Beebleblog

 

It is a style of training used primarily in the weights and resistance section of your workout. It is called pyramid because of the way you increase the weights and decrease the repetitions (not because it was invented by Egyptians – Beeble). If you look at the picture it explains why it is called pyramid training.

 

 

It is a simple idea that I use a lot in my own training and it can be adapted to any exercise. Careful weight selection is a must and you will probably find the first few times are going to be practices before you learn which weights to use.

 

The first set is going to be 15 repetitions and the weight selection should be based on whatever you can complete 15 repetitions while maintaining a good technique, but it needs to be tough (life is never easy – Beeble). Now rest for 1 minute. You can change your rest period and some people leave no rest period but my advice is give yourself 1 minute just to recharge before the next exercise.

 

Now for the next set: we are looking at completing 12 repetitions with a heavier weight than you used for 15 repetitions. Weight selection rules are the same: a weight that you can complete for 12 repetitions with good technique and it should still be tough to do. Rest for another minute. (I bet you can guess what is coming next – Beeble) Now it is 10 repetitions with a heavier weight than you completed with 12 repetitions. Using the same rules as before and follow it with a 1 min rest. Then finally 8 repetitions with a heavier weight than used for the 10 repetitions.

 

 

You can leave it there and it is a perfectly good training style. However to complete a true pyramid you have to work your way back down again. (Oh no! - Beeble) So using the same weights you used for all the repetitions going up in weight, you now complete 10 reps, 12 reps, 15 reps with a minute rest between each one. You need only complete 1 of the heaviest 8 rep exercise.

 

 

(Another one! – Beeble)

 

The exercise we will choose is the Bench Press.

 

15 repetitions

Weight = 20kg

 

1 minute rest

 

12 repetitions

Weight = 22kg

 

1 minute rest

 

10 repetitions

Weight = 24kg

 

1 minute rest

 

8 repetitions

Weight = 26kg

 

Take a 1 minute rest and now work back up this list, but don’t do 8 reps twice. As you can see from the weight selection there is not a huge increase in the weight every time. This is because you need to be able to complete the set amount of repetitions with a good technique. If you find that your weights go in much bigger increments (stages) then you were probably not doing heavier enough weights on the previous set.

 

 

You can adapt this training into the program you are already doing, although as you can see there are quite a lot of sets so it could take a long time to complete.

 

If you are doing an all over body workout I would select maybe 4 exercises on top of your cardio-vascular workout in order to adapt to this style of training. You should then be able to squeeze that into one hour. Ideally though I would train your body slightly differently and split it into a legs day, a chest and back day and a shoulders and arms day. That is if you train 3 times per week.  If you can manage more then I would split the chest and back up to their own days. If you can split your training up like this then 2 – 3 exercises per body part is all that is needed.

 

 

If you follow the rule in your training that you have to push yourself to get the development and change in your body that you desire, then you will find this style of training very beneficial when you reach those points where your training plateaus (where you stop seeing the changes and improvements – Beeble).

 

I personally use it when I am stuck on a weight and can’t seem to improve. By making the 8 repetitions heavier than I can normally do I help my body experience the weight, use it and with practice it allows me to move up to the next level. Part of it is training the muscle to use that weight and the other part is to get your mind used to it. You see if you have a mental block on a weight you will never be able to move it. The mind plays a vital role in how far you can take your exercise. This type of training shows the brain that you can achieve that weight and so in turn this speeds up the process.

 

 

With this type of training you could stick to the 2 month rule where after 2 months you need to change your style of training to maintain the maximum improvements. However it is my personal belief that this type of training has one goal and that is to get you out of a plateau. This should be achieved in 1 month and so because of this I would say any extra time spent on it could be wasted. After the 1 month take your improvements straight into your more standard routine. Then when you find yourself needing a push to improve that is the time to introduce your pyramid training again.

 

 

I would not suggest that complete beginners to exercise should train in this style. However you can introduce it fairly early on as it can be adapted to your own abilities.

 

Quite a complicated training style this time but once you have tried it you should be able to adapt it to all your exercises. If you have any questions or comments on this training style or would like to know about any others that maybe able to help you achieve your goals then please contact me by clicking on the comments section below and scrolling to the bottom of the page that pops up. Or click on the contact Beeble link on the menu on the left. (Feed readers will have to visit us at http://www.beebleblog.com/ to do this). Thank you.