d be 60/70/85/100/115/125 then work set.
My main point was you need to do what's most efficient for you, but i didnt make that clear and i agree with how it is different for various reasons (age, niggles etc)
For me i try to do the least amount of reps possible to be sufficiently warmed up to do my top sets.
Squats i'd do more reps at lower weights as my knees arent the best. E.g. If squatting 200:

Bar x 20
60 x 10
100 x 8
120 x 6
140 x 4
160 x 3
180 x 2
200 x for x reps x sets

Deads i do even less than bench:

60 x 5-8
100 x 3-5
140 x 2-3
180 x 1-2
200 for reps x sets

Before working with Dig I used to do say if was benching 100 as a top set

40 x 10
60 x 10
75 x 10
90 x 10
100 x reps and sets

Dig changed my warm ups to a format more in line with what i do now as he told me it was wasted energy. However if on a day i felt i needed more reps id do them.
 
For bench sometimes I'll go

60kg x 10-15
100kg x 5- 10
140kg x 3
160+
Then on to doubles but I have already done;
10mins walk
R.cuff work
Bottoms up kb presses
Tricep cable warm ups
Lat cable warm ups
 
Warm up sets are massively overlooked and are more important than just getting your body warm, particularly for hypertrophy
You should give as much attention to the warm ups as working sets, they should probably be called priming sets
As the objective is to stimulate the muscle fibres and get that mind muscle connection to get the most out of your working sets
Most people just go through the motions and I'm guilty of that too in the past but then you realise doing 20 reps with light weight is doing fuck all compared to heavier controlled warm ups
 
Just looking at my last bench session...

- 5 minutes warm up on stationery bike
- Upper body stretch/warm up with bands

60kg x20, x15, x12
100kg x10
130kg x10
150kg x8 (work set to failure with good form)
120kg x15

I’m 46 and find I really have to get my CNS firing to get the most from a work set.
 
what i found better for me as I got older was high reps at the low end, ie 20 reps empty bar, and a couple more sets increasing weight a little with high'ish reps ie 1x 40kg x 15, 1x 60kg x 8 then onto more what I'd term feeder sets where the weight increased but the reps kept quite low, 1x 80kg x 3, 1x 100kg x 2, 1x 120kg x 2 then my top set of 140kg for target 8+ reps.. kinda thing.
felt that my warming up was done at the low weight higher reps range, then it was more priming myself for the heavier weights but not taking anything from my top set by doing lots weighted reps prior.

Also though it all depends on the day too, some days you just know you need a little bit more blood moving, getting the joints warm, feeling the movement, I think you need to listen to your body more as you get older, not every session is going to go as the note book planned it, but thats OK.
 
what i found better for me as I got older was high reps at the low end, ie 20 reps empty bar, and a couple more sets increasing weight a little with high'ish reps ie 1x 40kg x 15, 1x 60kg x 8 then onto more what I'd term feeder sets where the weight increased but the reps kept quite low, 1x 80kg x 3, 1x 100kg x 2, 1x 120kg x 2 then my top set of 140kg for target 8+ reps.. kinda thing.
felt that my warming up was done at the low weight higher reps range, then it was more priming myself for the heavier weights but not taking anything from my top set by doing lots weighted reps prior.

Also though it all depends on the day too, some days you just know you need a little bit more blood moving, getting the joints warm, feeling the movement, I think you need to listen to your body more as you get older, not every session is going to go as the note book planned it, but thats OK.
Agree with that, good post mate
 
I always pyramid up until I get to my working sets. I have shoulder issues so it’s even more important to warm up!
 
Warm up sets are massively overlooked and are more important than just getting your body warm, particularly for hypertrophy
You should give as much attention to the warm ups as working sets, they should probably be called priming sets
As the objective is to stimulate the muscle fibres and get that mind muscle connection to get the most out of your working sets
Most people just go through the motions and I'm guilty of that too in the past but then you realise doing 20 reps with light weight is doing fuck all compared to heavier controlled warm ups
Do you have a stretching routine built in aswell? I find that stretching before a workout can increase blood flow and make movements more fluid for me at least
 
Do you have a stretching routine built in aswell? I find that stretching before a workout can increase blood flow and make movements more fluid for me at least
I've never done any static stretching before training unless a muscle is particularly tight and that's usually only hamstrings
I've always understood that it's not beneficial to static stretch prior to weight training but there is value to it after or away from your sessions
But, that doesn't mean that's the same for everybody
If its working for you then absolutely keep it in
 
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