Keep in mind if you do this you’ll probably be able to lift less heavy weights as you’ll be tired out from the buildup, as opposed to starting with the heavy
the idea behind this is to intentionally pre-exhaust your muscles so you don’t need as much volume for each set anyway. if you’re training for strength then yea this prolly isn’t the method for you
Same!! Till I wear down! Up and then I go back down if I’m feeling strong which is pointless but I just like to wear myself to total fatigue sometimes for a heck of a burner!
Going up in weight is bad because your fast twitch muscle fibers are stronger as you start , and going up in weight means you are basically doing warm ups, you could warm up by warming up instead of doing a set that won't do much. This is the same reason why descending reps in reserve is not good, you want to in any case use a higher weight in your first set and second set, then as you reach close to failure and your reps in reserve is too low to keep yourself in your desire rep range you decrease the weight a tiny bit (this is called down sets). Going up in weight is unironically a waste of time, by the time you get to, for example, your 4th set, you did a bunch of sets that were not difficult so they didn't stimulate much growth(how much growth does a set that is 60% of the weight of your last time stimulate? it's too easy) and you tired yourself out so you are not able stimulate fast twitch muscle fibers as effectively.
@@itachiuchicha4728 dropsets are good on arms for sure. I did lots of dropsets for arms always. I think I pyramided up slightly on arms as I warmed up but always dropsetting as well.
Sounds like a simple way of warming up to a working set tbh but I typically do fewer reps at lighter weights to conserve for the top set while priming the CNS for heavy lifting, focusing on strength and conditioning rather than hypertrophy
Same i do warm ups with light then do 6 reps go up 6 reps up till cant do 6 then by then muscle nice n warm sometimes half the weight n rep it till failure. ❤❤
I’ve mixed it up so much, and everything has just exploded for me… Muscular endurance, strength _and_ size. One day I will do straight sets, next session will be pyramid sets and the third and fourth sessions are both drop sets. The other three days are light cardio, and man has it worked well for me.
To warm up, I choose a weight that allows me to do 30 reps. On the second set, I pyramid up to a weight that allows me to do 15-20 reps. On the third set, I do 8-12 reps. But by that point, that's where I draw the line between my warmup sets and my first working set. Pyramid up, good strategy! 👍
If you’re gonna keep reps consistent, which Jay mostly does, this is proly best way to do it. Can get crazy volume if you go until you can’t hit the rep range. I do a bit of both but I’d say I do more decreasing weight sets. Jay’s way also has a built-in warm up. I personally go for high intensity mid-low volume.
Ive done it both ways over the years BUT I prefer pyramiding UP in weight as this helps me get into the groove of the movement and prevent injury. Also as another side benefit, you get a great pump this way. If you do one warm up set and immediately jump to your heaviest load, there’s not a lot of blood in the muscle at that point. I find that a really pumped muscle can FEEL the contraction better once you get to that heaviest load. Also too…sometimes you just “don’t have it” that particular day in the gym and going super heavy isn’t in the cards. Your strength can vary from one session to the next. By pyramiding up, you’ll be able to better gauge if this gonna be a good strength day or if you just need to do a pump day and get outta there without an injury.
Not a bad thing. Working your way up like you do with heavier weight and shorter rep ranges means you're also working on strength. Jay kept his rep range high because he was trying to fatigue the muscle in order to get it to grow. He was a bodybuilder afterall. Strength to him was not a priority.
Pros and Cons: Working up to a weight can help prevent injury and warm up the joints. Starting heavy doesn't risk fatigue before getting to a heavy set
It’s always made the best sense to me to warm up as needed and then do your first working set with the heaviest weight possible that will allow at least 8 reps. Then once you can no longer do 8 reps minimum with that same weight you drop the weight a little.
A. Pyramid does not only go one side. A pyramid goes up and down it forms a point at the top. When you're doing pyramid training, it's not pyramiding if you're only going up or down in weight and reps. A pyramid workout is when you start off at say 12 for one set and then you go down with your reps to maybe 10 and up with your weight and you continue this 8, 6, 4, 2, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and you reduce the weight back down as you go down with reps. That is a pyramid workout but if you're only going up or down then you must be walking a ladder or a set of stairs. Jay, I love you. I love your channel. I think you're cool. I like what you all do but hey got to put my two cents in right. .P.S. I am talking to text so it may not be 100% correct in typing but I hope enough gets typed out right to understand what I'm saying.
