Do you increase or decrease weight after each set?

[gbrice75]

on the one hand, the reverse pyramid system has merits. But for me, the problem is your max weight lags one week. You can think you have a max weight at 4 reps, then surprise yourself and do 6, but then too late to add more weight.

for me, pretty good is close enough. My cardio/diet/routine is pretty good, and I have pretty good results. And at 48, that aint too shabby!

I hear you about being off on the max rep weight, but I find this happens more so when starting out. Even if you do more reps then you were planning to fail within, at least you know to increase on the following workout.

[Times Roman]

I hear you about being off on the max rep weight, but I find this happens more so when starting out. Even if you do more reps then you were planning to fail within, at least you know to increase on the following workout.

OK, so let me ask you a question, since you brought it up. I understand you are a proponent of the reverse pyramid scheme, but are the benefits noticeable enough to switch?

Let me explain.

First of all, since I was laid off from work, I have PLENTY of time to work out, and here lately, the number of sets has really went up.

to continue...
I pretty much know how much weight I need to be able to do say, 15 reps.
(I write down all my results btw..)
so say i'm doing butterflies on the machine. then I'll add ten pounds and rep out til failure.
I'll continue doing this til i'm down to about a set of one or two reps. this could be 7 or 8 sets and I pretty much know when I am done with that routine.

but with a reverse pyramid scheme, you end up with instead of 1 or 2 reps, you end up with as many reps as you can handle, since you are working with ever decreasing weights.

but I guess you can get some crazy pumps with a reverse pyramid, huh?

[gbrice75]

but with a reverse pyramid scheme, you end up with instead of 1 or 2 reps, you end up with as many reps as you can handle, since you are working with ever decreasing weights.

Not really - the point would be to reduce only enough weight (of course it's always an estimate) to still hit failure within your target rep range. So if you were trying to fail within 4-6 reps, failed on 5 reps in the first set, but then reduced weight and did 9 reps, you've obviously reduced too much. Again, the correction would have to be saved for the next workout.