Why warm ups do not count
A set at 50 to 70 percent effort primes you but barely stresses the muscle fibres that grow. Volume research counts only sets taken close to failure, so keep your warm ups out of the tally.
Do warm-up sets count as working sets?
No, warm up sets do not count toward your hard set total, only the challenging sets near failure drive growth.
The quick answer
Warm up sets prepare the muscle and joints but stay far from failure, so they do not count as working sets for your weekly volume. Only sets taken within about 0 to 3 reps of failure count toward the 10 to 20 hard sets per muscle target. Do 2 to 4 progressively heavier warm ups before your first heavy movement, then start counting once the weight is genuinely challenging.
How to think about it
How many warm ups you need
For a heavy compound, ramp up in 2 to 4 sets, adding weight and dropping reps each time. Isolation moves and later exercises often need only 1 quick feeler or none once the muscle is already warm.
Count only the hard sets
When you build your weekly plan, tally the sets that ended near failure. That is the number to keep between 10 and 20 per muscle. Apps like SUUPR let you mark sets as warm ups so they are excluded automatically.
Do this
- Ramp before heavy lifts2 to 4 warm up sets adding weight and cutting reps prepares you safely.
- Keep warm ups easyStay 5 or more reps from failure so they do not add fatigue.
- Tally only near failure setsYour 10 to 20 weekly target counts working sets only.
- Skip redundant warm upsLater exercises for an already warm muscle rarely need more than one feeler.
Keep going
How SUUPR helps
No, warm up sets do not count toward your hard set total, only the challenging sets near failure drive growth.