Pyramids For Volume

In my previous post, which was a video, I explained the concept of pyramid style training. This post will elaborate a bit more about how to use it to accumulate volume.

It has been said that volume is the main driver of adaptation. I can tell you, in my experience, it is. Accumulating volume can be risky. Too much too soon can lead to injury or even a negative training affect. The correct amount of volume for an athlete to get adaptations takes a little trial and error, but that's a topic for later. Pyramids can be used for many different movements/modalities, but I have had the most success using them for pressing and pull ups. For myself, pressing "The Beast" (48kg kettlebell) at 170 pounds bodyweight and winning the pull up event in the last TSC with 35 strict pull ups were the result of pyramids. Additionally, my shoulder and elbows are very wonky from activities I've done over the years, so pyramids can help prevent flare ups in these joints for pressing and pulling (if you share my struggle). The beauty of a pyramid is the volume sneaks up on you, you get in a lot of quality reps, and your muscles don't end up on fire. Now, on to the schemes...

Below is my favorite scheme for volume pyramids for pulling or pressing.

1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1

So with a fixed weight, you hit each rung of the pyramid and rest enough to make each rung clean. Weight choice can be tricky. What I like to do is choose a weight that is challenging for the top of the pyramid. In this case it's 10 reps. The experience is as follows. In the beginning, you move rather quickly since the weight is light for the number of reps in each rung. This is great for building momentum and greasing everything up, so to speak. In the middle is where the challenge arises. There may be a slight pump and rest times will need to be longer. Then on the way down, you will be pleasantly surprised as the fatigue accumulated in the middle is kept in check as the reps decline, allowing you to get in more clean reps. When you finish, boom, 100 reps! Yes 100. If you square the peak of the pyramid you get the total reps for the whole thing.

With bodyweight, it can get tricky since you can't choose a lighter weight. But you can alter the pyramid volume. Let's say you change it to 5.

1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1

This gives you 25 total reps. A good rule of thumb with bodyweight when using pyramids is to stay below 50% reps of a max effort. So my initial pyramid of going to 10 could be good for a person with AT LEAST 20 strict pull ups.

Pyramids provide an opportunity to get creative as well. For example, if I wanted to have a challenging "peak" rung of 10 but 100 reps total is too much for that day, I would use a scheme like this.

2-4-6-8-10-8-6-4-2

This gives me 50 reps of volume for the day--including a challenging peak set--with the benefits of clean reps that the pyramid provides.

I will say, a downfall of the pyramid is that trial and error is required. You won't really know if you chose the right number until you are in it. You may think you can get a peak rung of 10 reps because the early rungs are easier, but as soon as you get to 8, the wheels fall off. It has happened to me many times, and the best advice I can give is just count the last set as the peak and go back down. Take a mental note of the experience for future use.

Go reach your goals by accumulating volume using pyramids!