Personal Trainer Nashville to Spring Hill (203)733-9385 Jim@JamesCipriani.com James Cipriani Cutting Edge Personal Training

Warming up for HUGE Gains in Strength and Muscle

I want you to remember the following: Maximum Overload Training is all about building muscle. Maximum Overload Training takes the approach that every rep, every set and every workout is done for one reason - to build muscle and strength. This is very important. If you do a rep, set, or entire workout with weights for any other reason then you need to seriously question just why you are training in the first place. 

Any time you wrap your hands around a bar and start a set it should be approached with the mindset of building muscle and strength. You should be able to quantify why you do each rep. What other physiological reason is there for lifting weights? So every time you do a rep you know that that rep is either directly involved in building muscle or is a necessary prerequisite to the muscle building reps.

Every time I wrap my hands around a bar, I am out to handle a much heavier weight than I have every attempted and the risk of injury is higher, so a proper warm-up is crucial. Not to mention that for maximum muscle force and contraction, more warm-ups are needed. So from an all around performance standpoint, it is imperative to warm-up thoroughly.

Warming is just that - - Warming up

Understand that warming-up is nothing more than "warming-up". What this means is that you should warm-up the muscle group you are training in a fashion that will allow you to infuse the right amount of blood into the muscle and connective tissue and progressively introduce the increasing overload to this muscle group. This warm-up process should not fatigue the muscle. I repeat, the warm-up process should not fatigue the muscle. If you generate any muscle fatigue whatsoever during your warm-up sets you will compromise muscle overload and growth.

My warm-up techniques introduce blood into the muscle group, progressively acclimate the muscle and soft tissue to the heavy weight and does not fatigue the muscle

A fatigued muscle is a weak muscle. A muscle not "ready" for heavy weight is an injury prone muscle. The key is to warm-up the muscle being trained so it can handle maximum overload without injury, while at the same time not fatiguing the muscle in the process. 

I am going to show you how to implement a technique into your training that has provided immediate results in the amount of weight many people use. Remember, muscle growth is dictated by overload. The greater the overload placed on a muscle, the greater the growth response from that muscle. 

Warming up the right way

Here I am going to take the Bench Press and show you a proper warm-up technique that will allow you to lift more weight on your heavy sets. Remember, more weight - more overload - more muscle. Let's use 275 lbs as the aim for our workset weight.

First Set: 135 x 12 reps (warm-up)

Here you are using roughly 50% of your target workset weight. These should be good smooth reps. Not too slow and not to fast. Your main goal is to increase blood flow and get the feel of the movement and the weight. After this first set you should rest about 1 minute.

Second Set: 135 x 10 reps (warm-up)

Same weight as before. Rhythm should be a little faster this time. Not much faster. Rest about 1 minute.

Third Set: 185 x 6 reps (warm-up)

Here we bump the weight to roughly around 70% of the target workset weight. This should be a deliberate set done at a moderate pace. This is the next step in weight acclimation. It should feel light and the first 4 reps should be very easy. Rest about 1 to 2 minutes before the next set.

Fourth Set: 225 x 3 reps (weight acclimation) 

Again we bump the weight up. Roughly to about 80% of the workset weight. You should follow the same rhythm as in the last set. 3 strong reps. Rest 1 minute before next set.

Fifth Set: 255 x 1 rep (weight acclimation)

That's right, just 1 rep. Roughly with 90-95% of your workset weight. The purpose here is weight acclimation. This should be a strong, powerful and deliberate rep.

Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Sets: 275 x 4 to 6 reps (muscle-building)

These are the muscle building sets. Very important. These are the only sets that produce muscle growth. All the sets leading up to these heavy sets are merely warm-up sets and are treated as just that and nothing more.

Eliminating and avoiding unnecessary sets

Anytime you do a set it should be performed for a defined purpose. In essence there are only three types of sets - warm-up sets, weight acclimation sets, and muscle building sets. There are no in-betweens. No other set should exist and from the standpoint of building muscle, no other set does exist. Each set you do should be clearly defined and fall into one of these 3 categories. 

