Unlike warm-up sets, working sets are always important. In fact, they are actually the only thing that is important.
Working sets AKA simply “work sets” or “main sets” are what your training is all about. These are the sets that you want to record and track. These are the sets that you look to progress upon. The toughest part of your training sessions should be as you are completing your working sets.
Working sets are the sets that build strength and muscle, and the ones that help you to lose body fat. In order to accomplish any of these changes, you need to be working with an adequate amount of weight. Warm-up weights are too light to stimulate your tissues to the point of adaptation.
Up until your first working set, your only objective should have been to have yourself prepared to that point. You want to feel warmed-up, but still fresh. You should have used your warm-up sets to groove crisp and deliberate movement for the lift you are training. Now that you are feeling good and have things firing well, it is time to push the intensity.
There is not a minimum or maximum number of working sets that need to be completed, just know how to differentiate them from your warm-up sets.
In coming posts, I will go over “top sets” and “back-off sets”, both of which fall into the category of working sets.