Ep. 18 | A Deep Dive Into Warm Up Jumps

Skipping warm-ups is the fastest way to turn a good training day into a frustrating one. We want you to have a repeatable warm-up plan you can use for the big compound lifts, whether you train for powerlifting or you just want your squat, bench press, and deadlift to feel smoother and stronger.

We map out a clear path to warm up jumps for the Squat, Bench and Deadlift so that you can be on point and ready for those top sets.

Subscribe for more strength training and powerlifting coaching conversations, share this with a training partner who skips warm-ups, and leave a review if it helps your next session. 

Transcript

Welcome And Why Warmups Matter

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to another episode of the Fortis After Hours podcast. Maybe one day I will think of a new intro or like record one with like music.

SPEAKER_03 0:09

Hmm. Fancy.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

Would you guys like that? You'll have to let me know in the comments, either on YouTube or wherever you're listening to the podcast. But either way, welcome to another episode. It's another awesome one, in case you were wondering. And today we're going to be talking about warmups, uh, which is actually going to be pretty exciting because good warmups can lead to a great session. We'll just leave it at that. Um, and it is the day before Liz's birthday, but this is gonna go live on Liz's birthday, probably on YouTube.

SPEAKER_03 0:39

Oh.

SPEAKER_00 0:40

That's what I did last week, and that was kind of cool.

SPEAKER_03 0:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 0:43

So I think we're gonna do that.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Hence the birthday balloons, if you're watching.

SPEAKER_00 0:46

If you're watching on YouTube, hello, welcome. Um, if you're not watching on YouTube, check it out. It's way more fun. There's birthday balloons. Yeah, there's balloons, there's Toby, there's caffeine, and there's Nate and Liz. So honestly, if you don't want to look at just 30 minutes of our faces, there's other stuff as well. Um, including Toby. So check it out if you haven't already on YouTube. Um I'm closing in on a hundred days, I think, of posting one video every single day on our YouTube. So probably not quite yet.

SPEAKER_03 1:17

Because there's 30 days in a month, and so it would be in April, probably. So you're like a month away from that.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Okay. Well, in my brain, I'm closing in. I'm closing in.

SPEAKER_03 1:27

You and your rounding of numbers of things so wild.

SPEAKER_00 1:30

Anyways, so today we're gonna be talking about warm-ups um and specifically kind of warming up um for compound lifts. So whether you're a power lifter or if you're just like general fitness, um mainly we're gonna be talking about today back squat, bench press, and deadlift, kind of some tips and tricks, how you warm up for them, uh, what kind of jumps to take. Because we've noticed that, and you know, this has just kind of become more prevalent as our coaching business continues to grow, is there's a lot of people just don't like fully know like how to hit their warmups or like what warm-ups to do.

SPEAKER_03 2:05

Yeah, it's a big conversation that like we have to have with a lot of people. And I feel like lately I've seen more, like not even necessarily our lifters, but just other lifters or people newer to the gym. Like if they're following a program and it says, you know, three by five at 175 pounds, they just load 175 pounds on the bar and start lifting, like whatever squat bench, deadlift, whatever. And they don't do anything to warm up. Now, this is separate from like an actual like warm-up routine, like whatever mobility, whatever like priming stuff, which also people don't do.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Yes. Um, and on that note, we've posted uh Liz's uh film these. We've posted one for the squat bench and deadlift. Yes. Check those out on YouTube.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Uh and like you don't have to do exactly what I do, but it might give you some ideas of things to do if you're not doing any type of warm-up, like you're going to feel better. At least get some blood flowing, get your muscles like awake. I don't know. Half the time you've at least driven, I would say at least 10 minutes for most people, if not 20, 30 minutes to your gym or more, depending on like where you go, like where you work out at.

SPEAKER_00 3:10

And you may have been sitting all day.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Yeah, like from you know, at work, whatever, or if you come in the morning, you just slept all night. So, like getting some blood flowing, getting certain muscles like awake for like lack of a scientific term, but waking up everything and like feeling good, that this is separate from that.

SPEAKER_00 3:30

Yeah, and that's a great point and a precursor to that. So make sure you guys are doing some sort of uh general warm-up. We definitely recommend doing that.

SPEAKER_03 3:39

Uh before it doesn't need to be super long.

SPEAKER_00 3:41

You get started.

