Descending Pyramid
What is a descending pyramid and why are we going to use this protocol with Strength? Before we go into that, let’s recap some principles of training.
Principle 1 - there is an inverse relationship between the amount of reps/TUT and intensity. The more reps we do or the longer the TUT is the lower the intensity. Invert that, if we have higher intensity then we will have lower reps/TUT.
Principle 2 - we want to go up each week in some manner. This could come in the form of adding weight, adding reps, or making it more dense.
These principles are important to review because as we go through different protocols and methods, we need to have the foundation of knowledge of programming. We can complicate the reps and intensity as much as we like, but that will not change that if we have high reps we will need less intensity and we will have to go up each week.
The rep scheme for Descending Pyramid will be 10, 8, 6, and 4 for reps. So automatically we can assume that we will use lighter weights for our set of 10 than we will use for our set of 4. This is important because we will have to change our weight within a training session and we do not have to do that with straight sets that we normally use. You will have to make four separate decisions on weight selection, each one will have a direct impact on the next decision.
Where do you start? Trust your instincts and what you think you can hold on to for 10 reps. If you can hold on to the weight for the entirety of the set, then that is a good place to start. Early in a training block, we want to keep what we call a couple of reps in reserve. Meaning if I were to ask you how many more reps you could hit for before hitting failure, you should at least be able to do 3-4 more. As you go along with the training block you are shaving down reps in reserve to 0-1.
Within the training session, you are deciding on the next set by how many reps you were able to accomplish with good technique. Were you able to maintain your range of motion and your body position during every rep? If you were able to then you go up in weight. If you are not able to, you will have a tougher decision. You have to decide if you need to stay at the same weight or even go down. Since the reps will be less, you can make that decision based on how many good reps you hit. If you hit 8 good reps in the first set of 10, then stay at the same weight for your next set of 8. If you were only able to hit 6 or below, then you will need to go down.
This will be the same mechanism to go up the following week. You will base your next week's weight based on the previous week's performance. Throw in there elements like RPE and how long you were sore for, and you can decide the relative jump. If you were not sore and you thought the workout was easy - go up more. If you were sore and thought the workout was hard - go up less.
No matter how complicated or intricate the workouts become, rely on the principles of training. I would add one more, work hard. If you do those three principles, you can’t go wrong.