There are many schools of thought on this one, so I'm just going to preface this entire guide with "THIS IS WHAT HAS WORKED FOR ME." If you don't like it, you can kick rocks.
GPP - general physical preparedness- and overall training volume are important things to consider in any training program. And like other variables - intensity and rest periods come to mind first- need to be adjusted based on your current training goals.
So, let's approach this from both angles - meet prep and offseason.
Offseason - 12+ weeks out from a meet
If you're planning to hit 5's that day in training, be it for squat/bench/deadlift, then my advice is the following.
Assuming your goal for the training session is something like 3x5 around 80%- Warm up however you normally would, but once you're under the bar:
| Offseason | Weight | Sets | Reps |
| 300 max | Bar | 1 | 5 |
| 95 | 1 | 5 | |
| 115 | 1 | 5 | |
| 135 | 1 | 5 | |
| 155 | 1 | 5 | |
| 175 | 1 | 5 | |
| 195 | 1 | 5 | |
| 215 | 1 | 5 | |
| Top set | 235 | 3 | 5 |
| 600 max | Bar | 1 | 5 |
| 95 | 1 | 5 | |
| 135 | 1 | 5 | |
| 185 | 1 | 5 | |
| 225 | 1 | 5 | |
| 275 | 1 | 5 | |
| 315 | 1 | 5 | |
| 365 | 1 | 5 | |
| 405 | 1 | 5 | |
| 455 | 1 | 5 | |
| 485 | 3 | 5 |
*these top sets are just examples of working unto 80% for a top set of 5. You could do the same for triples, or singles if need be. The point is, get your work in! You don't need to make big jumps.
Now, if you're preparing for a meet, I'd argue that up until the last 6 weeks or so, you can follow this same line of thinking. At which point, you don't want to hammer volume in your warm ups. You want to take only what you need to feel prepared for your top sets. Example:
| Meet prep | Weight | Sets | Reps |
| 300 max | Bar | 1 | 10 |
| 95 | 1 | 10 | |
| 135 | 1 | 5 | |
| 185 | 1 | 3 | |
| 205 | 1 | 2 | |
| 225 | 1 | 1 | |
| 245 | 1 | 1 | |
| 265 | 1 | 1 | |
| Top Set | 275 | 2 | 2 |
| 600 max | Bar | 1 | 10 |
| 135 | 1 | 10 | |
| 225 | 1 | 5 | |
| 315 | 1 | 5 | |
| 365 | 1 | 2 | |
| 405 | 1 | 1 | |
| 455 | 1 | 1 | |
| 495 | 1 | 1 | |
| 525 | 1 | 1 | |
| Top set | 555 | 2 | 2 |
It's not that the lighter warm up sets don't matter, along with the smaller jumps. They do, very much so. But the last six weeks before a meet, you're preparing your body for heavy singles. So we want to be more efficient in warm ups and how we get to those top sets in training as well as on meet day.
Speaking of - meet day should follow a similar approach to warm ups. Most guys will take all singles, which is fine. Just don't be the guy repping 80% in the warm up room. That's...dumb.