General Warm-Up To Get Blood Flow

SPEAKER_03 3:42

Um like five, ten minutes. Yeah. If like is good. I mean, some people do need more, some people don't, but like five, ten minutes, like something to get things flowing.

SPEAKER_00 3:54

Uh agreed. Um, we're gonna take a quick break because I realize these mics are not recording. And we're back. Sorry about that.

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Technical difficulties.

SPEAKER_00 4:01

I was just looking at Liz and noticing that the mic was not on. So I was like, hold on a minute. Um, but anyways, yeah, so we definitely recommend doing some sort of general warm-up to get some blood flow going uh before any type of compound lift. Uh that's just gonna help make sure your body's primed and ready to move, and it's gonna keep you safe, it's gonna keep you moving better longer. Um, and there's just no reason not to. If you're gonna go in and lift whatever you're lifting, whether it's hundreds of pounds or whether it's 10 pounds, if it's you know, maximum effort or if it's a challenging weight for you, yeah, then you should prepare your body. That's the least you could do to help your body get ready to lift the weights.

SPEAKER_03 4:37

I'm in no way saying you need to spend 20, 30 minutes doing this. Like you're like me, five-minute couple things, like you might be good to go.

Three Warm-Up Scenarios To Master

SPEAKER_00 4:46

And if you're like me and you get uh kind of stuck, then I think you'll really like the warm-up videos. So definitely go check those out because that's what I need. I need, I actually recently did this for myself. It just helps me. I wrote it wrote down my warm-up, so I just follow them. Um, but yeah, if you're looking for something so you're not just lost uh warming up forever, check that out. So, because that should be, in my opinion, five to fifteen minutes, absolute max. Um, and then you should be ready to go. So you're ready to go, you're loading the weights. How do we how do we warm up for so what we're gonna talk about today to break this down is three sections. The first one, we're gonna talk about singles. We're just gonna go backwards because I just think that's gonna make a lot more sense. We're gonna do singles and/or kind of like when you're like competing, uh, if you are competing in the sport of powerlifting or weightlifting. Um, like I said, this just is kind of similar for across all things that you're lifting a barbell. Um, and then we'll do kind of like some reps, like how do we warm up for reps, because that is a little bit different. Um, and then we'll do like how do we warm up for deload? Because that's kind of its own separate thing in my brain. Um, it's also the easiest thing. So we'll finish with that.

SPEAKER_03 5:57

And I will say, like, caveat, obviously, like what we're saying or what we do or what we believe is technically only one way to do it. Like it can warm up differently. Yeah, you especially if like it works. But also, like you never know. You might have something that you feel like works, but maybe you try something different and it works better. Um, who knows? I would not suggest changing a whole warm-up routine like the week before a meet. Like if you're competing. Um, I mean, if you're not competing, try out some different warmups, see what we're doing. Yeah, do what you want. Yeah, um, if you are competing, pump the brakes. I would probably not. However, I will say I have had some athletes who like on meet day, they're just like, oh, just tell me what warmups to do. And so I just pick warmups that make sense to me, and they always feel great, even if they're not what they usually do. So you might be able to just change things, but it would not really be my suggestion unless you have a coach that is there helping you make your changes.

SPEAKER_00 6:52

You don't want to be training willy-nilly.

SPEAKER_03 6:53

Yeah.

Meet Day Singles Warmup Principles

SPEAKER_00 6:54

Um, so so yeah, so for singles andor on meet day, um, I think the first thing is you gotta understand like the the point of these kind of warmups. Like once you've already warmed up the body, so you're still warming up your body a little bit, but I would say more of the warmups leading up to a single is to really help prime your nervous system to like be prepared to lift a heavy load. Um, of course, you want to also make sure that you're like tracking in the right spot. That's a big thing. I see a lot of people they lift the bar one way and they lift like, let's just say 300 pounds a completely different way. And that is not what you want to do. Um, this is something that I struggled with immensely when I first started like barbell sports, if you will, um, both weightlifting and powerlifting. And ironically, my coach for weightlifting is really who helped me realize the importance of moving a barbell extremely well, not just like okay, like extremely well. Um, and then I carried that over into my powerlifting journey, and it's been super helpful. So that's the first one is the bar. Make sure you are moving the bar. Yes, very much.

