One of the most popular weight training methods is to pyramid poundages by starting an exercise with light weights and high reps for the first set. The poundages are then increased while the reps are decreased from set to set. A small pyramid would be three sets, however, it is more common for bodybuilders and powerlifters to do a pyramid consisting of four or five sets. Some do even more than five sets, which I refer to as a giant pyramid. Giant pyramids are the theme of this article, which is based on a book called, Giant Pyramid Training, which you can find on the homepage of this website. The rest of this article is an excerpt that is taken from that book.
In the second semester of my freshman year in college, I had the opportunity to enroll in my dream class, which of course was weight training. This was back in 1981 and weight training was still somewhat new to mainstream society. This being the case, a lot of the students had no experience with weight training and the class was designed to be very simple; our job was to learn how to do some basic exercises and start working out.
It didn’t take long for me to meet a few classmates and make some friends. These friends became my training partners for the whole semester. One of the training partners was named Glen. He was pretty tall and appeared to have a fairly good build, however, he had never worked out with weights before and had never really developed his strength.
I was much smaller and lighter than Glen, but over the previous two years, I had already built up my strength quite a bit. My previous training enabled me to put a 45 pound plate on each side of an Olympic bar which amounted to 135 pounds. This is the amount of weight that I used for my first warm up set when doing squats and bench presses. Glen couldn’t lift that much yet, so he had to start out with 25 pounds on each side of the bar. As for me, do you think I would warm up with 25’s when I could use 45’s? My ego wouldn’t allow it. I always felt compelled to start with 45 pounders on each side of the bar for the very first warm up set.
Since many of the students in the class were absolute beginners, they were like Glen and had to start with 10 or 25 pound plates on each side. Those who could slap on the 45 pounders before working up to heavier weights were in the minority. This being the case, Glen would often joke around and call the 45 pounders “hero weights,” which was his sarcastic way of saying that you would finally be a strength hero when you could lift them. As the semester progressed, Glen got stronger. In the process, he eagerly anticipated the day when he would be one of the students who could put on the big 45 pound weight plates instead of the embarrassing little 25 pounders.
The day eventually came when Glen was strong enough to load the 45’s on each side of the bar. At last he had become one of the strong guys who actually belonged in a weight room. Glen was elated when he put those 45 pounders on the bar and did about six reps for the bench press.
Do you think Glen ever put a 25 pound plate on the bar again for the rest of the semester? Not a chance. He put 45’s on each side of the bar on his very first set, even though it was hard to squeeze out six reps with 135 pounds.
What I want to point out is that Glen would do 135 pounds on his first set, but it was hardly a warm up set. He basically bypassed the warm up and went straight to a hard work set with 135 pounds. Why? Because he loathed the 25 pound plates that he started out with. They were a sign of weakness. He had been using baby weights and he didn’t want to go back, he only wanted to use the big weights. Over the years, I have seen many other lifters who perceive that the 25 pound plates that they are starting with are measly little beginner weights. They eventually gain enough strength to put a 45 pound plate on each side of the bar, or even two 45’s on each side of the bar for their first set, and they never want to go back. They end up having to push really hard on their very first set. This is the equivalent of an elite powerlifter starting out with a 400 pound bench press, or a 700 pound squat on his first warm up set.
The truth is that Glen did get stronger by pushing himself on his very first set, and a lot of beginners will also be able to gain a substantial amount of strength by trying to go heavy on their very first set. This may also be true of you, but eventually you may find that you need the benefits of the extra reps and extra volume that can be obtained from starting out with light warm up sets.
Think about your own workouts. How much weight do you use for your first warm up set?
Every powerlifter is unique and has their own style of training. Not all powerlifters use giant pyramids to warm up to a heavy set, but some of the most successful lifters do. A couple of the most notable lifters who take the concept of a giant pyramid to a maximum are Eric Spoto and Richard Hawthorne. Spoto is known for his bench press, and Richard Hawthorne is known for his deadlift.
