Week 6, Day 2

Snatch + hang snatch (above knee) + OHS: (1+1+2)RM, 95% x (1+1+2), 90% x (1+1+2) x 2
Front squat: 3RM, 95% x 3, 90% x 3 x 2
Power jerk: 3RM, 95% x 3, 90% x 3 x 2

We are into the second week of this current 4-week mesocycle, and as such the volume (number of sets/reps) has increased somewhat from last week. Next week will have even more volume, and upon mentioning this to some of my lifters the other day there were some concerns regarding how we were going to fit it all in without getting out of the gym at 10:00 PM. This brought up the question of how many warm-ups to take, and I think also raises the question of how much rest to take between sets. I really like that we have gone away from the exact prescriptions for all sets with this current program we've developed, but this means that it is also time to address these questions.

Okay, question number one: how many warm-up sets to take? Answer: as many as it takes! That's probably not very satisfying, but that's really going to depend on what you're most comfortable with, and what lift we are talking about. With the snatch, I like to see a few more warm-up sets to get to your heavy for the day than for the clean and jerk, especially once you get closer to that heavy for the day. Consistency and technique is so pivotally important to success in the snatch, and you're definitely going to want to take smaller jumps as you get closer to your max to ensure that you're not changing anything as the weight gets heavier or are surprised by how the weight feels on the bar. In general, I recommend bigger jumps early on, and smaller jumps as you get closer to your max...maybe only a couple kilos at a time when the weights are their heaviest for the day. How many warm-up sets does this mean? I don't know, it'll depend, but maybe somewhere around 4-8 on a day like today where we are doing essentially 4 reps per set in the snatch complex (that's a lot of reps!). Probably a few more sets when we do more singles. I think when I did this complex yesterday, I took something like 5 or 6 sets before moving on to the drop sets, and that's including two tries at a heavy set that I missed.

On the clean and jerk, I usually aim to take less sets overall to get to my heaviest set. Why? Because clean and jerks are hard! Seriously, overly fatiguing yourself with too many warm-ups will likely make it harder to hit numbers you're capable of on that particular day. That certainly doesn't mean doing a little warm-up with the bar, and then throwing 100 kilos or so on the bar for your heavy set. Rather, it just means maybe aiming to take one or two less sets working up to that heavy for the day, and probably taking somewhat bigger jumps. The more heavy cleans you take, the more tired you're going to get, and the less you're going to be able to lift.

By the time you get to the squats, you should already be pretty darn warm, and have already done a good amount of squatting in the snatches or cleans anyways. Consequently, I try to take even less warm-ups on the squats than I do on the clean and jerks, and I make the jumps bigger too. Big jumps early on, and smaller jumps for maybe the set or two before my heavy for the day. Maybe a total of 4 or 5 sets to get to my heavy set. Still not jumping right to that heavy set, but definitely trying to get there before I wear myself down too much.

Closely related to this question is the question of how many attempts to take at the "heavy for the day" set. My answer to this question is "as few as possible". I've said this before, but it's worth saying again: we want to practice quality reps, not missing. When we miss lifts, often times our technique goes down the toilet. This may just be because we aren't strong enough to hold our levers and our technique at that weight, or it may be because we "lose it" mentally, or whatever, but the fact remains that often those missed lifts just look and feel different than the good ones, and we definitely don't want to make those movement patterns our default by practicing them excessively! Plus, if we are missing the majority of our reps in training, what do you think is going to happen when we get to competition? Nothing good, in my opinion. I tend to think that out of 10 lifts, you should aim to make something like 8 of them really cleanly, and maybe a couple of them you miss or are kind of dicey. If you're always making 10 out of 10, you may not be pushing yourself hard enough. If you're always making 5 out of 10 or less, you probably need to check the ego at the door and take a little weight off the bar and focus on making more good lifts (note: I stole this thinking from an article by Glenn Pendlay, but I think it makes a lot of sense for us. See article here). So, maybe this means one or two attempts at a heavy snatch complex for the day before moving on. If it really feels like it's right there and each attempt is closer than the last, maybe one or two more sets. On the flipside, maybe you caught one weight at the absolute rock bottom, and you know there is just no way you're going even one kilo heavier. In that case, it's perfectly fine to call it there, and move on to the drop sets. Just depends, but I'd say certainly no more than 3 attempts at a heavy set. This changes somewhat for cleans and squats...in general, I try not to miss at all on the squats, and maybe push the clean and jerks to maybe at most one or two misses. A missed clean will take enough out of me to make coming back and making it an even more difficult proposition, unless I felt like I missed it because I was obviously way out of position.

So how much rest between sets? Again, as much as necessary. For the first few warm-up sets, I'd say no more time than it takes to change the weights and let your training partner do their set. Maybe a minute. Try to keep it moving. As the weights get closer to "heavy for the day", a little longer, and probably longer between heavy sets on the clean and on the squat than on the snatch and on the overhead stuff. In competition you get as little as two minutes between attempts when you follow yourself, so may as well get used to repeating yourself in training! On heavy snatches and on overhead work (presses, jerks, etc), maybe 1 or 2 minutes between sets. Heavy clean and jerks, maybe 2-3 minutes. When I get to heavy squats, I probably take about 3 minutes or more between sets, and I sit my ass down, because squats are HARD.

Alright, I think that's all I got for today. Not very prescriptive, but that's kind of the idea...it really depends on what works best for you and what you're comfortable with. Hopefully this has been somewhat helpful for someone though.