SPEAKER_02 7:57

Some people don't even do the bar though. We just throw weight on the bar.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Well, for some things, I do that, which I guess we'll go over. Um, but yeah, so we'll go with squats, and you know, the first thing, um, I'm generally always doing just a bar a couple times here and there. I'll get the sort of thing.

SPEAKER_03 8:14

I pretty much for like any lift would recommend like for a squat bench or deadlift doing the bar unless it's sumo. That would be the only thing that I would suggest like starting with any type of weight for with a plate or something.

SPEAKER_00 8:27

Yeah, I agree. Um, so yeah, definitely start with a bar. Or if you're starting with sumo and it's like a lighter weight, uh, you want to move that like you know as good as possible. I mean, these should be some of your best reps. I like I said, for the life of me, I don't understand just kind of willy-nilly. Now, um, I will say on both squat, on really all three, squat, bench, and deadlift, I think there's room for, I would call kind of like heating up, some like heating up reps, if you will, which maybe are a little, I'm not gonna say sloppier, but they're not necessarily like your actual lifting form. It's more just kind of getting some blood flow to the area. So some people I've seen, like some really big squatters and deadlifters, do this with uh the empty bar for their warmups. Me personally, I do it for bench. So I do like two bar warmups for bench. The first one, I just kind of get on the bar and I do 10 wide, 10 normal, 10 narrow grip. And I don't really sometimes I don't put my feet down. I'm like flat back, like it's not really touching where it usually touches. It's literally just to kind of get some blood flow generally to that area. Um, and then, but then I do a second set and then I move that bar just like I would my top set. So that's step one. Move the barbell, and or if you're doing sumo, you know, a lightweight very, very well. Um, from there, how do we pick our first warm-up?

SPEAKER_03 9:46

I feel like this is where a lot of people struggle because it is a little bit different, and there's not like I would not say that there are like exact like percentages or exact numbers, which does make it like I feel like a little more, I don't want to say challenging to pick it, but like it is let's do it like this for people.

SPEAKER_00 10:08

So for people listening, make it simple. What how many how many reps, like if you're if you're warming up for a single, because that's what we're talking about right now, where do you start for your first warm-up in terms of reps? Like take it like this. Something you could do for 10, something you could do for five, something you could do for three. Like, what would you recommend for?

SPEAKER_03 10:27

I've got I've got another, so yes, but so what I tell people, which is what I suggest on meet day, which is also kind of applies to like in the gym. I suggest having and planning out four to six warm-ups before your opener on meet day. So like in the warm-up room, you have four to six warm-ups. And then I guess if you're in the gym, that might look because like that's before your opener. So then maybe like six to nine, basically like warm-up slash attempts to your top single.

SPEAKER_00 10:58

Yeah, but really, like you had just said, it would still be like four to six warm-ups until you're at like single weight, and then you maybe do a few more.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

And then yeah, like two to three more singles on top of that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:08

Um okay, so step one, so the first four to six.

SPEAKER_03 11:11

The four to six different weights, and like they should be like planned out. Don't just be like, ah, let's just put this on. We'll try this this big of a jump.

SPEAKER_01 11:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:21

Um you the obviously when you first start, now you don't have to do 10 by any means, but like your first weight is something that like if you were asked to do it, you could easily do 10.

SPEAKER_00 11:33

That's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_03 11:34

Easily do 10. Like, no struggle, do 10. Like, probably could do 20 to 30 reps with it without. I mean, like, yeah, again, don't do that. Don't do 20 to 30 reps. But like you could. The first weight should be something that is very, very light. Um, I do see some people, a lot of people, um, just kind of like put on a plate or a red plate when they're starting to warm up for something, which if you're on a squat bar, that makes it like 165. Yeah, I think. But like they're maybe their top single is like 200 or 225. Yeah. So like that doesn't really give you a lot of room to warm up to to get to that. So you want to make sure like the first one, I would say the first one or two are pretty good, like pretty easy. The first one, like I said, easily 10 reps, but when you're warming up to a top single, maybe do like five.

SPEAKER_01 12:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

Like I would not, and sometimes you might need to do it twice. Like that first weight. Like, I will sometimes do my first weight two times, depending on how I'm feeling.

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Um so the first weight for the listeners should be something you could easily rip out if you needed to do 10, 20 reps, no problem. But you recommend doing five.

