​HEAVY SINGLE WARM-UP

·  When warming up for the main lift of a session, I have found many positive adaptations from building up to a quick heavy single, prior to performing the working sets for the day
 
·  Benefits
·  POTENTIATION: induces short term excitation of neuromuscular system prior to working sets to ENHANCE PERFORMANCE
·  READINESS: track bar speed/rpe of the final heavy single performed and compare it to previous sessions to get a sense for your READINESS to train that day
·  ADAPTATION: track bar speed/RPE of the final heavy single performed and compare it to previous cycles to MEASURE if training is inducing the adaptations you intended
·  NEURAL MAINTENANCE: for strength sport athletes whose only goal is to improve 1RM’s, retain the feel for heavy weight during volume focused phases of training
·  CONFIDENCE: “Strong people are harder to kill then weak people and more useful in general" Mark Rippetoe
 
·  Guide
·  LOW VOLUME: 4-5 sets and 10-15 reps total
·  MINIMAL TIME: Only allot 8-10 minutes at most to complete these warm-up sets, so you do not put too much effort toward “non-working sets”
·  NO EMOTION: The HS should be performed in a parasympathetic state, save getting hyped up for when it matters
·  80-90%: The final rep should fall between 80-90% of your 1RM, closer to 90% for upper body movements and closer to 80% for lower body movements
·  STRICT TECHNIQUE: Keep movement technically sound, I often add a pause at bottom position to not rely on bounce
 
Example
·  Bench Press warm-up: 5@135, 3@185, 1@225, 1@255, 1@275-295 (1RM: 315)
·  Sumo Deadlift warm-up: 5@225, 3@315, 1@365, 1@405-425, 1@455-495 (1RM: 525)