I never do this, and wondering why people do. After a couple warmup sets, i start with the heaviest possible weight for example
Bench press
set 1 - 260 x 10
set 2 - 230 x 8-10
set 3 - 200 x 8-10
With ramping i see people doing something like this
set 1 - 200 - 10
set 2 - 230 - 10
set 3 - 260 - 8-10
It makes no sense to because, those first 2 sets are not even close to failure, and could easily push out another 2-3 reps but they stop short. I don’t usually go to failure but i go until i can’t push out another rep with proper form (the last rep before i fail).
Thanks for help
Creating fatigue in prior sets allows one to use less weight to stress the muscles.
I do my squats at the end of my workouts rather than the beginning so that I can use less weight but still destroy my legs.
This is going to make working out alot easier, if i just stop 2-3 reps early on every set but the last set or 2 of each exercise.
[quote]Silvercrank wrote:
This is going to make working out alot easier, if i just stop 2-3 reps early on every set but the last set or 2 of each exercise.[/quote]
Awesome.
Yup all the pros have been doing it wrong. Lol.
lol i’m not saying they are wrong, i just thought you should workout with maximum intensity on all sets, not just the last set or 2 of each exercise. I’ve been making good gains the way i’m doing it but maybe i will see even better results with this type of rep scheme.
So should i only go to failure on my last set of each exercise? and stop a few reps before failure on any prior sets? I’m currently on a 5 day body part split that i started a few weeks ago, i was doing HST before that.
edit: So ive been doing some more research and it appears what ive been doing is called a reverse pyramid, basically starting with my heaviest working set and dropping down in weight while increasing the reps. How would this compare to a ramping or pyramid rep scheme as far as hypertrophy, my main goal is size right now.
i tried to use the heaviest weight i can in the 1st set many times in the past. all it gave me was joint pain.
i think ramping up makes my muscles and my mind ready for heavy weights.
also, when i ramp up i can do more reps with my heaviest weight.
you expect it to be otherwise but it just doesnt work that way for my body.
Alright thanks for replies guys, i was under the impression most pro bodybuilders went to failure on basically every working set. (going until you can’t do another rep with perfect form, not actually failing)
I’m confused… What exactly is going to failure?
I always thought going to failure was going to the rep right before you actually fail another rep, needing a spotter or using bad form would be going beyond failure, not actually failing an attempted rep.
Also, are you guys saying alot of pros stop short 4 or more reps there first 3 sets on each exercise?, than go to failure on the last while ramping?
I’ll use bench press to show you what i mean
10x185, 10x205, 10x225(failure)
If you’re able to do 10x225 on your last set, that means the first 2 sets would be basically stopping early even though you could easily push out another 4 or 5 reps. So most guys who do ramping are really only pushing themselves on the last set of each exercise?
I do a hybrid of the two. For example on bench, I have a day where I will do 6 x 4 with an AMRAP on the last set. That means 5 sets of 4, and I will usually hit 7-8 on set number 6. Now if I did my AMRAP first, I would not be able to hit 20 reps on the next 5 sets. But instead, I get more total volume by doing it this way.
[quote]Gorillakiv83 wrote:
i tried to use the heaviest weight i can in the 1st set many times in the past. all it gave me was joint pain.
i think ramping up makes my muscles and my mind ready for heavy weights.
also, when i ramp up i can do more reps with my heaviest weight.
you expect it to be otherwise but it just doesnt work that way for my body.
[/quote]
Second this
[quote]ssjfighter555 wrote:
I’m confused… What exactly is going to failure?
I always thought going to failure was going to the rep right before you actually fail another rep, needing a spotter or using bad form would be going beyond failure, not actually failing an attempted rep.
Also, are you guys saying alot of pros stop short 4 or more reps there first 3 sets on each exercise?, than go to failure on the last while ramping?
I’ll use bench press to show you what i mean
10x185, 10x205, 10x225(failure)
If you’re able to do 10x225 on your last set, that means the first 2 sets would be basically stopping early even though you could easily push out another 4 or 5 reps. So most guys who do ramping are really only pushing themselves on the last set of each exercise?[/quote]
i do something like this;
i do warm up sets of 10-12 by increasing the weight gradually.
then i find a weight i can barely do 10 reps with and stick to it for 3 or 4 working sets and i go to failure in each set.
so in your example 185 and 205 is warm ups, 225 is the first working set.