Warm Up Outline (10-20min)

rest 1 (rst)
n.
1. Cessation of work, exertion, or activity.
2. Peace, ease, or refreshment resulting from sleep or the cessation of an activity.
3. Sleep or quiet relaxation.
4. The repose of death: eternal rest.
5. Relief or freedom from disquiet or disturbance.
6. Mental or emotional tranquillity.
7. Termination or absence of motion.
8. Music
a. An interval of silence corresponding to one of the possible time values within a measure.
b. The mark or symbol indicating such a pause and its length.
9. A short pause in a line of poetry; a caesura.
10. A device used as a support: a back rest.
11. Games See bridge1.
v. rest·ed, rest·ing, rests
v.intr.
1. To cease motion, work, or activity.
2. To lie down, especially to sleep.
3. To be at peace or ease; be tranquil.
4. To be, become, or remain temporarily still, quiet, or inactive: Let the issue rest here.
5. To be supported or based; lie, lean, or sit: The ladder rests firmly against the tree.
6. To be imposed or vested, as a responsibility or burden: The final decision rests with the chairperson.
7. To depend or rely: That argument rests on a false assumption.
8. To be located or be in a specified place: The original manuscript rests in the museum.
9. To be fixed or directed on something: “His brown eyes rested on her for a moment” (John le Carré).
10. To remain; linger.
11. Law To cease voluntarily the presentation of evidence in a case: The defense rests.
v.tr.
1. To give rest or repose to: rested my eyes.
2. To place, lay, or lean for ease, support, or repose.
3. To base or ground: I rested my conclusion on that fact.
4. To fix or direct (the gaze, for example).
5. To bring to rest; halt.
6. Law To cease voluntarily the introduction of evidence in (a case).
Idioms:
at rest
1.
a. Asleep.
b. Dead.
2. Motionless; inactive.
3. Free from anxiety or distress.

What eventually happened in my case is that I instinctively started experimenting with my warm up sets to try to find something better, and I ended up coming upon a sequence that I later realized was extremely close to what a lot of experts recommend.

What is that warm up sequence, you ask?

Well, for most of the people, most of the time, it should go something along the lines of this:

1. Start off with 1 VERY light set of 10-15 reps. For this set you’d usually use just the bar (with no weight on it) or some VERY light dumbbells if it was a dumbbell exercise. If it’s a machine exercise, you’d put on some equally light and easy/insignificant amount of weight.
2. The next set, do 8 reps using 55-60% of the actual weight you will be using during your actual work sets for this exercise. So, if your first work set was going to be with 200lbs, you’d use 110-120lbs for this set.
3. The next set, do 5 reps using 70-75% of the actual weight you will be using during your actual work sets for this exercise. So again, if your first work set was going to be with 200lbs, you’d use 140-150lbs for this set.
4. The set after that, do 3 reps using 80-85% of the actual weight you will be using during your actual work sets for this exercise. So once again, if your first work set was going to be with 200lbs, you’d use 160-170lbs for this set.
5. And for your final warm up set, do just 1 rep using 90-95% of the actual weight you will be using during your actual work sets for this exercise. So, using the same example, if your first work set was going to be with 200lbs, you’d use 180-190lbs for this set.
6. You’d then rest for whatever the prescribed amount of rest time is for that exercise, and then begin your first work set.

To make that even clearer, here’s a pretty chart…

As you can see, you’d typically take about 45-60 seconds between each warm up set. There’s really no special set amount of time, but usually the time it takes to casually change the weight, catch your breath (if it needs to be caught) and get into position will last about 45-60 seconds anyway, so something similar to that would be perfectly sufficient.

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It is no secret among athletes that in order to improve performance you’ve got to work hard. However, hard training breaks you down and makes you weaker. It is rest that makes you stronger. Physiologic improvement in sports only occurs during the rest period following hard training. This adaptation is in response to maximal loading of the cardiovascular and muscular systems and is accomplished by improving efficiency of the heart, increasing capillaries in the muscles, and increasing glycogen stores and mitochondrial enzyme systems within the muscle cells. During recovery periods these systems build to greater levels to compensate for the stress that you have applied. The result is that you are now at a higher level of performance.

If sufficient rest is not included in a training program then regeneration cannot occur and performance plateaus. If this imbalance between excess training and inadequate rest persists then performance will decline. Overtraining can best be defined as the state where the athlete has been repeatedly stressed by training to the point where rest is no longer adequate to allow for recovery. The “overtraining syndrome” is the name given to the collection of emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms due to overtraining that has persisted for weeks to months. Athletes and coaches also know it as “burnout” or “staleness.” This is different from the day to day variation in performance and post exercise tiredness that is common in conditioned athletes. Overtraining is marked by cumulative exhaustion that persists even after recovery periods.

The most common symptom is fatigue. This may limit workouts and may be present at rest. The athlete may also become moody, easily irritated, have altered sleep patterns, become depressed, or lose the competitive desire and enthusiasm for the sport. Some will report decreased appetite and weight loss. Physical symptoms include persistent muscular soreness, increased frequency of viral illnesses, and increased incidence of injuries.

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Law of Diminishing Returns for Athletes