This is an example from the front squat of week 1 on Men’s Physique. I’m a little bit confused on how to effectively do the warmup.
The number of reps on the warmup sets are the same as the work sets but the RPE is a bit lower.
What do you do if your FS with an RPE of 8 is 100 kg on your first workset? An RPE of 6 on your first warmup set would basically be the same weight then because you are still fresh at that point. Starting your warmup with your working set weight sounds ridiculous so I’m definitely missing something here.
If the RPE is lower it means that the sets are easier.
f the reps are the same but the sets are easier it can only mean one thing: the weights are lower.
In this case it means that your first 2 sets are lighter than the work sets. And the first warm-up is lighter than the second one because the RPE is lower.
It could look like…
Set 1: 150lbs x 10
Set 2: 165lbs x 10
Sets 3-5: 185lbs x 10… the last set has a slightly higher RPE because of the accumulated fatigue making the set harder
I see. I guess me being confused had mostly to do with the RPE 6 on the first warmup set being close to the RPE 8 on the first workset.
Since warmup set 1 is RPE 6 I figured the weight used for that warmup set would eventually feel like an RPE of 9-10 on the last workset due to accumulated fatigue.
Following your example CT, would you add extra warmup sets if the weights become heavy (relatively speaking off course)?
If I take the example of the 100 kg front squat again, that means on warmup set one with an RPE of 6 I would need to start around 80 kg right from the get go…
The “warm-ups” lifted are really what would be called “preparation sets” and are pretty much lower intensity work sets. The true warm-up sets, the very light stuff is not included, mostly due to lack of space.
Thanks for clearing that up, that makes a lot more sense. If you decide to do more warm-up sets, shouldn’t you cut down the reps? Otherwise one might be already a bit fatigued before the first workset?
With compound movements I’m used to doing more warm-up sets to secure technique. Based on the rep scheme the number of warmup sets would be lower or higher and there would be an inverse relationship between the number of warm-up reps vs sets.
If the rep scheme is on the higher end, for example 3 x 8-10, I’d go with 10 (empty bar) - 8 - 6 - 4 (building up the weight 15-20% per set) and the next set would be workset 1. Higher reps and less warm-up sets.
If the rep scheme is on the lower end, for example 5 x 3-5, I’do with more warm-up sets and lower reps, something like 6-6-4-4-2-2 (building up the weight 10-15% per set) and the next set would be workset 1.
With isolation movements I naturally gravitate towards doing the same number of reps on the warm-up with a lower RPE. Just like it is prescribed in your programs and to get more blood into the muscle.