I wish this video was longer so he could explain this in more depth. I usually start heavy because on my heavy sets the goal is to get as many reps or as much weight in as possible, so I don't fatigue myself beforehand. The lighter sets are simply taken to failure, and it doesn't really matter if I get 8 or 10 reps as long as I reach failure. I can be prefatigued for those sets.
Same here I find it primes you as you progress up so your ready for the heavier weights & then I might do a set or 3 of the heavier depending & sometimes I’ll pyramid down
damn i didn’t even know such thing as pyramid down, I’ve always gradually increased my weights just like Jay because lifting the top set first sounds like a risk of injury but anyway do what works for you best.
One study said pyrimiding down is better for strength vs Jay's method is better for muscle. It probably depends on a bunch of factors but im general, I always try thinking of that.
I am a 5 years natural lifter. I used to always doing reverse pyramid training. Then in my last year i saw how jay has been training and since that time i started to do pyramid up training and i got stronger and my joints got healthier and my muscles got bigger.
Growing up with my brother he would lift with me and make us pyramid up then back down on the bench press the soreness the next few days was absolutely brutal!
I do an actual pyramid. For example, 135lb for the warm up set for 12 reps. 185lb as the peak weight I can do for 8-10 reps then a finishing set to focus on form at 160lb for 10 reps
Do I listen to a 4 time Mr. Olympia for Pyramid Up? …or do I listen to the 18 year old fitness influencer that has way more followers for pyramid down? 🤔. Ima go with Cutler 🔺👆
I’ll have to give it a shot. I’ve always gone down as needed so I can lift the most weight I can at peak form. As the sets get more difficult, I’ll drop the weight to keep tension on the target muscles.
I've always done the same, recently higher reps like Jay.. If you can get 10-12 then don't be afraid to go up in weight still and try to get 6-8 or even just 6 or less. There's still gains to be made - Push yourself.
This is basically exactly what I do in my first exercises ex. Bench, squats etc. But I can’t continue to get 10-12 on the 3rd and 4th sets. I usually use the first couple sets as a “warmup” then the heavier I go I start hitting failure. I’m going for a good blend of building strength and aesthetics. I love to do this pyramid with the rest of my exercises.
@@goncalopereira8267 true of all the vids I’ve watched of him I’ve never seen him come close to failure even In his old docu he trained hard AF but I don’t remember seeing him fail on reps. But I wasn’t there and it was edited
@@rcheezy7501you’re right he never really pushed it to true failure. He started with light weight did 12 reps and then added weight did 12 again and so on, his last set was the heaviest and was probably 2-5 reps shy of failure mostly
I prymaid up good for warmup, hypertrophy, and stamina, but then after about a month I will change it prymaid down, I have huge gains from this. Do BOTH!
If you want to put on size drop setting / pyramiding down would be good. This way you can lift a freight train when you go in the gym and then ease the weight down. Notice he pointed out 10-12 reps to stay out of the danger zone of injuries. If you are going for cuts ✂️ , definition and losing some fat pyramiding up could be good approach and increase the reps to 15.
I remember I'm high school football, our coaches had us pyramiding up and then down. All I know that after 3 months, everyone on the team became huge and so cut it was re delicious cut.
If you’re a natural I would pyramid down, prioritizing linear periodization on those first 2-5 working sets. THIS IS AN APPROACH FOR YOUR COMPOUND MOVEMENT OF THE DAY. NOT ALL EXERCISES
If your advanced yes this is probably best coz less injury risk when your very strong but if your a beginner or even intermediate I would say pyramiding down is best
That makes sense in that as you lift your nervous system seems to wake up. So in effect you should be able to push harder 2 sets in provided you arent to fatigued , than pn the first set.
Yeah that's similar to drop sets (not the same as mechanical dropsets) if you want you can also do it all in a row like with myoreps, lift a certain weight, drop a tiny bit of weight and doing the same thing again, best done with dumbbells or machines that use bricks.
