I'm going to start by asking a dumb question. Let's say you goto the gym and you are bench pressing, would you rather bench press with all your muscle fibers in the chest and triceps or just some of them? All of them right? Of course, it sounds like a no brainer yet the majority of people go through a generic UNINTENTIONAL "warm up". In fact I would ask you to replace the phrase "warm up" with "prep sets". Prep sets insinuate a more intentional and purposeful routine. I want to walk you through 3 steps that you can use for any compound exercise to reach a state of potentiation that can be used to create more strength, size or speed. Once you feel this one time, you'll never lift the same again.
Muscle Fiber Activation
This concept is simple. You want to activate as many muscle fibers as possible. I have identified a system that strategically targets three ways to do this starting by activating the smallest motor units first and the biggest motor units last.
Step 1: Lift Weight Longer
The first way is to lift a weight longer. This can be a good way in some instances but there is a huge sacrifice here and that is you can deplete energy stores and reduce contractibility risking diminished performance for the rest of that day. For that reason this first step is only a small portion of activating maximum muscle fibers but it's a great start. I like to use single joint bodybuilding exercises for 3-4 sets of 12-20 reps. I've come to learn other people also use a similar method, the most popular is the Wenning Warmup. Matt Wenning uses a similar strategy except he uses compound exercises and I only use single joint isolation exercises. If I am bench pressing, I will start by targeting involved primary muscle groups and pick one exercise each. For bench press I will do chest fly (machine preferably) and cable triceps extension. The great part about this is you can really choose any variation that you prefer. You can use machines, cables and really insert your own flavor here. On days when I do pull ups, it's fun to choose different bicep curl variations and keep training fun and enjoyable. Using bench press as an example, below is what step one looks like.
Step 1: 3-4 sets
Chest Fly x 12
Cable Triceps Extension x 12
Step 2: Lift Weight Faster
If you intentionally try to lift a load faster, you're going to activate more muscle fibers. Why? The size principle states: as more force is needed, motor units are recruited in a precise order according to the magnitude of their force output. Small units are recruited first. We started recruiting the small units and step 1, and now the intention is to use speed eccentrics to utilize brief bouts of maximal tension to reach more muscle fibers. Picture a scale. Place a 10 pound med ball on the scale. The scale reads 10 pounds. Now throw the med ball onto the scale and you'll see the scale briefly read 20-30 pounds or more depending on how hard you through the ball. That's what we are doing here except with the barbell. For step 2 you are using the primary exercise of the day. If we are building off the bench press example I used earlier here's what that looks like.
Step 1: 3-4 sets
Chest Fly x 12
Cable Triceps Extension x 12
Step 2: 2-3 sets
Speed Bench Press x 10 seconds
Notice the speed reps are in seconds and not reps. Why 10 seconds?
We want to spend time primarily utilizing the ATP system. We can apply brief bouts of maximal tension while also avoiding fatigue. Recovery lines up great for a typical rest period and the repeatability is very practical. Another reason to use time and not reps to emphasize speed in both directions. Using the bench press example, we are moving the bar as fast as we can up AND down. If you do this right sometimes your upper back may even come off the bench slightly. You're probably wondering what % of load you should use? NONE. Here's the rule, don't use a weight you can't complete 10 reps with in 10 seconds. Aside from that rule you can use as much weight as you want. Another good thing about using this method is that you will improve elasticity of your muscles as well as improve motor control.
Step 3: Lift Weight Slower (Max Out)
Now slower doesn't mean to try to move weight slower, it means add weight. Adding weight will slow you down, you should always try to move the weight as fast as you can. In fact your intent to move faster is exactly what we need to amplify the size principle further to reach the ultimate state of potentiation. Let's define what "as fast as you can" means real quick. You will naturally move lighter weight faster and heavier weight slower. If you have a heavier weight, organically you may have to slow down the eccentric speed. Everyone has different abilities here, some being able to move heavier weight faster and some having to slow it down more. If you move the weight at a speed that alters your form and technique or results in injury then you moved it too fast. That being said the concentric portion is always all out for speed. Step 3 utilizes SINGLES only. Following step 2 you simply pyramid up to your heaviest single using as many sets as you prefer, I prefer to use 3-5 sets. There's only 1 rule, no sticking points. Once you hit a rep with a sticking point that's it you're done with step 3. If you complete a rep and think you might fail the next set after adding just 5 pounds, don't do that set. We are avoiding failure on purpose. There is typically more training to do after this and we will wait to hit that level of fatigue. A failed rep can be too costly and ruin our warm up. Don't be surprised to hit PRs routinely using this strategy, in fact when people start training with me weekly PRs are fairly common. So what is next after step 3? You now have a daily top single and you can either do more bench press programming from that top single OR you can change exercises and continue the session as you would any other training session. Just know when you goto DB bench or any other press, you should feel like a super hero. The weights feel lighter, and you may easily hit PRs. If you are experiencing this sensation then you have successfully used the 3 steps to "warm up". Here's what all steps look like.
Step 1: 3-4 sets
Chest Fly x 12
Cable Triceps Extension x 12
Step 2: 2-3 sets
Speed Bench Press x 10 seconds
Step 3: 3-5 sets
Bench Press x 1 (80%+)
FREE SAMPLE DAY
Below you can download a FREE sample day that includes all 3 steps described in this article. The sample day is even more detailed with more coaching notes, and for those using VBT devices I have speeds included!! I use all RIR, RPE and VBT speeds in my programming. If this sounds like something you want to learn more about, purchase a training membership for this style of programming HERE. Be sure to read the template overview that is also pictured below.
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