Mass or Strength? Build BOTH With △ Pyramid Sets

How to Build More Muscle AND Strength With △ Pyramid Sets

Want to get stronger? Live in the low volume, heavy weight, 1-5 rep range on main lifts. Focused on aesthetics and adding lean muscle? Chase the pump with high intensity, high reps.

But what if you want to look strong and be strong? Start training with Pyramid Sets. Pyramid Sets typically start with a high-rep, light-weight set and gradually progress to higher weight and fewer reps over the course of 4-6 sets.   

In the graphic that follows, the left side of the pyramid demonstrates a classic Pyramid Set. It works its way up from a warmup set with 10 light reps to a heavy 1 rep max (and the option of trying to set a new 1 rep max). Ignore the right side for now.

 

 

Don’t let the “math-y” look scare you off. It’s super simple.

To make the graphic work for any lifter, the weights are written as percentages. Just plug in whatever weight you estimate your one rep max bench press to be, then apply the percentages everywhere else – your first set will be half as heavy (50%) as whatever you’ll be lifting at the top, but you’ll lift it for 10 reps instead of just 1. Your second set will be about 65%, and so on and so forth, until you work up to the heaviest weight you can lift for just one rep.  

The example above also features a Reverse Pyramid Set (the numbers running downward on the right side of the pyramid) that can be done after hitting the top. We’ll get to that in a bit.

 

The Best of Both Worlds

Pyramid Sets are superior for building muscle mass while at the same time maintaining or improving strength levels. They’re the best of both worlds.

Each lift done Pyramid-style features a built-in warmup set to reduce injury and prepare muscles to move serious weight, plenty of muscle-growing volume, and strength increasing high weight work at the top. It’s the total package.

Pyramids feel very natural. They’re one of those rare lifting protocols that you’ll immediately “get” once you try it. Frequently athletes realize they had already been incorporating some “pyramid-ish” sets in their workouts by accident – they just make that much sense.

Here’s another example of a possible Pyramid Set:

 

Sample Pyramid Squats for beginners

• Warm-up: empty bar x 20 reps
• Warm-up: 95 lbs x 18 reps
• 1st set: 135 lbs x 15 reps
• 2nd set: 155 lbs x 10 reps
• 3rd set: 175 lbs x 6 reps
• 4th set: 195 lbs x 3 reps

After completing a warm-up, do a light set or two of your main exercise. Then do a set of 15 and add some weight. Then complete your set of 10 heavier reps. For each set, the weight increases until you complete the power set of 3 heavy-as-**** reps at the top of the pyramid. (Okay, maybe not “heavy-as-****” in the beginner example we’ve laid out above, but you get the idea!)

 

Reverse Pyramid Back Down

For even more dramatic results (especially for adding lean mass), we recommend running the pyramid in reverse after hitting the top – going back down through all the levels, stimulating even more growth and improving your overall conditioning.  

As depicted on the right side of the example Pyramid for Bench Press graphic, the target reps for each set on the Reverse Pyramid portion are given in ranges: 4-6, 7-10, etc. Because you have already hit your peak strength portion at the top of the pyramid, the reverse is your chance to push yourself and hit true failure during your sets. No sense holding anything back – it’s time to leave it all on the battlefield.

Repeatedly hitting failure is hard work, but because each set on the reverse pyramid will be lighter, you’ll power through. Just don’t get cocky; after all, each set will still be more reps than the one before. Want to demolish each level of that pyramid, reduce rest times, and push results even farther? Fuel up with a pre-workout designed for raw performance, like this.

 

LIFT Like an Egyptian

In designing your own pyramids, don’t be afraid to tinker with the exact number of reps in each set – just respect the general premise that:

1. The first level is high rep, light weight
2. The weight gets heavier, and the number of reps gets lower, as you move toward the top
3. The pyramid has at least 4 levels (sets)

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