That makes sense going up every time or starting heavy and working your way down. Or depending on the mood you're in just doing five sets of five or 10 sets of five or doing light you can't always lift heavy you just can't so times you have a Light Lift day or a medium lift day. You cannot lift heavy everyday you got to give your body a little bit of a break. I think the only way I got stronger is by lifting heavy or doing more reps but mainly heavy
I've always gone both ways, pyramid up to failure (or very close) then basically drop set black down to failure at a set minimum (ealy on it would be the bar or a 10lb dumbbell but can increase with progression). Seemed to work well for me and a few people I've known that've done it but I've not seen much research on if it's any better or worse.
I've done both. I prefer hitting my heavy set first then backing off the weight a bit and keeping the reps the same or adding a couple if possible. Then again, I'm a 180lb baby compared to Jay cutler.
How about this I’ve been doing few weeks Been training 30 years but never high volume like this I mean like 9 sets max per week is all I’ve done til this year so here’s what I’ve been up too What about a pyramid like this Set 1- 10-12 Set 2- 9-11 Set 3- 8-10 Set 4- 7-9 Set 5- 6-8 Set 6- 5-7 Set 7- 4-6 So when starting with a new weight would look like this 10-9-8-7-6-5-4 Once 12-11-10-9-8-7-6 is achieved add weight to each set . Per set would be adding only 5 pounds and dropping just one rep . 2 excercises per body part Any thoughts on this ?
start light, build up your sets to as heavy as you can safely, then do a set to reach failure at 12, then deload 15-20% and go to absolute failure for 1 SET with focus on contraction 💥💥💥🔥🔥🔥
Развлечения
I’ve always done this, helps me feel safe from injuries
Absolutely correct!
Makes you weaker on top set
@@D1_Tacticalyeah true but mixing up is the way to go tbh
@jblack8502 muscles don't know how much weight you lift only how hard they work
Keep in mind if you do this you’ll probably be able to lift less heavy weights as you’ll be tired out from the buildup, as opposed to starting with the heavy
Yea ok. It's called resting.
the idea behind this is to intentionally pre-exhaust your muscles so you don’t need as much volume for each set anyway. if you’re training for strength then yea this prolly isn’t the method for you
@@drewdown826 how about u stop taking 10 minute rests between reps and go to failure like a real man
@Resident Sleeper is 10 minutes what you do when you start heavy. Poor baby, keep trying
You won’t be able to start benching your heaviest without a good warmup
Same, I start super light and use it as a warm up. I find this great the older it get and then I find I can actually go heavier in the end!
I find the same with the warm up, it helps me get my form in too. As well as I find I'm not as stiff at work the next day (trades)
Same!! Till I wear down! Up and then I go back down if I’m feeling strong which is pointless but I just like to wear myself to total fatigue sometimes for a heck of a burner!
That's interesting because I have always gone down focusing more and more on the contraction as I went less in weight. I will have to try this Jay
For hypertrophy i wouldn’t say it’s ideal, but it can be a useful tool in powerlifting and making sure you’re warm for your topset
Going up in weight is bad because your fast twitch muscle fibers are stronger as you start , and going up in weight means you are basically doing warm ups, you could warm up by warming up instead of doing a set that won't do much.
This is the same reason why descending reps in reserve is not good, you want to in any case use a higher weight in your first set and second set, then as you reach close to failure and your reps in reserve is too low to keep yourself in your desire rep range you decrease the weight a tiny bit (this is called down sets). Going up in weight is unironically a waste of time, by the time you get to, for example, your 4th set, you did a bunch of sets that were not difficult so they didn't stimulate much growth(how much growth does a set that is 60% of the weight of your last time stimulate? it's too easy) and you tired yourself out so you are not able stimulate fast twitch muscle fibers as effectively.
Probably why hes still healthy and in shaoe compared to alot of ex pro bodybuilders. Good to prime the CNS before going heavy af
You should do both. Increase other time decrease
@@382u3uuej bull poop dude.
Yup when I intuitively started to pyramid up, my gains exploded.
Opposite happened to me. I made the most insane gains through dropsets
@@itachiuchicha4728 dropsets are good on arms for sure. I did lots of dropsets for arms always.
I think I pyramided up slightly on arms as I warmed up but always dropsetting as well.
