Maximizing Warm Up Sets Zoom out, what's the point of doing warm up...
Pat Basil@pbasilstrength
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Oct 27, 2025
~2 min read
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Maximizing Warm Up Sets
Zoom out, what's the point of doing warm up sets?
"To warm up and prep the body for training"
Yes, that's an immediate benefit.
But there's much more positive meat on the bone to well-executed warm up sets.
Immediate Benefits:
Let's start with the obvious.
Lighter warmup sets prep the local tissue for the lift you're about to do.
This reduces the immediate shock from starting too heavy and reduces injury risk.
But the overlooked performance benefit is the priming or potentiation effect from high quality warm up sets.
I dislike the terms "activate" or "wake up" but that's essentially what's happening when lifters perform deliberate warm up reps with increasingly higher loads.
By the time they hit their work sets, they should be able to put peak force and intent into each rep.
This is called Compensatory Acceleration, and it's a trainable skill.
Treat each set like a one rep max attempt to potentiate for the last top set.
Long Term Benefits:
If you practice something each time at a high level for months do you think you'll get better at it?
Of course. Lifting is no different.
Well-executed warm up reps over time may be the single best way to develop technique and skill.
This maximizes the training effect from whatever the volume and load is.
Prescribing Warm Up Sets and Reps:
"How many sets and reps?"
"How much weight?"
"What percentage?"
For main compound lifts (Squat, Bench, Deadlifts, Cleans, Heavy Lunges, etc), I recommend 3-4 total warm up sets for more advanced lifters with higher maxes and about 1-2 for beginners and lower level intermediates.
A good rule of thumb is at least one warm up set for every 100 pounds on their max.
For example, a 200lb Bench Presser should do 2 warm up sets before their work sets.
Beginners using light weights don't need to do warm up sets.
If they're using 15-pound dumbbells to press with, doing a warm up set with the 5 pounders won't do anything.
Intermediates can do at least one warm up set. This can even be an empty bar if they're not using much weight.
Typically I'll split the difference between the empty bar and their first work set.
Example:
Prescribed: 3 sets of 5 with 100lb
Warmup Set 1: empty bar (45lb) x5
Warmup Set 2: 75lb x5
Three Work sets: 100lb x5
If you have training maxes and use percentages, I'll typically prescribe warm up sets starting at 40 or 45%, increasing by 10% until the first work set.
Example:
Prescribed: 3 sets of 6 reps at 75%
Warmup Set 1: 45% x5
Warmup Set 2: 55% x5
Warmup Set 3: 65% x5
Three Work sets: 75% 3x6
That would make 6 total sets: 3 warm ups, 3 work sets.
Zoom out, what's the point of doing warm up sets?
"To warm up and prep the body for training"
Yes, that's an immediate benefit.
But there's much more positive meat on the bone to well-executed warm up sets.
Immediate Benefits:
Let's start with the obvious.
Lighter warmup sets prep the local tissue for the lift you're about to do.
This reduces the immediate shock from starting too heavy and reduces injury risk.
But the overlooked performance benefit is the priming or potentiation effect from high quality warm up sets.
I dislike the terms "activate" or "wake up" but that's essentially what's happening when lifters perform deliberate warm up reps with increasingly higher loads.
By the time they hit their work sets, they should be able to put peak force and intent into each rep.
This is called Compensatory Acceleration, and it's a trainable skill.
Treat each set like a one rep max attempt to potentiate for the last top set.
Long Term Benefits:
If you practice something each time at a high level for months do you think you'll get better at it?
Of course. Lifting is no different.
Well-executed warm up reps over time may be the single best way to develop technique and skill.
This maximizes the training effect from whatever the volume and load is.
Prescribing Warm Up Sets and Reps:
"How many sets and reps?"
"How much weight?"
"What percentage?"
For main compound lifts (Squat, Bench, Deadlifts, Cleans, Heavy Lunges, etc), I recommend 3-4 total warm up sets for more advanced lifters with higher maxes and about 1-2 for beginners and lower level intermediates.
A good rule of thumb is at least one warm up set for every 100 pounds on their max.
For example, a 200lb Bench Presser should do 2 warm up sets before their work sets.
Beginners using light weights don't need to do warm up sets.
If they're using 15-pound dumbbells to press with, doing a warm up set with the 5 pounders won't do anything.
Intermediates can do at least one warm up set. This can even be an empty bar if they're not using much weight.
Typically I'll split the difference between the empty bar and their first work set.
Example:
Prescribed: 3 sets of 5 with 100lb
Warmup Set 1: empty bar (45lb) x5
Warmup Set 2: 75lb x5
Three Work sets: 100lb x5
If you have training maxes and use percentages, I'll typically prescribe warm up sets starting at 40 or 45%, increasing by 10% until the first work set.
Example:
Prescribed: 3 sets of 6 reps at 75%
Warmup Set 1: 45% x5
Warmup Set 2: 55% x5
Warmup Set 3: 65% x5
Three Work sets: 75% 3x6
That would make 6 total sets: 3 warm ups, 3 work sets.