SPEAKER_03 12:45

Five-ish. Like that's kind of a ish number.

SPEAKER_00 12:48

Second warm-up.

SPEAKER_03 12:49

Um second warm-up, I would usually do, I would say anywhere from like three to five reps. Um, something you could probably still do for 10, but it would be harder.

SPEAKER_01 13:00

Okay. If that makes sense. Yep, yep.

Planning Jumps For Heavy Singles

SPEAKER_03 13:01

Like you could do it for 10, but if you were doing 10, it would probably be like a working set of 10. Like, not like, oh, that was so easy. I just did 10. It would be like a like if you were like prescribed like three sets of 10, like maybe that would be your set of 10. So like a working weight type set of 10. Um, but I would again recommend probably doing like three to five.

SPEAKER_00 13:23

All right. So that's the first two warmups. We got between two and four more. So from there, and I feel like those are gonna be more similar um after the first two.

SPEAKER_03 13:34

Yeah, like after that, I would say anywhere from honestly, like as you're warming up, like anywhere from like one to three reps, depending on the person, depending on what they need.

SPEAKER_00 13:43

And I want to make a distinction. We might talk or we'll talk about this in a second when we get to like the warming up for reps, it'll be a little bit different. Um but for this, you wouldn't be doing like a ton of reps afterwards. You're just doing like singles.

SPEAKER_03 13:58

What do you mean?

SPEAKER_00 13:58

Like for the warm-up reps, like how many reps are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 14:01

That's what I just said. Three for the after ones? Yeah, I said like one to three, depending on depending on the person. So like for warm-ups like three to six or whatever, three to seven, like however many jumps you're doing. Um, I would probably one to three reps, depending on where you're at. Um I would also point out or mention that the earlier warmups should be bigger jumps. And then as you get closer to the top end, the jumps are gonna probably get a little bit smaller. Got it. Like if you're in kilos, you might be able to take, depending on the person at the very beginning, 20 kilo jumps, 40 kilo jumps, maybe 50 kilo jumps at the beginning. But I would not necessarily recommend that size of jump towards the end unless you're lifting some like crazy, crazy heavy like 700 pounds, 800 pounds, whatever. Um, even that a 50 kilo jump is still kind of a lot to your top. Anyways, yeah. Um, but kind of what I like to do is like I kind of like to math it out to where like see like my first jump to my second jump, like how many kilos is that? My second to my third, how many kilos is that? And then try and make either like equal jumps across or like they get smaller as you get closer. Um I feel like for a lot of women specifically, and maybe some men too, but anywhere from like 10 kilo jumps to maybe only a two and a half kilo jump, especially on bench as you get closer to the top, but you're not taking two and a half kilo jumps like all the way up. That would be crazy.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

So after you do the first two, this is something we could do for 10-ish reps. Then we start moving on and we're doing maybe one to three reps, and these are weights that we I I would assume, you know, we're just gonna kind of like descend uh or really ascend in weight, descend in reps. Like if you're doing something for three, uh for a warm-up, it should be like you could if you needed to, you could do like five or more, I'm guessing.

SPEAKER_03 16:01

Yeah. Um what's wrong?

SPEAKER_00 16:05

Toby's not a fan of the warmups. No, um, and then once you get to singles, that's maybe something, even when you are warming up, maybe something you could do for like two or three reps.

SPEAKER_03 16:13

I mean, maybe, yeah. I mean, it depends like how close you are getting to your top single. So that because like obviously maybe like your last warm-up, like you might only be able to do that for one, which is fine, because like that would kind of be like your second attempt at a meet. You probably are only gonna do it for one.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

Yeah, that makes sense. Um, so you would do the last few, you're doing one to three reps, getting closer and closer to the top. And then once we're very pretty close to the top, how many kilos do you like to jump for a top single um from your last warm-up to that top single?

SPEAKER_03 16:50

I mean, it really that's kind of what I was saying, though. It kind of depends on the person, it depends on like how much weight that you're lifting because that's very like it's very dependent. I mean, I think you kind of need to maybe look at like the weight that you're doing and almost, I don't want to say like figure out a percentage of it, but like because it's different. If you're lifting a hundred pounds and you take a 10 pound jump, that's a 10% increase. But if you're lifting 200 pounds and you take a 10 pound jump, that's only like a 5% increase. So or whatever jump. So I think like that kind of makes a difference. Like the more the more weight that's on the bar, the a little bit bigger of a jump you can get away with.

