? about the pyramid

[IronReload04]

This is my question. When you warm up to do 1 set like d.c. you can obviously lift with 100% intenstity because you havnt already burned yourself out with other sets. But when pyramiding, my last set only is taken to failure, and because of the other 3 sets, my last set suffers. Had i done my last set first(after warmups non-pyramid style) , i will have been able to get more reps.

so my question is this, when i am pyramiding, will i still get bigger and stronger even though my last set set suffers a little and i cant get as much reps as i could have.

lets say, i can do 255 on the bench for 9 reps my first set(after warmups non-pyramid style) . But on my 4th and last set of a pryamid, i can only do 255 for 5-6 reps. i will keep at it for a couple of weeks, and eventually be able to do 255 for 9 on my last set. After that adaption, to you think my strength would have increased and now be able to do say 265-270 for 9 on my first set(after warmups non-pyramid style. Thanks in advance. IS this simply just another way to progress?

[BeefCakeStew]

Everytime you increase your RM you are making progess.

I dont save my muscles for my last set, or any set for that matter. After 3 good warmup sets, I put on the most weight I know I can lift for a 5-7 RM. I go til failure with the last rep being 1 heavy neg before I put the weight up. By next set I drop 10-20lbs and will go to failure and do a heavy neg just like the first set. Same for the third set. If you do more than three sets at this intensity, your risking overtraining. I stick with the same weight until I can do my first set for 8. Then I jump up 10-20lbs and start over til I get to 8 and so on.

For chest I go:
Flat Bench 3x 7-8RM
Incline 2x 7-8RM
Cable Crossovers 2x 8-9RM
Weighted Dips 2x 10-12RM

If you still have alot of energy your not doing something right.

[IronReload04]

your routine looks good i did somthin kind of similar.

my first 3 sets are not taken to failure, but still taxing. So even though i will be improving on reps for my last set, even though my last set suffers because of the first 3 sets, will i still be growing even though i will not be hitting my potential load( if i did my last set as my first set without the first 3 sets, i would have gotten more reps)??

The more i think about it, the more i compare it to the 5*5. On that routine, guys are put kind of in the same situation as me.

[BeefCakeStew]

Your growing and getting stronger bro. For Football, we did something similar to what you are doing and I got progressively stronger (could have grown more with better diet tho). Your last set, when carried out to concentric failure, is your greatest strength and muscle gaining set. When your last-set-RM increases, you should be able to do that same weight with more reps the next workout session. If you lift your last set first, it will definately be heavier than your first set of the last week because your muscles will be getting more powerful overall. So yes it works.

During PCT bridge, my routine will look more like yours to avoid catabolism. Its enough to send a quick message for growth and with good diet I should keep my gains with that routine. When not in PCT, I keep every set intense like I showed you, so I can recruit every muscle fiber for each and every set. By going to concentric failure each set, I effective recruite every fiber. By assuring myself that every fiber worked, I am more sure that more fibers will be induced to hypertrophy. I lift EOD on an Eight day training cycle and allow my muscles plenty time to grow (havent not improved or had a bad day since I started this routine 2months ago).


Let me explain about the muscle recruitment or rather let one of my textbooks explain. Below are highligted sections from


"Designing Resistance Training Progams" Steven J Fleck & William J Kraemer:

A motor unit conists of an alpha neuron and all the muscle fibers (cells) in innervates. The smaller the number of muscle fibers in a motor unit, the smaller the amount of force that can be produced by that motor unit when activated...

...Only motor units that are recruited in an exercise produce force and will be subject to adaptational changes with exercise training. Thus, motor unit recruitment is of fundamental importance in the prescription of resistance exercise. The demands placed on the muscle dicate the amount of muscle tissue that is activated to perform the movement and thus adapts to the training (gets stronger).

All-or-None Law
The fact that either all the muscle fibers within a motor unit are activated or none of them are activated is reffered to as the all-or-nothing law. While the all or nothing law holds true for individual motor units, whole muscles such as the biceps are not governed by the all-or-none law. As dicussed previously, some motor units can be activated while others are not. Without this phenomenon, ther would be very little control of the amount of force the whole muscle can generate and therefore poor control of body movement.

Gradation of Strength
The fact that the motor units follow the all-or-non law makes possible one method by which force variation by the muscle can be achieved. The more motor units within a muscle that are stimulated, the greater the amount of force that is developed. In other words, if one motor unit is activated, a very small amount of force is developed. If several motor units are activated, more force is developed. If all motor units in a muscle are activated, maximal force is produced by the muscle. The method of varying the force produced is called multiple motor unit summation. The activation of motor units is based upon the force production needs of the activity. For example, one might activate only a small number of motor units to perform 10 repetitions of an arm curl using 15lb, because the resistance may prepresent only 10% of the maximal strength. Therefore, a small number of muscle fibers can produce the force to perform the exercise movement. Conversely, a 150lb arm curl that represents a 1RM would require all the available motor units to produce maximal force to perform the exercise movement.

[IronReload04]

Thanks alot dude that really helped. i have been waiting for an answer on this topic for a long time.