I have both read the warm-up instructions in the Beginner Template and watched the video on how you, Jordan and Austin, warm-up for the deadlift. However, I still find myself unsure of the best practice in specific warm-ups and choosing the correct weight for the prescribed intensity of the session.
I understand that you recommend doing a few sets with the empty barbell to start. After that, I understand that I add a little weight for a few sets and that the load, the more or less “ready” I feel that day, and my individual difference determine how many warm-up sets I will need to take. However, I don’t know how relatively heavy the last warm-up set should be to assist me in determining the correct load in order to achieve the desired intensity for the day.
There are two strategies I have considered. The first involves using some arbitrary percentage of my e1RM from the last time I performed the exercise with the same number of reps. What that percentage would be, I do not know. My second strategy, which I think is more suitable, is to finish my warm-up when I reach an RPE 5. I figure RPE 5 because you encourage in your Beginner Template manual to log all sets rated at RPE 6 and above. RPE 5 wouldn’t constitute a working set while RPE 6 and above would if I have assessed the reasoning for the logging instructions correctly. However, your calculator only allows for an input of RPE 8 and above. At the moment, because I have been doing phase 1, I just add 5-10 lbs to my sets rated at RPE 5 to get my first set at RPE 6. However, I know the next phase starts the intensity at RPE 7, and I know that as time goes on, the gap in weight from one intensity to the next will widen. Also, assessing a set at RPE 5 is difficult.
Are either of these good strategies? Do I need to reorient the manner in which I think about my specific warm-ups?
Either would work, but I don’t think you need to really focus that much on selecting the perfect warm up. The purpose of a warm-up is to prepare you for the workout. There are many ways to do this and I really, really would try to avoid overthinking this.
A basic tool I use is to take the planned top set’s weight -45 and divide that value by 5 to yield the weight increase increment. Here’s how that would go:
Planned top set (315)
315-45= 270
270/5=54
So, add 55lbs each jump from the barbell on up.
Individual preferences for # of warm-up sets and th desire to do more warm-ups at lighter or heavier weights would require adjustment.
I’ve been doing too much warmup work at too close of a weight to my top set, which was causing me to actually fatigue before my work sets were really moving. More recently I was spending more time in the lighter weights to really get warm without a lot of fatigue - and I’ll try this formula paired with that new method.
So if the top set is taken to RPE 9, but you have working sets pyramiding up to that set (lets say a set @ 7 and a set @ 8), would you expect those 55 lb jumps (using your example) to include those previous sets @ 7 and @ 8? It wouldn’t seem like it to me.