When performing 2 or 3 working sets, each set can be at the same weight or each following set can progress in weight.
The latter being more important the nearer to RM being lifted.
How does everyone structure their working sets in relation to this?
I do both straight sets and wave loading. For wave loading, I will do something like 80% 3r, 85% 2r, 90% 1r, 85% 2r, 90% 1r, 80% 3r. I find that this works well for olympic lifts since I can ‘refresh’ my form on the lower %s and then apply that form to the higher weights. I also like it for squats and bench because the lower weights let me really focus on exploding and then I try to carry that over for the 1r sets.
One thing that I would caution you is with progressive loading, make sure you have a clear distinction between working sets and warmup sets. Often I see people kind of rolling into their working sets with extensive warmups and then when they are ready to go heavy, they are already tired out because they did too many reps ‘warming up’. If you are doing your lifting after your track work (you are lifting after running, aren’t you?) then you are already ‘warm.’ Your warm up sets for lifting should prepare you for handling the heavy weights, but you don’t have to do a lot of reps. Make sure you spend your energy on the working sets. Note that this advice may change a bit if you are a beginner lifter still trying to master the movements.
xlr8
dido
I do straight sets mostly
Am I being unclear, or is this just too simple to answer?