Reps/Sets VS Pyramid workouts

[no1snowman]

This is an example of a Pyramid workout just incase other people dont know...
whats the pros and cons..????like to have your honest input...i've been doing the Pyramid for the last couple years..seems to me you get more of a workout
( please remember this is only my OPINION)...not fact...


I going to do my best to explain all these number to you. .But this is the program I started with awhile back. I gave you the whole scale just incase someone would like to try it out..
It’s a progressive scale.. The Colum on the far left is your max weight you can do one set of...At the top is how many reps you do…..lets say your bench is 3oo your 1st set will be 10/ 200…2nd is 9/205 and so on…and so on….Till you get to your last which would be your max…usually a neg…..

Max 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 reps
100 65 70 70 70 75 75 80 80 85 100
110 75 75 75 80 80 85 90 90 95 110
120 80 80 85 85 90 95 95 100 100 120
130 85 90 90 95 95 100 105 105 110 130
140 90 95 100 100 105 110 110 115 120 140
150 100 100 105 110 110 115 120 125 125 150
160 105 110 110 115 120 125 125 130 135 160
170 110 115 120 125 125 130 135 140 145 170
180 120 120 125 130 135 140 145 150 150 180
190 125 130 135 140 140 145 150 155 160 190
200 130 135 140 145 150 155 160 165 170 200
210 140 145 145 150 155 160 165 170 180 210
220 145 150 155 160 165 170 175 180 185 220
230 150 155 160 165 170 175 185 190 195 230
240 160 165 170 175 180 185 190 195 205 240
250 165 170 175 180 185 195 200 205 210 250
260 170 175 185 190 195 200 205 215 220 260
270 180 185 190 195 200 210 215 220 230 270
280 185 190 195 205 210 215 225 230 235 280
290 190 195 205 210 215 225 230 240 245 290
300 200 205 210 215 225 230 240 245 255 300

You guys get the Idea…..I do this with everything but cables and dumbbells.. I still do the 3 set of 12… as for my work out..

[no1snowman]

colums didnt line up...sorry

[need2bhuge]

I think pyramid workouts are good for begginers, but I stick with pyramiding down my weight! I do this so that I can elicit that maximum muscle strain and recruit the maximum amount of muscle fibers possible. When you pyramid up you are not able to hit the most weight you can on your last set and in turn do not put the maximum stress on your muscles. I tend to do 2-3 warmup sets on my initial exercises...for example, if I am doing bis one day I will do 2-3 warmups on straight bar curl then no other warmups for any other bi exercise because the muscle already has the blood flowing through it. If I do chest then my 2-3 warmups are on flat. Anyway, the warmups are progressive, so 1st set very light for 12 reps, 2nd set still light for 4 reps and then a 3rd set of pretty heavy for 2 reps. Example, my flat bench goes 135 for 12 reps, 225 for 4 reps and 295 for 2 reps, then I start my working sets as follows...315 for 7 reps, 295 for 8 reps, 275 for 10 reps, 275 till failure...I don't ALWAYS do 4 working sets...I do 2 weeks on 2 weeks off. Then I will move to incline...no warmups, 275 for 6, 255 for 8, 245 for 10. All my other exercises follow the same routine...first major exercise for each body part gets 2-3 warmups then I go to 3-4 working sets moving down in weight but up in reps, IF YOU CANNOT INCREASE REPS THEN MAKE SURE YOU GET AT LEAST THE SAME NUMBER OF REPS THAT YOU GOT ON YOUR PREVIOUS SET! I fing that this routine has helped me in both the stregth and size department and highly recommend it to others!