whole book.4th print

1. General warm-up: This is 5-10’ of light aerobic activity to raise the core temperature of the
   body. The general warm-up need only be continued until a light sweat is broken, as this indicates
   that the body is as warm as it will get. This will also increase liver glycogen output to help
   establish ketosis for early week workouts.


2. Specific warm-up: In addition to the general warm-up, a specific warm-up should also be done
   to prepare the body for the specific activity which will be done. If a trainee was training chest
   with the bench press, they would perform several lighter sets of bench presses prior to their
   heavy sets. A common misconception among trainees is the performance of high rep warm-up
   sets. All this serves to do is use valuable energy that could be used for the work sets. Warm-up
   sets should generally use low reps unless there is an injury present requiring more warm-up (13).

Anywhere from 1-5 warm-up sets may be performed depending on a trainees strength
level. Beginners may not need to do any warm-up sets for the first 6-8 weeks of training.

A comparison of warmups between two lifters appears in table 2. The first lifter will be
lifting 135 lbs for 8 reps during their work sets. The second lifter will be lifting 315 lbs for 8 reps.

Table 2: Comparison of warmups for two different lifters

Lifter 1 (135X8) Lifter 2 (315X8)

barX5, rest 30” 135X5, rest 30”

95X3, rest 180” 185X3, rest 30”

135X8 225X1, rest 30”

275X1, rest 180”

315X8

Section 4: Weight training systems

The number of training systems in existence is immense, possibly infinite. Rather than
try to describe them all, we will discuss only three: straight sets, ascending pyramids and
descending pyramids.

1. Straight sets is a method where the weight is kept constant on all work sets. If sets are being
   taken to failure, most trainees will not be able to perform the same number of reps at each set.
   Table 3 on the next page shows an example of straight sets. When all three sets of 10 are
   accomplished during a given workout, the weight should be raised about 5% at the next workout.


2. Ascending pyramids are probably the most common type of workout. They are not the most
   effective (13). In an ascending pyramid, after warm-ups, the first work set is taken to failure.
   Then weight is added to the bar and another set to failure is done at lower reps. This is continued
   until all sets have been completed. In a descending pyramid, the first work set is done at the
   heaviest weight and the weight is reduced on subsequent sets. Compare the workouts in table 4
   for a lifter who will use 275 for their heaviest set.