was wondering if it is best to start out with the most weight you can do and work ur way down to a smaller weight you can lift and does it work for all muscles. ex. (biceps) preacher curls starting out at 35 (set 1) 30(set 2) 25(set 3) and 20 (set 4) at somewhere around 7-9 reps. or rather is it best to stick with the most weight you can do at the same reps/set
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pyramid routines
- Thread starter redneck_cowboy
- Start date
alrght, well right now i have two different routines, i just alternate routines per week. but maybe i could try doin a prymid type of a workout with my routine for week one and then for week two try and stay with a consistent weight, spose that would work out?...and then is it good to do max weight each time every week or do i need to take one week where i just do more reps and sets than most possible weight??
I think of pyramid routines as changing the # of reps per set based on how heavy the weight is.
I prefer to progress by increasing weight while decreasing # of reps in each set. For example, you can do sets of 9 (20), 7 (25), 5(30), 3 (35). If on the last set, you can't hit even 3, then you probably needed to have worked at a lower total volume. If on the last set, you can get out more than 7, you should definitely increase in weight. If you're ranging 3 to 7 on the last weight, then you're at about the right place. Next time around, you might switch up the volume a bit anyway (eg., 25, 30, 30, 35).
There are other ways of doing pyramids, including variations of drop-sets (going to failure and then lowering the weight/reps, repeat) or working your way up and back down in weight. I like the increase weight/decrease rep method, because I think it is the least injury inducing of the lot. Your muscles get "primed" to go heavier from the incremental change. The difference, though, is that you could obviously have lifted more in the last set if you hadn't already done 3 or 4 working sets before!
I prefer to progress by increasing weight while decreasing # of reps in each set. For example, you can do sets of 9 (20), 7 (25), 5(30), 3 (35). If on the last set, you can't hit even 3, then you probably needed to have worked at a lower total volume. If on the last set, you can get out more than 7, you should definitely increase in weight. If you're ranging 3 to 7 on the last weight, then you're at about the right place. Next time around, you might switch up the volume a bit anyway (eg., 25, 30, 30, 35).
There are other ways of doing pyramids, including variations of drop-sets (going to failure and then lowering the weight/reps, repeat) or working your way up and back down in weight. I like the increase weight/decrease rep method, because I think it is the least injury inducing of the lot. Your muscles get "primed" to go heavier from the incremental change. The difference, though, is that you could obviously have lifted more in the last set if you hadn't already done 3 or 4 working sets before!
I think of pyramid routines as changing the # of reps per set based on how heavy the weight is.
I prefer to progress by increasing weight while decreasing # of reps in each set. For example, you can do sets of 9 (20), 7 (25), 5(30), 3 (35). If on the last set, you can't hit even 3, then you probably needed to have worked at a lower total volume. If on the last set, you can get out more than 7, you should definitely increase in weight. If you're ranging 3 to 7 on the last weight, then you're at about the right place. Next time around, you might switch up the volume a bit anyway (eg., 25, 30, 30, 35).
There are other ways of doing pyramids, including variations of drop-sets (going to failure and then lowering the weight/reps, repeat) or working your way up and back down in weight. I like the increase weight/decrease rep method, because I think it is the least injury inducing of the lot. Your muscles get "primed" to go heavier from the incremental change. The difference, though, is that you could obviously have lifted more in the last set if you hadn't already done 3 or 4 working sets before!
Yeah this is kinda what i was talking about just the other way around i guess... i might give this one a try cause it sounds fairly logical...
Sig Have you had quite a bit of success with this trype of routine, and do you use the pyramid lifting with most all of your other workouts or just primarily for biceps?
I've had a lot of success with this type of lifting when I was aiming for hypertrophy. I like being somewhere in the 4 to 8 range, & I find that it built both muscle size and strength fairly well. Made great gains playing hockey when I lifted like that. But when I've used it, it has usually been for all my exercises in a work-out program, and they are more heavily compound, dynamic lifts or even sometimes working with resistance bands (stuff for building explosiveness). I would haven't spent a lot of time on biceps in isolation like this, so I can't recommend it specifically for that purpose.
During the fall, I did a mix/match routine where 2 days a week were hypertrophic pyramids & 2 days a week were metabolic & remedials. There were rough body part splits associated with the days as well. In that framework, I put my bicep isolation work in the latter category, though.
I'll be the first to admit....my biceps are not impressive. It's one of my weakest points, given my overall strength level. I have far better development and strength in the triceps. Part of it has to do with how much you need each muscle in certain sport performance, and part of it is clearly distribution of muscle fibers and tissue. If I wanted to get my biceps to 'catch-up' to my respective strength level for other muscle groups, I'd have to spend a lot more time working them than I do, and I've long since decided that I clearly don't NEED them all that much for the activities I'm doing, so it isn't worth making that extra effort.
Hope this helps!
During the fall, I did a mix/match routine where 2 days a week were hypertrophic pyramids & 2 days a week were metabolic & remedials. There were rough body part splits associated with the days as well. In that framework, I put my bicep isolation work in the latter category, though.
I'll be the first to admit....my biceps are not impressive. It's one of my weakest points, given my overall strength level. I have far better development and strength in the triceps. Part of it has to do with how much you need each muscle in certain sport performance, and part of it is clearly distribution of muscle fibers and tissue. If I wanted to get my biceps to 'catch-up' to my respective strength level for other muscle groups, I'd have to spend a lot more time working them than I do, and I've long since decided that I clearly don't NEED them all that much for the activities I'm doing, so it isn't worth making that extra effort.
Hope this helps!