Straight Sets vs Pyramiding

Yes, he starts with lower weight/higher reps and works his way up to higher weight and low reps, whichever that’s called now. I remember him saying one time that the last set of an exercise was normally the one that really induced growth as far as he was concerned. This is one of the areas where I personally differ from him as far as what I find works best for me. Usually at least.

I took his advice to heart and I’ve made more progress by pyramiding my main exercises in this fashion than any other method. But like I said it’s just what works for me right now.

I would like to bump this thread to get a little more feedback about which method (ramping or straight sets) works the best for most of the lifters on this site.

To summarize the discussion so far, it seems that some value working up to a top all out set, while others prefer picking a weight that will challenge them over a prescribed number of reps and sets (like 3x10). I truly believe that ramping is much more effective for pure strength gains, but will this provide enough working volume to promote optimal hypertrophy?

Well I’m just a beginner… but I don’t think it is really going to matter much in the long run. Whichever method allows a person to make the most strength gains in a moderate rep range (on well selected exercises) is going to produce the most results in muscle gain.

Obviously, this is going to be largely personal. Some people just prefer straight sets, and others prefer ramping.

I would note, though, that most of the bodybuilders I know of (pros, amateurs, and the huge guys i train around) pyramid their sets.