PatCNJ
03-01-2010, 08:24 PM
I had the pleasure of speaking to John Peterson recently on the phone. Always a class act, John told me about a set and rep scheme that he uses for pullups; pyramids. I'm fairly recent to this forum, so excuse me if this is old information. John uses pyramids for pullups, but I have found them usefull for Atlas pushups and other bodyweight exercises.
A '6 rep' pyramid involves performing a set of one rep, then a set of two reps then a set of 3, 4, 5, 6 and back down to 5 reps, 4, 3, 2, 1
The first few sets one may be tempted to run together with no or very little rest. Try not to. The lower set reps are the weightlifter's equivalent of beginning an exercise with a lighter weight and working up to a heavier max weight. This allows for increased blood flow to muscles and decreased chance of injury. The last few sets may be lower reps, but the muscles are fatigued to the point that rest between sets is required.
Performing a '6 rep' pyramid (sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) will mean that one has performed a total of 36 reps; about the equivalent of the number of reps a weightlifter may perform on a single exercise.
Perform an '8 rep' pyramid (sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) and you will have performed a total of 64 reps with no set being no higher than 8 reps. This makes it easier for those of use with asthma and those who are not used to high rep training to increase volume.
Two weeks ago I tried a '10-rep' pyramid. The sets were 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, for a total of 100 reps. The last few sets were rough, but this was the first time I had completes 100 pushups in a single workout. Once I can perform a '10 rep' pyramid, on a regular basis, I will move away from Atlas 1 pushup and concentrate more on Atlas 2's and 3's.
One workout I performed included an '8-rep' pyramid for Atlas 1 pushups, a '6-rep' pyramid for bodyweight rows using and suspension trainer and a variation of a '6 rep' pyramid for Tiger Bend Squat. The variation is that each set of 1, 2, 3....is multiplied by 5 reps. I was performing sets of 5, 10, 15.... The reps were 64 reps on pushups, 36 on rows and 180 for squat; a total of 280 reps. Not too bad for someone who has not spent much time with bodyweight training.
John, thanks for the heads-up on pyramids. I hope they are included in 'Hard as Nails'
For everyone else, thank you for putting up with a very long post. Future poses will be much shorter.
A '6 rep' pyramid involves performing a set of one rep, then a set of two reps then a set of 3, 4, 5, 6 and back down to 5 reps, 4, 3, 2, 1
The first few sets one may be tempted to run together with no or very little rest. Try not to. The lower set reps are the weightlifter's equivalent of beginning an exercise with a lighter weight and working up to a heavier max weight. This allows for increased blood flow to muscles and decreased chance of injury. The last few sets may be lower reps, but the muscles are fatigued to the point that rest between sets is required.
Performing a '6 rep' pyramid (sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) will mean that one has performed a total of 36 reps; about the equivalent of the number of reps a weightlifter may perform on a single exercise.
Perform an '8 rep' pyramid (sets of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1) and you will have performed a total of 64 reps with no set being no higher than 8 reps. This makes it easier for those of use with asthma and those who are not used to high rep training to increase volume.
Two weeks ago I tried a '10-rep' pyramid. The sets were 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, for a total of 100 reps. The last few sets were rough, but this was the first time I had completes 100 pushups in a single workout. Once I can perform a '10 rep' pyramid, on a regular basis, I will move away from Atlas 1 pushup and concentrate more on Atlas 2's and 3's.
One workout I performed included an '8-rep' pyramid for Atlas 1 pushups, a '6-rep' pyramid for bodyweight rows using and suspension trainer and a variation of a '6 rep' pyramid for Tiger Bend Squat. The variation is that each set of 1, 2, 3....is multiplied by 5 reps. I was performing sets of 5, 10, 15.... The reps were 64 reps on pushups, 36 on rows and 180 for squat; a total of 280 reps. Not too bad for someone who has not spent much time with bodyweight training.
John, thanks for the heads-up on pyramids. I hope they are included in 'Hard as Nails'
For everyone else, thank you for putting up with a very long post. Future poses will be much shorter.