How do you warm up?
First, what are you warming up for? There are different ways to warm up for different goals. You don’t warm up the same way for a Snatch max as a back squat max. I am going to try and break it down in different categories for you.
In general
The basic fundamentals is to start with an empty bar and then do a few reps with your first warm-up weight somewhere around 30% of your 1 rep max.
As your work up in weight your will make smaller % increases. The increase will depend on the lift for example the snatch will be smaller increases and the back squat will be bigger increases.
Your reps will lessen as you go as well.
As an example, if you’re doing 3×5 back squat at 85%, you might take weight jumps like:
1×10 Bar
35-40% x5
50-55% x3
60-65% x2
70-75% x1
80% x1
85% 3×5
I gave a range because there is no need to do odd weights such as 138lbs just round to the nearest 5 or 10. For a lift like the snatch you may need to round down depending on your max load.
Max Snatch, Clean or Jerk Single
If your are in a competition you want to get to your 1st competition set with as little sets as possible to avoid fatigue
Again drills with the empty bar to warm-up up and practice fundamentals. An example would be something like 5 reps each of:
• Snatch high-pull
• Muscle snatch
• Snatch press
• Snatch Balance
• Overhead squat
Your warm up should focus on problem areas within your lift and consist of light weight to warm you up and not ware your out.
It is a mistake to warm up too quickly.
Bar Series
35% x 2 x 3
48% x 2
62% x 1
76% x 1
83% x 1
90% x 1
94% x 1
97% x 1
When working to a rep max, for example max weight at a set of 5, to minimize fatigue you can do less reps in your warm-up. For example 1-2 sets of 5, then sets of 3 and 2 until getting to your 5 rep weight. It is important to know when to start doing the full set of 5 reps It is hard not to start too soon and it is hard to wait too long and over shoot your max weight for a set of 5.