SPEAKER_00 17:36

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 17:37

Um, so like specifically on bench, I would say those are gonna be the smaller jumps, like maybe two and a half to five kilos, depending on the person. For women specifically, men can usually get away with a little bit bigger, maybe like 10, maybe 15, but I feel like 15 would be like you're a really strong bencher.

SPEAKER_01 17:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:58

Seven and a half kilos. Um, so but I mean, I feel like that kind of is the same across like any of your lifts, though.

SPEAKER_00 18:05

So I guess uh for people listening, then would you recommend they so there's you know they're trying to figure out their warm-ups, and of course, so you should be talking with your coach if you have a coach about the warmups, but let's just say you're trying to figure it out, uh, you're listening to this. Do you recommend just trying like, oh, I'm just gonna try this like 10 kilo jump, or should you try maybe a little bit of a smaller jump and then work from there, get more comfortable with a bigger jump? Um, since, like you're saying, it's not entirely like an exact number, which I would agree with 100%.

SPEAKER_03 18:34

Yeah, and I mean I will say there's some days that I take different jumps depending on how I'm feeling. Um, some days it's five kilos, some days it's ten. Um and like that's that's also kind of part of it, is also having a little bit of flexibility in what you're doing, like mentally to change like what needs to be changed. Um, but I would say you definitely don't want to start out with too big of a jump.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 18:58

Um I would agree. Because your body not gonna be ready for that, especially if you're going for like top single, like PR weight that you've like never touched before. Like I would say if it's like a PR weight, I would do for okay, again, for most people, unless the numbers are like crazy big, I would get within like 20 pounds, so 10 kilos of your top single. Yeah, I like it. Um especially if you're going for a PR.

SPEAKER_01 19:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:21

Um, 10 kilos, I would say, would probably be the max. Again, unless it's you know 700, 800 pounds, then okay, maybe you have some wiggle room. But I feel like most people listening to probably are not lifting that crazy heavy. So for most people, I would say you would want to get within like a 20 pounds would probably be the biggest you would want to jump, especially up to a PR.

SPEAKER_00 19:42

Um, and that's probably realistically, that's probably more for like squat and deadlift. Yes, I was just gonna say that 10 pounds.

SPEAKER_03 19:49

Bench, I would say probably yes. If it is going for a PR, I would not really recommend like really much more than 10 pounds, maybe 15 if you're like if you're benching like over 300 pounds. Like, okay, maybe you can take a 15 key 15 pound, not too 15 pound jump. Um, for a lot of women specifically, you might be looking at five pounds, and that's okay. Like two and a half kilos, like just put the little silvers on because sometimes those little silvers will get you.

SPEAKER_00 20:18

Um I would agree. And I think that's what I was trying to try to get at as I think it's I think it's a little more important to start a little smaller, and then if you decide, you know, you do that and you're like, I think I could take a little bigger jump, then try it, you know, see how it goes, and then document it and don't be afraid.

SPEAKER_03 20:33

But don't go from like a two and a half kilo jump to like a 20 kilo jump.

SPEAKER_00 20:36

No, and don't be afraid to do what works best for you. What works best for your buddy or your coach might not work for you. Yeah. Um, so for the top single, like to kind of wrap that section up, like really you are trying to prime your body's like neurological system, like and get it ready to move heavyweight. Um, your muscles are gonna move the weight. Like, you need to make sure your brain and like your nerve, like everything is like ready to go. Um, so I really recommend I like Liz's blueprint, just start um, like she said, something you can do for 10, then you know, a little harder 10, and then kind of dial into that, like something you could do for five, three to five reps and kind of work your way in. And then as you follow that blueprint over time, you might find, okay, I actually do better taking bigger jumps because of XYZ reason. Um, but I would definitely start smaller and then go from there.

SPEAKER_03 21:27

Um if you're the person who like doesn't warm up at all as of right now, like you're listening to this, you're like, man, I don't do anything. This is gonna change your life. Um, well, that, but I would also like it might sound kind of silly, but like literally take a second and like do a little bit of math and like write it down so that way you're not like warming up and then all of a sudden you're like, oh my god, what am I doing? Yeah, and then make sure it makes sense.

