BDA Coaching Blog

First, let's talk about what warm up sets are.

Warm up sets are the sets you take before all working sets or top sets. They can include pretty much every set you take with a barbell. Whether or not it's an empty bar. They are progressively loaded sets you take all the way up to that top set or your working sets for the day. This can include tapering of the number of reps as you work up to that single.

What are the purpose of warm up sets?

The purpose of warm up sets are to get you - you guessed it - warmed up. Much like runners do drills before they start practicing their 200m run times with the intent to get adequate blood flow to their muscles and move within the appropriate ranges of motion necessary for sprinting, warm ups in powerlifting do essentially the same thing. It most likely wouldn't feel the best if you were to hop under 75-90% of your 1RM for a set of 5 without doing any movement prior to that set. You'd most likely feel awkward and/or stiff, or you might even fail the set. In the best case scenario, things would probably not feel easier than expected to say the least. That's why warm ups are so important. They're supposed to prime your muscles and gradually expose your body to the heavier loads you're working up to without overreaching before you attempt that heavier load.

Can you warm up too much?

Excessive warm up sets can definitely detract from the top set for the day because if you're doing very small increments up to a top set, you're probably going to feel pretty tired if your RPE for the day is higher. That would mean you're actually hitting near maximal loads several times leading into that top single. Imagine how tired and fatigued your body feels after you grind out a lift for an all time PR. How many times do you load up another 2.5-5kg right after you grinded for more than a couple of seconds and are successful with that slightly heavier lift? If you're able to do that consistently, that's highly impressive! Usually if you're hitting near maximal loads, you're going to need to take longer rest periods as your body uses more energy to complete each maximal lift. You are also more likely depleting glycogen stores if you're doing more total warm up sets so you won't have as much readily available energy ready to go for the next heavier single. Even with that bag of candy you take with you to the gym.

So, how many warm up sets should you do?

I have a fairly basic rule of thumb for the newer-average level lifter. Take around 5-7 total warm up sets, including an empty bar (when applicable). I cannot recommend taking the empty bar enough! Use that empty bar as your dynamic warm up stretching since this is the least amount of load while also simulating a competition squat with a barbell. I personally like to do anywhere from 8-12 reps with an empty bar and exaggerate my brace, depth, sometimes my focus is even making sure my ankles are mobile and warm. I mimic how I squat with 400lbs on the bar for every single squat rep I do, including my warm ups. The goal is always to practice the way I perform. So keep this in mind. If you can't hit depth with an empty bar, how are you supposed to hit depth as you start adding weight on and forcing your body to work for you.

The third or fourth set is where you should start to be able to gauge your top set for the day. It's still an early warm up, but it should be enough weight to know if you feel good or if you need to focus on something specific moving on. This is usually where I put my own belt on to start preparing for those bigger weights.

My personal warm up routines.

My usual routine when gauging my top single and planning out my warm ups is first to estimate my expected range for my top set. For example, this past Sunday my estimated top set was to be 187.5kg or 190kg. Knowing that, I usually always take the same first three warm up sets (empty bar x 8-12 reps, 75kg x 5-6 reps, 125kg x 3-4 reps). After that, I try to only take 2-3 more warm ups that change and depend on how high my top set will be that day. The main goal of this strategy is to stay consistent with the spread of the weight as I warm up throughout the whole block.

This past Sunday, my entire squat warm up routine for a top single at 190kg was: empty bar x 12 reps, 75kg x 6 reps, 125kg x 3 reps, 150kg x 2 reps, 165kg x 1 rep, 177.5kg x 1 rep. I had been practicing a similar warm up routine for most of the block leading into this session, so these jumps were not new to me and worked very well.

My bench warm up routine is a little different, but the principle is the same. This past Wednesday, my bench warm ups for a top single at 120kg were: empty bar x 10 reps, 70kg x 6 reps, 85kg x 4 reps, 95kg x 3 reps, 105kg x 2 reps, 115kg x 1 rep. I have 5 warm up sets on bench versus 6 warm up sets on squat.

On deadlifts, I tend to keep a more rigid warm up routine and simply make bigger jumps to help preserve my energy to the heavier loads I have on top singles. I tend to only have 5 warm up sets as well and start off with 75kg instead of an empty bar there.

All three lifts for me are similar in the principle of how I warm up. I want to make sure I have enough sets that I feel warm and technically sound as I ease into the heavier weight without making small jumps or overreaching on my last warm up set. Another good rule of thumb is to mimic a meet by either repeating the same weight jump from your last couple of warm ups to your top set or making that last jump to your top set slightly lower than the previous weight jump between your last couple of warm ups.

Considerations.

As your top end strength increases, you may need to adjust your first few warm ups accordingly. For example, let's say you're used to the same warm up routine (empty bar x 10 reps, 70kg x 5 reps, 100kg x 3 reps, 115kg x 2 reps) and adjusting just your last warm up (anywhere between 120kg to 130kg depending on your target single) before your top single of anywhere from 137.5-147.5kg depending on your RPE for that week. If your top single for RPE 9 is now closer to 165kg, you might need to space your initial warm ups out a little more at the beginning of your routine so you won't need to add in more warm up sets as weight gets heavier.

More warm up sets is not guaranteed to make you "more warmed up and ready" for heavier sets. I definitely don't recommend trying this if you're at the end of a block or are towards the end of a meet prep. It is usually best to stick with whatever plan you and/or your coach have already discussed. Changing the plan up too much as you go means you won't necessarily know what's working and what isn't working since the stimulus is continuously changing.

Conclusion.

The goal should always be to try to get the most out of each training session. If you are someone that responds better to another strategy, then that other strategy is what you should use. I gave my own routines as anecdotes for those who are looking for something different or are trying to learn. Sometimes less is more. Not always and certainly not for everyone. I highly recommend discussing this with your current coach to get their own input or maybe just try it out if you're at the beginning of a new block or in a deload.