The Difference Between a Warm up and Warm Up Sets
WARM UP
A Warm up is a general term for prepping your body for training. Warm ups accomplish a few things imperative to an effective training session:
Checking in with your body
Warming up the body
Prepping our muscles, connective tissue and joints for full range of motion training
Mobility Training or maintenance
Most warm ups include dynamic stretching and bodyweight versions of the movement patterns you will move through in your workout.
WARM UP SET
A warm-up set is a lighter practice set that is done prior to “working sets”. Working sets refer to what is prescribed in your program (example: 3 sets of 10 reps). The idea is that you perform a few warm-up sets, progressively increasing weight each set until you get to a challenging weight that you’d use for your working sets 3 x 10.
Warm up sets help reinforce proper form, and prep your body to lift heavy through nervous system activation and motor unit recruitment. We’re getting our brain and body primed for progressively heavier weights, working up to a max effort in our working sets.
Warm Up Sets are meant to prep and prime our bodies, not wear them down. Warming up with too much weight or too many reps can cause too much fatigue prior to the working sets. Remember the working sets are the priority. Warm Up sets are meant to help up maximize our working sets.
HOW TO PERFORM THEM
You might need to perform one to five warm up sets, depending on how much weight your working set is, how well trained you are, how much time you have for your workout, the equipment availability at your gym, your energy levels, your mindset/focus, and how you’re feeling that day.
Because of the multitude of variables, we highly recommend taking good notes on how you’re feeling as you go through your working sets, noting any limitations you may have and learning from your experience each week. There is no one-size-fits-all formula for effective warm up sets. There are a variety of methods that may work for you.
Tips
Treat your warm-up sets just as intentionally as your working sets.
Increase each warm-up set by 5 to 30lbs. The heavier the movement, the larger jumps you can make.
Your last warm-up set should be at least 10-15lbs lighter than your first working set.
Perform your warm-up sets for 2-4 fewer reps than your working sets.
Always warm up with your heaviest weight in mind.
Listen to your body and don’t over do it.
Take notes so that you can improve week to week and find the method that works best for your body.
Example
Your working sets are 3 sets of 5 reps at 135lb. Your warm-up sets might look like this:
45lb x 3 reps
85lb x 3 reps
105lb x 3 reps
115lb x 3 reps
And then your first working set at 135 x 5
Rest Time Considerations
Rest minimum of 1 minute between warm-up sets
Rest 1-2 minutes between your last warm-up set and your first working set if your working sets resting time is 1-2 minutes
Rest 2-3 minutes between your last warm-up set and your first working set if your working sets resting time is 2-3 minutes
Need help with figuring out the right warm up set weights for your training plan? Get help from a coach today! Our transformer program includes form feedback on every workout, access to direct message your coach with questions and a 30 minute zoom meeting each month. We are here to help take the guesswork out of training.
ABOUT the author
Amy Potter is a Certified Personal Trainer and Holistic Health Coach. She loves helping women heal their relationship with their bodies, and with food. She guides women on a journey to feel strong, confident, and capable through weight lifting and intuitive eating. In her free time, she can be found taking long walks on the beach, petting dogs, or talking about politics.
