Muscles are not capable of performing at high levels of intensity unless they have been ‘warmed-up’
sufficiently.  This is common knowledge amongst most serious bodybuilders.  What isn’t such common knowledge, is that muscles should be warmed-up with the exact same exercise they are about to perform.

The ideal warm-up for any particular exercise is itself.  The only truly effective warm-up exercise for the bench press is, in fact, the bench press.  This simple secret often causes confusion.  So, what’s the best way to warm-up before performing a workout?  Definitely not with the use of power lifting techniques.  Power lifting techniques are unnecessary and counter productive if you want to build muscle fast.

Let me explain. The warming-up process for competitive power lifting is designed for the single repetition lifts the competitor must perform.  An individual who participates in a weightlifting competition is not interested in producing rapid increases in muscle size.  Their primary concern is ensuring their strengthen muscles are warmed-up sufficiently to perform a series of single repetition lifts, without sustaining injury.

When performing single lifts, careful and deliberate warm-ups are critical.  A maximum capacity lift attempted with a cold muscle exposes you to a very high risk of injury.  In most cases, muscles that are not warmed-up, will not perform at all.  So warming-up with the intended single lift exercise with a considerably lighter weight is the most common method used. In other words, they perform multiple sets to warm-up for the single attempt lift.