Sounds like a simple way of warming up to a working set tbh but I typically do fewer reps at lighter weights to conserve for the top set while priming the CNS for heavy lifting, focusing on strength and conditioning rather than hypertrophy
Same i do warm ups with light then do 6 reps go up 6 reps up till cant do 6 then by then muscle nice n warm sometimes half the weight n rep it till failure. ❤❤
Thank you Jay for helping us.
Appreciate your humility brother!
Make sense for muscle grow,strenght and protect injuries.Thanks for secret reveal.Happy new year
I’ve mixed it up so much, and everything has just exploded for me…
Muscular endurance, strength _and_ size. One day I will do straight sets, next session will be pyramid sets and the third and fourth sessions are both drop sets. The other three days are light cardio, and man has it worked well for me.
I started doing reverse pyramid, I’m 43 and I’m feeling stronger!!!!! I was stuck when pyramiding up but now I broke through that plateau
To warm up, I choose a weight that allows me to do 30 reps.
On the second set, I pyramid up to a weight that allows me to do 15-20 reps.
On the third set, I do 8-12 reps.
But by that point, that's where I draw the line between my warmup sets and my first working set.
Pyramid up, good strategy! 👍
Respect you so much Jay
Yes sir, I always hear about the benefits of other sets but this has always been my go to
If you’re gonna keep reps consistent, which Jay mostly does, this is proly best way to do it. Can get crazy volume if you go until you can’t hit the rep range. I do a bit of both but I’d say I do more decreasing weight sets. Jay’s way also has a built-in warm up. I personally go for high intensity mid-low volume.
Looking good Jay!! This is what training smart will get you. Keep it up
Real king of muscles 👑🥰
Always, I've never had an injury in 35yrs. I feel I get a lot stronger, grip strength gets better.
Always worked for me too!
Ive done it both ways over the years BUT I prefer pyramiding UP in weight as this helps me get into the groove of the movement and prevent injury. Also as another side benefit, you get a great pump this way. If you do one warm up set and immediately jump to your heaviest load, there’s not a lot of blood in the muscle at that point. I find that a really pumped muscle can FEEL the contraction better once you get to that heaviest load.
Also too…sometimes you just “don’t have it” that particular day in the gym and going super heavy isn’t in the cards. Your strength can vary from one session to the next. By pyramiding up, you’ll be able to better gauge if this gonna be a good strength day or if you just need to do a pump day and get outta there without an injury.
noted. I pyramid up, but my rep range can be all over the place. I need to work on that.
Not a bad thing. Working your way up like you do with heavier weight and shorter rep ranges means you're also working on strength. Jay kept his rep range high because he was trying to fatigue the muscle in order to get it to grow. He was a bodybuilder afterall. Strength to him was not a priority.
Pros and Cons: Working up to a weight can help prevent injury and warm up the joints. Starting heavy doesn't risk fatigue before getting to a heavy set
Consistently training up or down will build muscle! CONSISTENCY is the key.
Thanks Legend!
I like lifting heavy after warmup and 1 set of moderate weight. Once you feel comfortable, go for it! Mixing up your routine keeps your body guessing.
It’s always made the best sense to me to warm up as needed and then do your first working set with the heaviest weight possible that will allow at least 8 reps. Then once you can no longer do 8 reps minimum with that same weight you drop the weight a little.
no homo.but anyone else noticing how fashionable and well kept jay looks ? inspirational.
Thank you for your advisement.
Damn it Jay, pyramiding weight up is my secret to gains. Damn
A. Pyramid does not only go one side. A pyramid goes up and down it forms a point at the top. When you're doing pyramid training, it's not pyramiding if you're only going up or down in weight and reps. A pyramid workout is when you start off at say 12 for one set and then you go down with your reps to maybe 10 and up with your weight and you continue this 8, 6, 4, 2, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and you reduce the weight back down as you go down with reps. That is a pyramid workout but if you're only going up or down then you must be walking a ladder or a set of stairs. Jay, I love you. I love your channel. I think you're cool. I like what you all do but hey got to put my two cents in right. .P.S. I am talking to text so it may not be 100% correct in typing but I hope enough gets typed out right to understand what I'm saying.