Why Your Last Warm-Up Matters

SPEAKER_00 21:50

Because sometimes I've done that in the past where I'm like, oh yeah, I'm gonna do this. And then I'm doing it, I'm like, what? I'm like, I just did like you don't want to be doing this. I took, you know, let's say a 20 kilo jump. And then I took a 15 kilo jump and then I took a 20 kilo jump to the top. That's not like not ideal. It would be better to take maybe a 25 kilo jump and then a 15 and then a 10. You know what I mean? Like something like that. So you it you just want to always kind of have it like be tapering in towards that top single. And above all else, like I said, in my opinion, you are preparing to lift some heavy weight, whatever that is for you. That's what those warmups are there for. That's what you should be thinking about. You shouldn't be thinking about oh, like if I do five reps in this warm-up set, no, like you should be, and honestly, doing like the minimum effective dose of reps because you're doing a single. So that's what we're warming up for. One rep. Um, so and once your body's ready, and really, so some other pro tips on that. Once you get those last two warmups, specifically the last one, needs to be on point. Now, I there's like a polarizing thing that happens in the power of things space. Some people hate it, some people don't. I have no problem with it, and that is people posting in their last warm-ups. Here's the deal the last warm-up should look really good. Yes, like a lot of people are like, oh, of course. Here's the deal, though. A lot of people don't really pay attention to their last warm-up. So I actually kind of like that it brings attention to it. It's like, hey, yeah, like let's see that last warm-up. Because as a coach, you know, I can tell you a lot about what a lifter's about to do based off their last warm-up. And I'll tell you also, especially game day, you want me to load something on the bar, and that shit's got to move good. Like, I don't want to be like, yeah, I'm not gonna, you know, put this crazy push attempt if it's like, oh, I can do it on the next one. No, like you need to show me that we're ready to go on that earlier one. So making sure that last warm-up is locked in is actually, I think, some really good advice. Um, so really treat that like it is your top single and then move it really well, and then you're gonna be feeling fantastic and confident in going to the top single. Or if you have a bad day, we're a little off, and you feel, man, that was really heavy. Well, then maybe we adjust for the top. Maybe that is your top. Who knows? Like if you're having a real bad day, it happens. Um, it's happened to me and Liz, you know, it happens. Has it happened to you, Toby? Apparently. Um, but yeah, like that happens. And if you know you need to adjust, you can adjust based off how that last warm up moves. So I actually am a big fan of like focusing on the last warm up, bringing attention to the last warrants.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Um, all right, moving on. How do we warm up for reps? This one's a little quicker. So, I mean Do I do if I'm doing three sets of 10, do I do sets of 10 all the way up to my three sets of 10?

Warming Up For Rep Sets

SPEAKER_03 24:28

So I do not recommend that. Okay. Um, but there are some people that like to do that. And it is extra volume. Like if you want to get down to it. Like especially sets of 10, you're just really that means you're definitely in just like a volume phase, and maybe you just want the volume. So, like, you can do that, but also know that you will probably be a little more fatigued when you get to the top.

SPEAKER_01 24:51

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 24:52

Um so I personally do not do sets of 10 when I'm warming up. Even if I'm doing like a top set of five, I don't even do fives all the way up to my top set of five or threes or whatever. Um I honestly warm up fairly similarly, especially if I have a top set um of like a heavy set of five or a heavy set of three, whatever. I do warm up fairly similarly as I do for a top single. Whereas like my first rep is like my jumps are pretty similar. Obviously, they stop a lot sooner than if I have a top single. But like the first one, I'll probably do like five reps, and the second one I'll probably do about three. And then it's probably gonna be one to maybe two, just so I can like it's kind of a similar reason though. Like, feel the weight, get accustomed to it, but then be ready to use your energy on that top set of three or two or five or seven or whatever your top set is. Like you do want to like whatever, feel ready for it, but also not waste energy.