Think about a typical workout. How many sets do you do that have no clear definition? You know the sets that fall somewhere between a warm-up set, a weight acclimation set and a muscle building set. These sets should be eliminated and a structured workout does just that.

A set that is neither a warm-up set, a weight acclimation set, or a muscle building set does nothing for muscle growth.

In fact, these undefined sets rob the muscle of maximum growth by inducing fatigue. Fatigue is muscle growth's worst enemy. 

Here is an example of unnecessary sets typically done during a common chest workout that you can see being done in any local gym: 

Let's say you just finished your Flat Bench Press routine. Now it's time to move over to Incline Bench Press. Most people will follow another inefficient warm-up routine for Incline Bench Press like they did on their Flat Bench Press routine. Why? Your chest muscles are certainly warm and able to handle maximum weight. Why would you go through the entire warm-up scenario again when you're training essentially the same muscle? 

Think about the training you may have done in the past and add up all the unnecessary sets you do in a typical routine. Imagine how much this has robbed you of muscle growth.

Wasted warm-up sets apply to every muscle group being trained. There is no need for repetitive warm-up sets for the same muscle group within different exercises. This only adds further fatigue and depletes muscle energy substrates that ultimately rob your muscle's ability to handle maximum overload. 

It's very important to never do unnecessary reps, sets, or exercises when trying to build muscle. This is why warming up properly is so critical. For Maximum Overload Training, the heavy sets are where everything happens. All sets preceding these heavy sets are just performed to get the muscle groups ready. 

Doing any proceeding sets in a manner that will impede in any way the execution of the heavy sets will be counter-productive to building muscle. It's imperative that you understand the difference between the three different types of sets in Maximum Overload Training.

Weight acclimation sets 

Just what is a weight acclimation set? Weight acclimation sets are a form of warm-up sets that are done to allow your muscles, tendons, joints, and ligaments to become accustom to the increasing weight overload. 

A warm-up set pumps blood into the muscle and surrounding and supporting soft tissue. This enhances flexibility and elasticity of the muscle. A weight acclimation set is performed to progressively introduce the increasing overload to the muscle, joints, and supporting soft tissue in preparation for the high-intensity, heavy sets. 

Weight acclimation sets are very important in preventing injury. These sets condition the muscle and soft tissue for the upcoming heavy sets. Neither warm-up sets nor weight acclimation sets build muscle, but they are integral to building muscle by preparing the muscle and supporting soft tissue for the heavy weight. 

Because warm-up sets and weight acclimation sets don't build muscle, they must be done in a manner that does not impede, but enhances the muscle building sets. This is the essence of weight acclimation. 

Weight acclimation sets allow your muscles to "prepare" for upcoming heavy sets without fatiguing the muscle being worked. Proper warm-up techniques utilizing weight acclimation sets will enhance your muscle's ability to maximize nerve-muscle contraction and lift heavier weights for maximum overload generation.

Maximum Overload "Set-Synergy" 

As you can tell by now, we are incorporating a strategy that encompasses total synergy between the different types of sets all leading to the ultimate heavy, muscle building sets. It is the heavy sets that are responsible for inducing muscle growth and strength, but without proper techniques in the warm-up and acclimation sets, maximum weight and intensity can't be used during the heavy sets. 

The importance of warming up correctly can't be overstated. It's essential in staying injury free and critical to your performance during the muscle-building sets. Understanding why you do each specific set that you do will shed light on the overall science behind Max-OT. 

Remember, in Max-OT the only sets that build muscle are the ones where you are putting forth maximum effort. All other sets are done in preparation for these sets. These prior sets are designed to promote maximum muscular energy and strength with minimal risk to injury. This way the muscle-building sets can be performed with maximum overload and maximum mental and physical intensity.

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