No need dropset in the end if last set went to failure. Save your energy for other workouts.
Tried both and I think it's different for everybody. Found myself struggle a lot by going up
Start light warm up as you preogress thru your sets because when you get stronger and tighter it increases chance of injury
You never cease to inspire Jay. Complete inspiration
These short clips are great
I wish this video was longer so he could explain this in more depth. I usually start heavy because on my heavy sets the goal is to get as many reps or as much weight in as possible, so I don't fatigue myself beforehand. The lighter sets are simply taken to failure, and it doesn't really matter if I get 8 or 10 reps as long as I reach failure. I can be prefatigued for those sets.
The man who defeated Coleman.
What a legend!!!
Same here I find it primes you as you progress up so your ready for the heavier weights & then I might do a set or 3 of the heavier depending & sometimes I’ll pyramid down
Looking as sharp as usual like a blade 👋👋👋❤️🙏
pyramids are forking amazing!!!
damn i didn’t even know such thing as pyramid down, I’ve always gradually increased my weights just like Jay because lifting the top set first sounds like a risk of injury but anyway do what works for you best.
One study said pyrimiding down is better for strength vs Jay's method is better for muscle. It probably depends on a bunch of factors but im general, I always try thinking of that.
I go up in intensity then back down with 2 RIR each set then im done with that exercise. Work great for me.
Jay much respect 🫡 thanks for teaching us the foundations of a great build for a healthy style of life
I am a 5 years natural lifter. I used to always doing reverse pyramid training. Then in my last year i saw how jay has been training and since that time i started to do pyramid up training and i got stronger and my joints got healthier and my muscles got bigger.
I prefer reverse pyramid training but it makes alot of sence if you on the juice then is an invitation for injury to do reverse pyramid training
Increasing musclefiber recrutation during the training
You inspire for young generation sir thanq
True every once in awhile I do drop sets but not too often
Growing up with my brother he would lift with me and make us pyramid up then back down on the bench press the soreness the next few days was absolutely brutal!
Feel pyramiding up helps build cardiovascular strength/anaerobic ability too. Especially if paired with a superset
I do an actual pyramid. For example, 135lb for the warm up set for 12 reps. 185lb as the peak weight I can do for 8-10 reps then a finishing set to focus on form at 160lb for 10 reps
Yes this is proper ladder train up never do drop sets
Do I listen to a 4 time Mr. Olympia for Pyramid Up? …or do I listen to the 18 year old fitness influencer that has way more followers for pyramid down? 🤔. Ima go with Cutler 🔺👆
I’ll have to give it a shot. I’ve always gone down as needed so I can lift the most weight I can at peak form. As the sets get more difficult, I’ll drop the weight to keep tension on the target muscles.
I heart you so much
As a 59 year old whose lifted my whole life, I approve this message💪👍
I thought I was the only one
Jos cuttler what a knowledge men
I also do heavier weight when the muscles are not fatigued in the beginning of a set after a warm up
yessir
I've always done the same, recently higher reps like Jay.. If you can get 10-12 then don't be afraid to go up in weight still and try to get 6-8 or even just 6 or less. There's still gains to be made - Push yourself.
This is basically exactly what I do in my first exercises ex. Bench, squats etc. But I can’t continue to get 10-12 on the 3rd and 4th sets. I usually use the first couple sets as a “warmup” then the heavier I go I start hitting failure. I’m going for a good blend of building strength and aesthetics. I love to do this pyramid with the rest of my exercises.
This guy doesnt go to failure, That is why he does 10-12 always with the same weights
@@goncalopereira8267 true of all the vids I’ve watched of him I’ve never seen him come close to failure even In his old docu he trained hard AF but I don’t remember seeing him fail on reps. But I wasn’t there and it was edited
@@rcheezy7501you’re right he never really pushed it to true failure. He started with light weight did 12 reps and then added weight did 12 again and so on, his last set was the heaviest and was probably 2-5 reps shy of failure mostly
I prymaid up good for warmup, hypertrophy, and stamina, but then after about a month I will change it prymaid down, I have huge gains from this. Do BOTH!