SPEAKER_00 25:59

Yeah. Um, so and that's kind of what I wanted to bring up because I think it's interesting because so the difference, the main difference is when you're working up to to some reps, to some volume, this is submaximum weight for sure. Like, guaranteed. When you're working up to a top single, this might be maximum weight. So you need to know in your brain, okay, like even though I'm only doing three, I'm gonna be doing a set of five and I'm gonna be fine. Because you know, you're warming up to it, you should be good. Um, now I like you said, I usually warm pretty similar. Sometimes I will do a few more reps, um, just to kind of get but I depending on what I'm doing. Very rarely, at least as I've gotten like older in my powerlifting career, lifting career in general, like I don't usually ever do the actual amount of reps until that is the first set of that. Like I usually do a little bit less than that. Um, but I do think sometimes, especially like newer lifters, I think you can get away with that because you're constantly getting stronger. Your max really isn't your max, and you can do a little bit more, plus gives you kind of some bonus reps to like really lock in that form.

SPEAKER_03 27:01

Yeah. And I think too, like, you know, it might be a little bit different if you're doing like three sets of five or five sets of five or five sets of three, because you're trying to do like that's more just kind of like a cross volume, yeah. Maybe, or maybe you'll do ascending volume, like just depends on the coach. So, like those maybe you are getting a little more like doing more reps as you're going, just because that's kind of like part of the almost part of the program.

SPEAKER_01 27:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 27:29

Versus like if you're doing a top set of something, I feel like that's also a little different. Does that make sense?

SPEAKER_00 27:35

Agreed. Okay. No, agreed. Like, if I'm going top set of reps, I'm definitely not doing uh those amount of reps. If I'm doing a cross, which is a stimulus that we do sometimes and we program sometimes, and some coaches will program that every time, uh, then yeah, I would say, and sometimes I like to do ascends. That's the other thing. I sometimes I like to go, you know, we talked about ranges last week. Sometimes I like to ascend within my range and consider like the first set or second set, maybe some of my warm-ups. So I like to do that as well.

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Yeah.

Deload Week Still Needs Intention

SPEAKER_00 28:04

Um, so yeah, so for reps, that's mainly what I wanted to touch on was just the fact that like you don't want to be doing like extra, like crazy amounts of volume. Um, like we were saying, you know, if you're if you're newer, you can definitely get away with it. But as you continue to mature as like an athlete, whatever the weight you're lifting, it doesn't really matter. Um, I think you can, you know, you do want to again prime your body, get it ready to move the weight. That is the point of warming up, um, and then move the weight for whatever's required of that day. Um, okay, so last but not least, I think this might be the most important one because it's D load week. I'm chilling. I'm just coming in, I'm coming in in the slides, no knee sleeves for me. You know, I don't even where's my belt? I don't know.

SPEAKER_03 28:51

You're gonna die.

SPEAKER_00 28:53

And I, you know, usually do all these more. I'm just doing one, I'm going straight to it. So what do I do on D-Load Week?

SPEAKER_03 29:01

Uh, the same thing you've been doing.

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Bingo. So that's the thing, man. Like, I don't know. I feel like people on D-Load Week, they're like, all right, I'm doing everything different.

SPEAKER_03 29:11

Well, I think the problem is, like, because it's lighter, people just don't take it as seriously. Yeah. Um, but then it feels terrible because they didn't take it as seriously. Um and then it sucks because then your D-Load week, which is supposed to be like light and easy, feels terrible because you didn't warm up or you didn't actually like wear your knee sleeves, or you know, whatever it is that you would normally do. You didn't do your pre-lifting warm-ups, you just came in and got under the bar. Um I actually just I was doing some coaching videos earlier, and someone posted their deadlifts from this week, and it was D-Load deadlifts. And um, I know like this person is like super fatigued, has been working crazy hours, like all this stuff. But like she hit those with like the same intensity that like she would hit them like a normal week of deadlifts, and they moved so good, which is what you want. Like you want the D-Load lifts to move really, really good. And like you can see that she still brought like intensity to it and still tried versus just like, oh man, I'm tired. I'm gonna pick this up now. Yep, and then it's way slower because there was no intensity. And I mean, maybe intensity is not the right word. Intention. Yeah, maybe that's the better word.

SPEAKER_00 30:28

Um, but because yeah, I I really think it's of course the most simple of my three topics for today, but I really think it might be the most important because you know, D-Load Week is a it's a time to really allow your body to recover, catch up, if you will, from the block of training. And some some D-Load weeks you might be totally trashed and you really need it. Others, you might be relatively fine.

SPEAKER_03 30:51

Um, but or you might not know that you're drunk. And then all of a sudden you're like, oh man, I feel so much better.

