Training Volume

All too often I see wasted sets on warmups, and it is all so unecessary. Let's take an Incline Dumbbell Bench Press for example. How many times do you see the "4 sets of 10" approach, where someone does 10 reps with the 60's, 70's, 80's, and finally the 90's. My question is, WHY all the volume leading up to that set of 10 with the 90 pound dumbbells? Why not simply perform a set of 5 with the 60's, a set of 5 with the 75's, and get after it! You may surprise yourself and end up getting more reps than you ever have with the 90's, simply by making this one alteration. Furthermore, you really only need to warmup a muscle group ONCE per workout. If you just came off of the Bench press, why would you need to warmup to do some Feet Elevated Pushups? Just go right into it, and make the most out of the sets that matter. If you train properly, you should only really need to do 2-3 "working" sets in this fashion anyways. For beginning lifters, I understand a light "feel" set or two may be necessary to get your motor patterns down, but advanced lifters who are familiar with the movement shouldn't really need these sets. Save your volume for the "real" muscle building sets in a workout, and cut down on those warmup reps, they will save you some gas in the tank for the big sets!

In strength,

Matt