Pyramiding

[jcmusic]

Is it better to pyramid up or down to a specific weight? To add size?

Jay

[~R~F~G~]

Up if anything. But really there are a few other ways too. 5x5 warm
up and then do 5 sets of 5. or what I did Go heavier and do 3x3. Those really put some mass on me.

But a lot I did a 5,3,1 set when trying to add mass. Can't do that every week. It's a lot on your cns.

[Beast]

Yep. You can go down but only for the pump. Building size is based on the fact your body can not lift it. So your brain says we need more muscle. So you need to go heavier, even if it cost you a rep or 2. Then you can rack it, unload it and rep the shit out of it for the pump. Like RFG said, I like the 5,3,1 but in between these I'll find a similar movment and rep to failure for the pump.

[any1uno]

Old school use to believe in pyramiding down. They found that it's not the best routine. I do like Wendler's 5-3-1 program myself. Not really a pyramid scheme though.

[liftsiron]

I believe pyramiding up is far more important.

[strongarm]

Good to know.

[A.B]

each muscle group usually my first sets after stretching is pyrmiding my first sets to warm up. great

[alpineslide]

In my experience traditional 5, 3, 1 pyramiding has been more useful for increasing max lift strength than building size. To build size I prefer doing a modified pyramid following the heaviest set with immediate descending sets.

An example would be something like this :

Lat pulldown - 200 x 10, 225x8, 250 X 5, 250 X 5....immediately followed by descending sets with no rest....230 X max # of reps, 210 X max # of reps, 190 X max # of reps

All people respond to different things, but this type of training seems to stress my muscle fibers better than any other.

I generally prefer to do descending sets with either machines or dumb bells. Trying to do them with a major compound movement such as Squats or dead lifts can lead to injury as the smaller muscle groups involved weaken prior to the larger muscle groups causing you to lose proper form. A way to incorporate something like squats into this routine safely would be to go up to your heaviest set of squats then immediately move into a leg press machine of some sort for your descending sets...machines make it easier to maintain proper form as you tire.

[THUNDERGOD]

I go heavy as possible for 6-8 reps or 10-12 reps depending on body part. I might rest pause it to failure, push a single set to failure or go to failure and do a few negatives at the end with help from a spotter. I usually do just 1 set per movement, and pick several compound movement for the part being trained...Like what Dorian use to do. But then when finished with the heavy stuff, I will do a "pump set" to force as much blood into that muscle and then stretch it out. thats the "normal" routine.

But if I want to change things up, I simply pick few movements and do 2 sets. first one is 10-12 reps(failure) then a set of 6-8(failure) and then, legs for example, I will do the leg press with 14 plates total and shoot for 50 reps then stretch.

[Wheelbarrel]

There are many ways to do a workout routine, up, down, sets and reps with the same weight. I normally pyramid up 10-20lbs a set. One guy I workout with, and this guy is huge. I've seen him pump out 12 reps at 405, let the bar sit on his chest, talk then pump out several more. He always starts with his heaviest lift then works his way down. I tried it, but it didn't work for me, I used too heavy a weight for too long and it hurt my bench.

What you'll have to do is find out what works for you, but remember, after several months your workout will stall out unless you change it up.