Warm-up Like Dave Tate and Bench More Weight
If you think Dave Tate just gets under the bar and lifts, you're sadly mistaken. A stickler for perfect technique, Tate knows how to truly prepare for a PR. You don't.
"Show me a guy who wants to bench 300 pounds for a new PR, and I'll show you a guy who's warming-up like an idiot," says Tate.
The Idiot Warm-up
135 x 12
185 x 10
225 x 5
275 x 3
300 x 0
"That's 5650 pound of volume before testing your max," says Tate. "Plus you only did 28 fucking reps."
The Tate Warm-up
4 x 5 with the bar
2 x 3 with 95 pounds
135 x 3
165 x 3
195 x 3
225 x 3
255 x 1
280 x 1
300 x 1 awesome fucking rep.
"This way you're doing 3910 pounds of volume but with 40 total reps," explains Tate. "It's 31 percent less volume but 42 percentmore repetitions; it's more warm-up but less fatigue."
According to Tate, the smart lifter primes technique, activates the nervous and muscular systems, and gets the job done.
The stupid lifter gets pinned.