Thank god there is a beginner forum because I am sure this more than qualifies. I do a TBT program 3 times a week (compound exercises of course) which is kinda similar to an HST program, although I usually will do 2 working sets as opposed to one.
My question is: Do I need to do warm up sets? I try to up the weight or number of reps each workout, but lately I have stalled in my squat weight progression. I have done 6 x 225 in my last 3 workouts without being able to crank out that 7th rep without assistance. Could this be because I don’t do any warm up sets? Whenever I get under the weight (225 lbs), I always think “oh shit, this is heavy.” Would warm up sets fix this problem?
I do squats first in my workouts, and I always thought that the warm up sets would tax me to much, and that I would be able to move more weight (or do more repititions) than in the previous workout. Is my thinking flawed?
I usually shoot some hoops for about 20 minutes before I work out. Then I’ll just static stretch the muscles I’m going to be using, do one set of about 30% 1rm and then go at it. Haven’t gotten hurt yet (knocks on wood)
[quote]Politico wrote:
I usually shoot some hoops for about 20 minutes before I work out. Then I’ll just static stretch the muscles I’m going to be using, do one set of about 30% 1rm and then go at it. Haven’t gotten hurt yet (knocks on wood)[/quote]
You should also do some searching to find out why static stretching isn’t the best thing.
For normal full body workout routines for bodybuliding (5-15 reps), warming up is over rated. I do a one set each of pushups, pullups and squats, all with just bodyweight. I have never had an injury related to lifting. I am not sure if my warm up routine would work as well for anybody else but it has served me well.
Thank you for all of your advices; however, I was speaking in terms of prepping your CNS (if necessary) to handle heavy weights, not warming up (I warm up by doing 5 minutes on a treadmill). If my max is 6 x 225 for squats, what sort of progression should I have to prep the CNS without becoming too fatigued to make progress in my working set?
For example, would this be too much?
8 x 135
8 x 205
6 x 235 (gonna try to bump it up)
Will that help me handle my last set more? Or will I just tire myself out?
[quote]markdp wrote:
Thank you for all of your advices; however, I was speaking in terms of prepping your CNS (if necessary) to handle heavy weights, not warming up (I warm up by doing 5 minutes on a treadmill). If my max is 6 x 225 for squats, what sort of progression should I have to prep the CNS without becoming too fatigued to make progress in my working set?
For example, would this be too much?
8 x 135
8 x 205
6 x 235 (gonna try to bump it up)
Will that help me handle my last set more? Or will I just tire myself out?[/quote]
Keep your warm-up reps lower!
45 x 5
135 x 5
165 x 3
185 x 2
205 x 1
Rest 2-3 minutes and go for your 225 or 235 set for however many reps.
With TBT, you should only need to do warm-up sets for the first two exercises. After you finish your first superset, you will be sufficiently warmed up and ready to tackle additional sets without doing additional warm-ups (provided that yu went heavier on your first two exercises than subsequent exercises).
[quote]Arioch wrote:
Politico wrote:
I usually shoot some hoops for about 20 minutes before I work out. Then I’ll just static stretch the muscles I’m going to be using, do one set of about 30% 1rm and then go at it. Haven’t gotten hurt yet (knocks on wood)
You should also do some searching to find out why static stretching isn’t the best thing.[/quote]
Holy crap, yeah you need to really do some reading. If you’ve been here since '04, that’s plenty of time to have read at least one article about the potential pitfalls of preworkout static stretching. do you read the articles here regularly (serious question)?