dorian yates sets and reps explained?

[Vitamin S]

hi p,

i am doing hit dorian yates style. question regarding say something like deadlifts at the end of the workout, he says do 2 sets with one being a warm up set and one being your working set. so if i do 585 for 1 rep, how would i go about this. like would i warm up with say 1 plate a side for 12 and go right to like 405 for 10, won't i get injured that way or is th ebody already warmed up from the previous back exercises?

[O-Train]

You wouldn't have to start with 135, especially as a last exercise. If it were me I'd do a low rep set with 315 as a warm up (maybe 2-4 reps). Then do 405 to failure or whatever he recommends. If your 1RM is close to 600lbs there is no point wasting time with really light sets.

[Praetorian]

When he says one warm up set he means lets say after incline bench and you move to hammer strength...not deadlifts.
Here is a sample warm up to get you to 405 for reps.

135 for 10
225 for 8
315 for 5
365 for 2
405 for your working set

If you are fairly strong without a decent warm up you are asking for an injury...especially training back...most other back exercises do not use the posterior chain...ie hams, glutes etc so these muscles are cold...even after a full back workout.


P

[O-Train]

I don't think he needs a lot of warm up sets if he's only going to 405 with a 585 max. Heavy is relative and in this case it's not heavy for him. If he was working up to a higher % I would incorporate more warm up sets but in this case I don't see that it's necessary. Just my thoughts. Lately I've been starting my warm up with 225 because I feel that 135 is a waste of time.

[Praetorian]

I don't think he needs a lot of warm up sets if he's only going to 405 with a 585 max. Heavy is relative and in this case it's not heavy for him. If he was working up to a higher % I would incorporate more warm up sets but in this case I don't see that it's necessary. Just my thoughts. Lately I've been starting my warm up with 225 because I feel that 135 is a waste of time.

Is a waste of time until you get injured....then believe me you'll wish you spent the time warming up...and it takes less then 10 min.
P

[O-Train]

I fully understand the importance of warming up. What doesn't make sense to me is using 135 when (in this case) it represents 23% of his 1RM. 135 is a convenient and arbitrary amount of weight and nothing else.

Edit: Until now I had no idea this was Praetorian's Corner. I don't look at the section titles very much, just scroll through the new posts. Don't mind me...

[Praetorian]

The conversation is fine...its how we learn...no worries O.
P

[red rocket]

I found out first hand the point of warming up and being careful. I was still warming up, did 135 for 12, then 185. Banging out a few reps then on the way up I heard pop pop, and next thing I know I'm a heap lying on the floor. Herniated 2 discs in by back that still plague me and I wasnt even close to the "working" sets.

This was 5 years ago, and I still can feel those discs, and once in a while they are problematic. Warm-up sufficiently and be careful even then. It was 6 weeks before I could even walk again. I had no stabitlity at all, couldnt hold my body upright. I was scared I wouldnt be able to walk again let alone train.

Just sharing my experience prae

[Sean Summers]

Dorian will be at the Nutrition Club/Muscle Insider booth at the fan expo for this year's Toronto Pro Show. That may be a good question to ask him if you can attend.