Duel Pyramid Training

If you have been training for more than a year on a regular basis you would have built up a solid foundation in strength, form and technique. If you have built muscle after your first six months of training then you will know about pyramid training, starting light with higher reps and then lowering the reps as the weight is increased, that's a normal pyramid set.

Reverse Pyramid Training (RPT) is the opposite, but from a muscle hypertrophy point of view RPT will deliver 80% of the muscle gains you get from training. There's nothing complicated about RPT, it starts heavy without failing, doing 4 to 8 reps.

You then rest 3 or 4 minutes and fully recover, this is about maximum performance, not fatigue. You then reduce weight and push as many as you can, assuming you've selected a weight that you can only just rep out 8 times. The reduction of weight for the next set should only be about 10% less.

RPT is built on the premise of training the heaviest set you can lift first, after warming up. RPT assumes that consistent strength gains plus increasing the size of the muscle comes from lifting optimally when you're fresh. Every set you need to push to the max, as many reps as you can without failure.

RPT lifting will trigger the most myofibrillar hypertrophy of any type of training, it increases the size of the contractual filaments in a muscle. If you use RPT together with standard pyramid training (SPT), it's called dual pyramid training. SPT training is different because now you're trying to fatigue the muscle.

Training with higher reps will eventually deplete your glycogen stores in your muscles completely. Our bodies are built to survive and the body then over-compensates by storing more glycogen into the muscles; adding size quickly.

It's important to note that the standard pyramid training will NOT increase your strength or your power, it's designed for a pump and consists of 4 X 12, 10, 8, and 6 reps. If you feel that you still got something left, then add an additional 2 sets doing 6 reps to completely deplete any glycogen stores left in your muscles.

The dual training routine listed below is how you can combine SPT training with RPT training, the workout below is a good example of a dual pyramid training routine. Unlike RPT training, with SPT you'll be keeping your rests between sets as short as possible between 30 and 60 seconds.

The Dual Workout Routine Combining the Pyramids:

Monday:Chest and Triceps
Incline Bench-press 3 X 5, 6, 8 reps (RPT)
Close Grip Bench-press 3 X 6, 8, 10 reps (RPT)
Machine Chest Flyes 6 X 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 6 reps (SPT)
Skull Crushers 2 X 6, 8 reps (RPT)
Rope Extensions 6 X 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 6 reps (SPT)

Wednesday: Back and Biceps
Weighted Pull Ups 3 X 5, 6, 8 reps (RPT)
Barbell Curls 3 X 6, 8, 10 reps (RPT)
Cable Rows 6 X 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 6 reps (SPT)
Face Pulls 6 X 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 6 reps (SPT)
Hammer Rope Curls: 6 X 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 6 reps (SPT)

Friday: Legs and Shoulders
Standing Overhead Press 3 X 5, 6, 8 reps (RPT)
Deadlifts 3 X 3, 4, 5 reps (RPT)
Upright Rows 6 X 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 6 reps (SPT)
Bulgarian Split Squats 3 X 6, 8, 10 reps (RPT)
Calf Raises 6 X 12, 10, 8, 6, 6, 6 reps (SPT)

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