Tip The Art of the Prep Set Search Skip to content Menu Menu follow us Store Articles Community Loyal-T Club Loyal-T Points Rewards Subscribe to Save Search Search The World s Trusted Source & Community for Elite Fitness Training Tip The Art of the Prep Set It' s not a warm-up set but it' s just as important Here' s what you need to know by Charles Staley November 1, 2018August 18, 2019 Tags Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training Identify and Economize Your Warm-Up Sets Every time you do a set, you should be very clear about whether or not you're doing a warm-up set or a work set. Using a real-world example, let's say that your goal for the workout is 4 sets of 8 reps with 155 pounds on the military press. Your first set might be 10 reps with the empty bar. Next, 85x8. Both of these sets were clearly "warm-up" sets, but you're not quite ready for 155. You'll need one more set to bridge the gap between 85 and 155. Some lifters call this a "prep" set, and since the reps in this set qualify as "necessary but useless," we want to do as few of them as possible. This will vary from person to person and from workout to workout, but probably 3-5 reps will do the trick. From here, you're ready to tackle your result-producing work sets. In your own workouts, get in the habit of distinguishing between warm-up, gap, and work sets. Then, vary your work output accordingly. Rather than using the same number of reps for all warm-up and work sets (as many lifters do), perform your warm-ups in a "pyramid" style to save your energy for when it really counts. Let's say my goal is to deadlift 375 pounds for 10 reps. Here's how I'd warm-up and "prep set" for that workout: 135x10 225x6 315x4 345x1 (prep set) 375x10 (set of reps that "count") The main takeaway here is to evaluate your warm-up sets and look for opportunities to reduce unnecessary reps whenever possible. Incidentally, the bigger the exercise is, the more important this strategy becomes. For "small" movements such as direct biceps and calf exercises, you'll recover so fast you won't need to worry much about saving your energy during warm-ups. But for big movements like squats, deads, and presses, economizing your warm-ups is a key success tactic. Get The T Nation Newsletters Don' t Miss Out Expert Insights To Get Stronger, Gain Muscle Faster, And Take Your Lifting To The Next Level related posts Training Tip Train Between Extremes There are two ways people like to think about their workouts. Neither lead to progress. Here's the smart way to approach hard training. Bodybuilding, Powerlifting & Strength, Tips, Training Ben Bruno July 17 Training Tip Squat Carry Heavy Stuff and Shut Up Three things every lifter and athlete should be doing. Get the details here. Tips, Training Dan John April 30 Training Tip Build Your Mind-Muscle Connection It's not broscience, it's science-science. And here's why you need it for optimal muscle growth. Tips, Training Bret Contreras & Brad Schoenfeld, PhD March 24 Training Sure Fire Fixes for Weak Points Triceps Four of Testosterone's hypertrophy experts take on the common problem of stubborn-as-a-mule triceps development. Bodybuilding, Training T Nation September 13