Eric Spoto
Eric Spoto’s best raw bench press in competition is a world record of 722 pounds. In a video where Spoto works up to a heavy single with 705 pounds, he starts out with 135 pounds. A set by set description of his workout is listed below:
Set 1: 18 reps x 135 pounds (19% of his single rep max)
Set 2: 12 reps x 225 pounds (32%)
Set 3: 10 reps x 315 pounds (44%)
Set 4: 10 reps x 405 pounds (56%)
Set 5: 10 reps x 495 pounds (69%)
Set 6: 3 reps x 585 pounds (82%)
Set 7: 1 rep x 635 pounds (88%)
Set 8: 1 rep x 675 pounds (94%)
Set 9: 1 rep x 705 pounds (98%)
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Richard Hawthorne
Let’s move on to Richard Hawthorne. Richard has deadlifted 650 pounds at a bodyweight of approximately 130 pounds. He does a lot of reps and a lot of sets for each exercise. Like Eric Spoto, Richard starts out with light weights on his first warm up set. Of course, by light, I mean light for Richard. Let’s take a look at one of Richard’s deadlift workouts where he works up to a heavy set for three reps:
Set 1: 20 reps x 135 pounds (21% of his single rep max)
Set 2: 20 reps x 135 pounds (21%)
Set 3: 10 reps x 225 pounds (35%)
Set 4: 10 reps x 225 pounds (35%)
Set 5: 10 reps x 315 pounds (48%)
Set 6: 6 reps x 315 pounds (48%)
Set 7: 6 reps x 405 pounds (62%)
Set 8: 3 reps x 405 pounds (62%)
Set 9: 1 rep x 500 pounds (77%)
Set 10: 3 reps x 515 pounds (79%)
Set 11: 3 reps x 545 pounds (84%)
Set 12: 3 reps x 570 pounds (88%)
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Ronnie Coleman: A Condensed Giant Pyramid
Of course, powerlifters are not the only ones who pyramid up to a heavy set as bodybuilders often pyramid their poundages. This being the case, the last version of a giant pyramid that I am going to discuss is a bench press routine that Ronnie Coleman did when training for the Mr. Olympia, which he won eight times. Ronnie doesn’t do as many sets for a single exercise as the lifters that have been discussed so far, but he does a condensed version of a giant pyramid. He does this by starting out with light weights and doing a lot of reps as he works his way up to a heavy weight over the course of five sets. What makes his workout different than the others is that instead of doing approximately ten sets of an exercise, Ronnie only does five sets.
What does Ronnie’s pyramid look like? You can view the sets and reps of his bench press workout below (note: the percentages are based on an estimated max of 575 pounds):
Set 1: 135 pounds x 20 reps (23%)
Set 2: 225 pounds x 16 reps (39%)
Set 3: 315 pounds x 12 reps (55%)
Set 4: 405 pounds x 10 reps (70%)
Set 5: 500 pounds x 5 reps (87%)
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When considering the examples of Eric Spoto, Richard Hawthorne, and Ronnie Coleman, which one is the best? When it comes to your own training, the method that works best for you is the best. Try them out and see which one produces the best results. You may also find that the best pyramid is a hybrid between the methods. For example, you may learn that you shouldn’t do as many sets as Richard Hawthorne, but you should do more than Ronnie Coleman. The exact amount of sets and reps that someone else uses to succeed is not as important as finding the right combination for yourself.
I also think it is important to point out that many lifters will only need to squat and deadlift once per week when doing giant pyramids because of the high volume. Some lifters will also be able to get by on one session of giant pyramids per week for the bench press, but others may need two sessions. If you find that one session is not enough for the bench press, and two sessions is too many, you can try doing one session of giant pyramids, and a second session in which you only do three or four warm up sets for the bench press.
When considering any weight training method, every lifter must train within the context of their own capacity and adjust their workload and frequency according to their own abilities to tolerate volume and still recover. Giant pyramids are only one training method that you can use. If there comes a point in time where you want to incorporate giant pyramids into your training, hopefully the information in this article will provide some guidance. May God bless you with the best of training.