SPEAKER_00 30:58

Personal attack here on me. Okay. All right. Anyways, um, but yeah, you might not know if you're like me. But, anyways, uh, you know, D-Load weeks are super important, and I just I do see this across everywhere in real life, on uh the internet, on Instagram. It's just, you know, people they just treat it like it's like uh and then they come back week one and maybe they feel kind of uh it's like yo, like D-Load Week is supposed to be easier, make it easier, and that's on you as the athlete to do that. Like, you know, the weights should be programmed, of course, the lighter, which they always are gonna be lighter. Um, but then that's on you to execute that and still have good intention when you're lifting the weights, good warm-ups when you're lifting the weights. That's why I brought that up. They should stay the same, y'all. Like they should stay exactly the same. That way you're practicing um and preparing for the week ahead and the block ahead. That's what I like to think of for myself.

SPEAKER_03 31:49

Well, and I think too, like as you get stronger, um, your D load weights do get heavier, obviously, just because you're stronger. But like in your brain, they're weights that are like, oh, I've done that for reps before.

SPEAKER_00 32:02

Oh man, this is a dangerous thought.

SPEAKER_03 32:03

That's so easy. Like, I just did that for a set of three, I just did that for a set of five. Like, I only have to do it for a single. Oh, that's so easy. But like, it's really actually still kind of heavy weight. You're just strong, so like you can do it for reps, but if you don't like try, it's not gonna be easy.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Yeah. And then that's when you kind of like get in your head and it's like, oh man.

SPEAKER_03 32:25

So, like, yeah, you can do it for reps, but like you need to move the one rep really good. Like, you almost need to like pretend like it's heavier if you can't just like move it good because in your brain you're like, oh, well, it's so easy, it's gonna move so good. Like, you have to actually like try.

Closing Thoughts And Listener Questions

SPEAKER_00 32:42

Yeah. And you can save that talking for after you do it, and you can be like, look how you're gonna do it. Wow, that was so easy. Yeah, exactly. Because like that's yeah, I think that's a really good point. And I just think it's like I said, it is not the time to be changing your warmups. You should be dialed in, locked in. If anything, um if you if you did, I will say this sometimes if you are, you know, as you get stronger, your warmups will adjust. That is a time where I will like it's not really changing it per se, because that's still the same process. Skip a jump, exactly. Skip a jump, move something up. I do do that on D-Load Week. Um, and like I think that is a good time to do that. Um, because sometimes you'll like it, and sometimes you're like, no, I'm not ready for this. Um personal anecdote, I was gonna say, personal anecdote on my deadlift. Like, I was trying to do one, two, three, four, five. I did that uh sometime mid to late last year, didn't work, didn't I didn't like it, didn't feel good. And then just so we're clear, as far as making an adjustment in my warmups, I've been doing it for two full blocks, so 10 weeks. Um, and now I do feel like I'm ready for that. And this one, I kind of told myself, I'm like, we'll see how this goes for this D load. And I was able to smoke that warm-up scheme, and I'm like, okay, I'm like finally like this. Now we're good. Now we're good. That took 10 weeks, y'all. That's like over two months of time. Uh so patience is key as well in the supportive power thing.

SPEAKER_01 34:08

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 34:08

So, anyways, hopefully you guys found this information helpful for your warmups. If you have any questions specifically, um, you know, for your specific weight, because like we said, a lot of this stuff it is kind of.

SPEAKER_03 34:19

I'm really good at making warm-up jumps for people.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

Liz is, and gonna make a little warmup charts. So uh hit us up.

SPEAKER_03 34:26

You compete with our team, you're gonna be getting all your warmups from ahead of time.

SPEAKER_00 34:30

Yeah, Liz Liz has everything dialed in, including warmups. Uh, so yeah, hopefully you guys found this informational, uh, helpful, and try some of the stuff out in your next session. This is kind of some of the information that is nice and plug and play. Um, you're just gonna be able to, I mean, if you're doing the stuff we talked about, you're gonna have a better session.

SPEAKER_03 34:47

If you're not doing any warm ups, you're definitely gonna have a better session.

SPEAKER_00 34:50

Uh, you're gonna be feeling good. So, but yeah, if you have other questions, let us know. Um, and thank you guys so much for listening to the podcast and following along on our journey on YouTube and Instagram. And we'll see you guys in the next one. Peace.

SPEAKER_01 35:02

Bye.