Warm up sets vs working sets HELP!

[MissB]

When doing warm up sets to work up to your working sets, how many warm up sets should you do and what kind of percentage of the working sets should you perform as warm up sets?
For example if your benching 140kg as your starting work sets, how many sets to warm up & what percentage range should you do & what percentage do you increase each set?
Would you also have more warm up sets if your working set was higher like 220kg?

Finding this really confusing any advice is greatly appreciated 🙏🏼

[Mark Rippetoe]

This is discussed in detail here: Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training, 3rd edition (Current Revision, Paperback) – The Aasgaard Company

[Travis Reid]

Hey Miss B, have you read the book? If not, then definitely invest in a copy. You'll be doing yourself a massive favour whilst supporting The Aasgaard Company in these 'trying times'. As Rip mentioned above, there is plenty of information on warming up in the book.

There's also plenty of information here on the site - the most recent being this great video from Grant Broggi of The Strength Co - How to Warmup for Barbell Training | Grant Broggi

Personally, for warming up the bench press, I've always stuck to this simple formula - start with your work set weight and deduct the weight of the bar, then divide this amount by four. This will give you the approximate weight jumps of each warm up set. So in your example above, it would be 140 kilograms less the 20 kilogram weight of the bar, so 120 kilograms, then divide this weight by four, and you get 30 kilogram jumps. Naturally you always start a bench press warm up by lifting the empty bar for two sets of five, then adding your 30 kilograms per warm up set your entire bench press warm up will look something like this;

Empty bar x 5 x 2
50kg x 5
80kg x 3
110kg x 2

.....and you're done and onto your work sets.

Hope this helps. Let us know how you go.

Cheers.

[Sawyer]

Reasonable examples might be:

Bar(2x5-10)
40x5
60x4
80x3
100x2
120x1
130x1

wait a few minutes

140(3x5)


or


Bar(2x5-10)
40x5
75x4
100x3
120x2
130x1

wait a few minutes

140(3x5)

[Mark Rippetoe]

Better would be:

40 x 5 x 2
70 x 3
90 x 2
110 x 1
125 x 1
140 x 5 x 3

[Steve R]

if your benching 140kg as your starting work sets

Benching 140kg? Really? You're strong enough to be the one giving the advice.

At my gym the coach wrote on the wall "5 reps @ 40%, 3 reps @ 60%, 2 reps @ 80%." This works pretty well for most people with some extra rules for certain things such as:

Two empty bar sets of five for squats to get everything stretched out.

Guys start warming up the deadlift with 135 pounds. I guess that would be 60kg to you.

A single at 90% will help to avoid surprise and shock when the work weight is real heavy.

[Sawyer]

I also like a single at 90% in order to not be too shocked by the workset weight.

But wait a few minutes after this single.

[Theseahawk]

Definitely need that single at 90%.

I’ve found that if my second set of 5 feels better than my first, I didn’t properly prepare with the warm ups. A mistake I’ve made a few times, probably because I tend to just do a set of 5 with the bar. Put some 45s on and do a single. Then another 45 each side for a single. Then add 35s for a single. Then keep adding until 90% of the working weight doing a single each time.

Every now and again I get a tough first set and an easier second set and I tell myself I must do the warmup that has been formulated by Mark.

[dalan]

Definitely need that single at 90%.

I’ve found that if my second set of 5 feels better than my first, I didn’t properly prepare with the warm ups. A mistake I’ve made a few times, probably because I tend to just do a set of 5 with the bar. Put some 45s on and do a single. Then another 45 each side for a single. Then add 35s for a single. Then keep adding until 90% of the working weight doing a single each time.

Every now and again I get a tough first set and an easier second set and I tell myself I must do the warmup that has been formulated by Mark.

Dude, if you're at 295 and still not near 90% of your working weight for reps, I'd say you're doing just fine with however you're doing it.

[Theseahawk]

Maybe not! Tore an adductor 4 days ago on the 4th rep at 480, first set.

Warm up was 44x5, 132x1, 220x1, 286x1, 352x1, 396x1, 431x1 (Converted from kg hence not 45,135, 225 etc.)

Today all I could squat was 55x15. Maybe if I had warmed up better I wouldn’t be injured and still progressing.