I’ve been an old school loyalist to the half-pyramid ever since I started lifting weights. Warmup, 10-8-6-4, that’s about all I’ve done for years except when a shoulder or chest injury has necessitated doing something else.
However, when the Perfect Aryan Male showed up with an additional 20 pounds stacked on from a year ago – he’s up to 240 now – I had to give his program a whirl. And I have to admit, the results are impressive. Here’s how it goes:
2 sets of 10 at 135 to warmup
2 sets of 6 at 225
2 sets of 3 at 285
2 sets repping out at 225. Shoot for 10, but get at least 8.
The great thing is that you get a little bit of the bodybuilder’s pump that you normally get from high rep, low weight workouts, but you get the increased strength of the powerlifter’s workout too. When I first started it two weeks ago, I was doing the third pair at 270, but after four workouts I was able to jack that up to 285, something I could barely hit once a month ago. And best of all, it seems to wear less on the joints than a heavy half-pyramid. I haven’t been sore since I started it.
Space Bunny has been trying to get me to change up my workouts for ages; I can’t say I’m terribly surprised that she’s right. Of course, I’ll probably stick with this one for the next 15 years anyhow.
Fitness is easy. All you have to do is throw yourself into a rut and refuse to get out of it. I’m not crazy, though. Chilliette is training for the marathon; that’s just nuts.