Yes
Up! You get stronger even a second wind when do high volume
I aways do both pyramid forward and back and the same time it feels great 💪
Ok I'll give it a try at the gym in a few hours
Pyramid up is how it usualy works, cant see why so many people respond as if its some revolutionary inormation
If you want to put on size drop setting / pyramiding down would be good. This way you can lift a freight train when you go in the gym and then ease the weight down. Notice he pointed out 10-12 reps to stay out of the danger zone of injuries. If you are going for cuts ✂️ , definition and losing some fat pyramiding up could be good approach and increase the reps to 15.
I remember I'm high school football, our coaches had us pyramiding up and then down. All I know that after 3 months, everyone on the team became huge and so cut it was re delicious cut.
I do up and down. Every time. Ill build up, then build down to increase time under tension.
Just do both, alternate. Variety etc
If you’re a natural I would pyramid down, prioritizing linear periodization on those first 2-5 working sets. THIS IS AN APPROACH FOR YOUR COMPOUND MOVEMENT OF THE DAY. NOT ALL EXERCISES
ALWAYS done burnouts down. But than again Jay is something different😂😅
You can do both at the same time. Pyramid all the way up and then go all the way back down again.
I Big friend you from India
If your advanced yes this is probably best coz less injury risk when your very strong but if your a beginner or even intermediate I would say pyramiding down is best
That makes sense in that as you lift your nervous system seems to wake up. So in effect you should be able to push harder 2 sets in provided you arent to fatigued , than pn the first set.
Worked for me my whole life natty, worst injury was dislocation of several ribs from jumping to heavy rows too soon
How the fuck does one dislocate their ribs from lifting all together, Let alone rows ??!!!!
Yeh thz Jay
love you Jai👍🇮🇳💥💯💪🥰🙏❣️🌹
Jay looks like Jimmy Newton for some reason
still jacked
I go up and back down to failure, it's a sick pump if nothing else
Yeah that's similar to drop sets (not the same as mechanical dropsets) if you want you can also do it all in a row like with myoreps, lift a certain weight, drop a tiny bit of weight and doing the same thing again, best done with dumbbells or machines that use bricks.
@@382u3uuejI'll look into that, always looking for something different to change it up 👍
That makes sense going up every time or starting heavy and working your way down. Or depending on the mood you're in just doing five sets of five or 10 sets of five or doing light you can't always lift heavy you just can't so times you have a Light Lift day or a medium lift day. You cannot lift heavy everyday you got to give your body a little bit of a break. I think the only way I got stronger is by lifting heavy or doing more reps but mainly heavy
This information is for the mere mortal man.
I actually do both
true
Same here 💪
I only do 1 set. Mentzer!
Pyramiding forward is superior imo as it allows sufficient mind muscle connection to achieve maximum throughout on your final set.
The thing that always gets me is going up each set and managing ten at least still
I use both 🤷🤷🤷
I've always gone both ways, pyramid up to failure (or very close) then basically drop set black down to failure at a set minimum (ealy on it would be the bar or a 10lb dumbbell but can increase with progression). Seemed to work well for me and a few people I've known that've done it but I've not seen much research on if it's any better or worse.
I've done both. I prefer hitting my heavy set first then backing off the weight a bit and keeping the reps the same or adding a couple if possible. Then again, I'm a 180lb baby compared to Jay cutler.
Oh I always do pyramiding up. Did pyramiding down as an experiment. Did not hit the same
How about this I’ve been doing few weeks
Been training 30 years but never high volume like this I mean like 9 sets max per week is all I’ve done til this year so here’s what I’ve been up too
What about a pyramid like this
Set 1- 10-12
Set 2- 9-11
Set 3- 8-10
Set 4- 7-9
Set 5- 6-8
Set 6- 5-7
Set 7- 4-6
So when starting with a new weight would look like this
10-9-8-7-6-5-4
Once 12-11-10-9-8-7-6 is achieved add weight to each set .
Per set would be adding only 5 pounds and dropping just one rep .
2 excercises per body part
Any thoughts on this ?
We always went up but now we go up then back down to get more pump in
start light, build up your sets to as heavy as you can safely, then do a set to reach failure at 12, then deload 15-20% and go to absolute failure for 1 SET with focus on contraction 💥💥💥🔥🔥🔥
Good
loves from India 🙏🙏🙏