Anyone Tried Out Ladders?

I’ve been doing a lot of reading Tnation articles lately. It’s truly a wealth of knowledge, especially when you find a coach of your liking.

While going through some excellent articles by Dan John, I found the concept of ladders. It made me curious trying it out. Has anyone here tried it? Like a hybrid of pyramids and clusters, using the same weight for repeated series of “mini-sets” with different rep ranges. @T3hPwnisher @TrainForPain @simo74

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I use ladders pretty frequently. First learned about them from Pavel in 2005 or so. Here was one from a month ago

I’ve got a bunch more on the channel.

I like ladders. There’s a little hidden brutality behind them. If you just go 1-2-3-4-5-etc, you can really drag on in those higher rep sets and lose the intensity. Going 1-2-3-1-2-3 means that, when you come back around to 1, you are moving quick again and the heart rate spikes.

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I appreciate the tag and being in illustrious company.

I love ladders. We did them a lot in high school sports and then in the army (you’ve got to find some way to make push-ups entertaining). It’s one of those things I’ve kind of forgotten about over the years but should return to. It’s a pretty sweet combination of accumulating fatigue (I’m a fan, by the way; you can get more out of less when you do this) and mind trickery (you can always add one more).

Two thumbs up!

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Great to be tagged in with these 2 monsters.

I have only really used ladders for conditioning work or body weight movements, and mostly stole those workout ideas from @T3hPwnisher.

The only other ladders I have done and loved back on my more bodybuilding bays was used for either lateral raises or dumbell curls. This involved an increasing rep range with a decreasing weight. So 1 rep with heaviest weight and then 2 with lighter dumbell and 3 and so on and so on. Start at one end of the rack and work all the way down. Great as a high pump finisher movement.

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Thanks guys! I realize I forgot the articles referring to ladders. It seems ladders can be used for just about anything! What got me going was the convenient accumulation of volume without even noticing. Also, I have a sweet spot for cluster sets. You guys have all nailed my next question - how to preserve intensity? Just maintain a proper tempo.

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I like your open mindedness, my good man. You’re keeping it fun and it’s infectious.

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Thank you, sir! It means a lot to be able to ask you and other experienced trainees these questions. It seems I follow in the footprints of equally open minded gentlemen.

Started experimenting with ladders. On bodyweight movements they truly are a metcon dream come true. Serve we well during weeks when I cannot prioritize the gym.

Curious though as to what % of weight I should choose/maintain for moderately heavy squats or bench press on a 2-3-5-2-3-5-2-3-5 series? Your 10RM?

For comparison, Dan John suggests your 5 RM for a 1-2-3-1-2-3-1-2-3 series of deadlifts, in the article. What’s great with Dan John is his simplistic approach to lifting. Simple but never easy. Like, when talking rest periods - as much/less as needed. No need to track your timing. A free form approach with less demands. Which of his books is best to start out with @T3hPwnisher?

Sending a humble question re ladders and loading to the experienced @Christian_Thibaudeau and also adding the open minded @davemccright for his thoughts on ladders?

I’m considering a workout with ladders only, in rotation between my powerlifting workout and my HIT workout. Adding more excitement for strength skills to further resist adaptation.

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My thought is I think you’ll know by the second session. The nice thing with ladders is they’re pretty good at “fixing” any loading - just add another rep/ round (or drop one if too heavy)

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I’m never one to say what is best, but as a tnation regular you’d appreciate “Never Let Go”, as it’s a collection of several of his tnation articles and other writings. His most recently released Easy Strength Omnibook is a fantastic read and ranks among the top training books I’ve owned. It won’t go into this topic of ladders necessarily, but it’s still super valuable, and you are bound to get something from it. 40 years with a Whistle was a solid read as well, and I regularly re-read “Mass Made Simple” despite having not actually run the program.

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I like ladders, particularly if you’re at a hotel gym or place with limited equipment. The day of my wedding I incorporated ladders at the hotel gym on a few different exercises, kind of running the rack. As I went down in weight, I’d add reps. We also used to do these with push-ups in wrestling, adding one push-up for each mat we would reach and then descended back down after reaching the end. I enjoyed those but a lot of my teammates seemed to hate those!

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Watching you motivates me the same as watching crossfit games.

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second this, I read it after a similar recommendation from Pwn and others. It is a great read and something I often go back to and re read sections.

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Just thought I’d mention your advice have proven useful indeed! Continued experimentation has led to: Yesterday I did a superset zig-zag between heavy bb squats and db pullovers on 2-3-5 x 3 ladders. With proper tempo the intensity was high and the workout over in less than 30 mins! Thirty reps each have never been easier (compared to 25 reps on a devastating 5x5 routine)!

Squats and pullovers are a match made in heaven - not too far away from the SuperSquats idea I believe!

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I have been running ladders for my arms at the end of workout:

BB curls + Triceps Pushdown 2-3-5-10 x 3

Very interesting!

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This is interesting indeed! I’m thinking about constructing an entire full body workout based on ladders. This would require supersets or trisets.

And it could be very draining :slightly_smiling_face:

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Missed this thread at first, but spot on here. Those low rep rounds are where the misery truly lies.

OP, I’ve only ever used them as a conditioning tool and they definitely work well in that regard. Never tried them for strength training.

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