E. 172 Warm-Up Sets vs Working Sets: The Mistake Killing Your Progress
About this episode
Cory Hageman discusses the importance of warm-up sets versus working sets and how to effectively use them to enhance performance and reduce injury risk.
Most people either skip warm-up sets entirely or waste energy doing too many of them. In this episode, I break down the exact difference between warm-up sets and working sets, how to use warm-up sets as a performance assessment tool, and why they should guide your loading decisions rather than simply "getting a pump." I explain how I use warm-up sets to assess stability, movement quality, compensation patterns, and readiness before heavy lifts. We also discuss reps in reserve (RIR), exercise-specific warm-up strategies, progressive loading, movement sequencing, unilateral versus bilateral training, and how to make smarter decisions inside your workout. Whether your goal is glute growth, strength progression, hypertrophy, or improving exercise execution, understanding how to properly warm up can help you train harder, reduce injury risk, and get more from every working set. Timestamps: - [00:00 – 02:48] - Why Most Lifters Misunderstand Warm-Up Sets - [02:48 – 05:17] - Warm-Up Sets vs Working Sets: The Key Differences - [05:17 – 06:53] - What You Should Be Assessing During Warm-Ups - [06:53 – 12:37] - Reps, RIR & How Warm-Up Sets Should Actually Feel - [12:37 – 17:28]…
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