The other week I saw this great YouTube video on pull ups using pyramid training, here is the video on Calisthenics Kingz:

It’s essentially a workout descending pyramid, starting with the maximum reps and counting down from each rep as the total number of sets, while resting between sets.

For example if you can do 10 reps doing pull ups, then that is your starting point and you count down from there:

What I love about this is that if you are maxed out at a certain rep range of any particular exercise you can push past that and get more reps.

For example, let’s say you can only do 5 pull ups, well by incorporating this training into your workout you can twice or three times the amount of reps. It’s using rest and super setting all in one.

With 5 maximum reps on the pull ups you

You have effectively tripled your reps, of course you are resting but only for a short period of time, maybe resting for 30 seconds to 45 seconds. If you need longer that’s okay. You are super setting and getting more bang for your buck.

I definitely feel it since I started doing this.

It’s amazing how you can just really focus on one particular exercise and get the most out of it.

I realize there are those that will argue quality over quantity and I agree.

I also believe you can accomplish both quantity and quality and that the two are not mutually exclusive from one another.

You can incorporate both. When I practice I simply take my time and focus on each rep as if it were my last. The numbers will take care of themselves.

And in  the end with this type of training I am unknowingly blowing my personal bests out of the water.

Training using pyramids can be done in ascending or descending order. You can start instead with the lowest number and work your way up to a max rep target.

And best of all it can be applied to just about every area of your physical training from push ups to abs. The other day I finished my ab workout doing flutter kicks with a max rep count using pyramids from 20 reps and counting down to 1, and finished with 210 reps.

How great is that?

Of course, I am going to use what I have found in terms of research and apply it to the world of calisthenics.

One of the best places to start is to first look at the two two terms and their respective definitions: reps and sets.

“Reps” is short for repetitions. A repetition is the number of times you actually perform an exercise or movement.

For example, if you do 10 push ups, than you have done 10 repetitions of push ups.

“Sets” are the total number of repetitions you do for an exercise or movement.

For example, if you do 10 push ups, than you have done 1 set of 10 repetitions.

Now that you understand to some degree what a “rep” and “set” are, the more important question becomes what is the right mix of reps and sets and rest between sets?

There is no one size fits all when it comes to how many sets and reps. It really depends on your fitness goals, objectives and skill level.

A good understanding of muscle hypertrophy is also an essentially component that sometimes gets overlooked.

Muscle hypertrophy is essentially the ability to grow muscle skeletal muscle.

There are three types of muscle:

1) Skeletal muscle
2) Smooth muscle
3) Cardiac muscle

Lets go over each briefly.

Skeletal muscle are those which attach to bones and have the main function of contracting to facilitate movement of our skeletons. They are the striations that you see on a bodybuilder or someone in great shape. 1

Smooth muscle is also sometimes known as Involuntary muscle due to our inability to control its movements, or Unstriated as it does not have the stripy appearance of Skeletal muscle. Smooth muscle is found in the walls of hollow organs such as the Stomach, Oesophagus, Bronchi and in the walls of blood vessels.2

Cardiac (Heart) muscle is found solely in the walls of the heart. It has similarities with skeletal muscles in that it is striated and with smooth muscles in that its contractions are not under conscious control.3

The Skeletal muscle is what I will be focusing on as I discuss muscle hypertrophy.

There are two types of muscle hypertrophy:  myofibrillar or functional hypertrophy and sarcoplasmic or non-functional hypertrophy.

Think of functional hypertrophy as strength and non-functional hypertrophy as growth.  This is, of course, a gross over-generalization and in no way am I saying that bodybuilders are not strong as well, nor am I saying that the “strongmen” out there don’t grow in size and muscle.

It’s just a way to wrap your head around these two concepts as it pertains to your overall fitness goals.

The amount of reps and sets really depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

In order for the muscle to grow you have to shock it, you have to do something out of the norm, to induce any type of growth. That also goes without saying when it comes to any other area of your life.

If you just go through the motions, and you don’t focus on the actual movements, and you are not pushing yourself to the limits and beyond, you will not see progress.

No matter what rep and set combo you are doing.

I learned this from the P90X founder, Tony Horton:

1. Variety: Mixing it up, changing the routine, to shock the body, this is also called muscle confusion. Muscle strength, endurance and growth are the results of confusing the body.

2. Consistency: A constant routine is also a pillar to muscle growth and strength because it sends a signal to the body to be in a prepared ready state for activity.

3. Intensity: Your workouts need to be intense, otherwise there is no reason to be working out. It”s called working out for a reason, it’s not called going thru the motions. You need to give 100% effort. Or as Arnold Schwarzenegger likes to call it, “Being in the zone. Do it and go all at it.”

 If you want to grow in size than more reps lower rest periods, however if strength is what you are after than you want to lower your reps and you increase your rest periods:

Desired Outcome	Growth Vs Strength	Reps Per Set	Rest Time
Explosive Power	Strength	4-7 Reps	3+ Minutes
Peak Strength (Myofibrillar Hypertrophy/Functional)	Strength	1-3 Reps	5+ Minutes
Strength (Myofibrillar Hypertrophy/Functional)	Strength	4-6 Reps	2-3 Minutes
Hypertrophy (Sarcoplasmic/Non-Functional)	Growth	8-12 Reps	60-90 Seconds
Muscle Endurance (Sarcoplasmic/Non-Functional)	Growth	12-20+ Reps	30-60 Seconds

There are four additional items that I would like to address when it comes to reps and sets, granted these were popularized in traditional bodybuilding but can be easily applied to calisthenics:

1. Drop sets/Pyramids sets: A drop set is the simple technique where you perform a set of any exercise to failure or just short of failure, then drop some weight and continue for more repetitions with the reduced poundage. Increasing the reps/weights is called pyramid sets. (4)

2. Super sets: A super-set is when one set of an exercise is performed directly after a set of a different exercise without rest between them. Once each super-set is complete, then rest for one and a half to two minutes or more to recover. (5)

3. Training splits: Split system training is a system of weight training that divides training sessions by body regions — usually upper and lower body training. (6)

4. Volume: This is the amount of exercise you do, “high volume” training means that you are doing:

• How much volume is being done per muscle group/body part both per workout AND per week.
• How much volume is being done per exercise.
• How much total volume is being done per workout.
• How much total volume is being done per week. (7)

Incorporating any or all four of these methods into your workout routine can make a dramatic difference.

For example, I am focused on the total number of repetitions (volume) I do per workout session, breaking up my workouts into certain muscle groups (training splits) by doing Legs and Back one day, Shoulders/Arms another day. While I workout, I am doing 2-3 exercises per muscles group, for example 10 parallel bar dips, 10 diamond push ups, and  10 overhead extensions (super sets) and then resting, than I increase the rep count to 11 until I get to 20 reps per exercise (pyramid sets).

As I mentioned before you need to mix it up every single time you workout, because you want to shock the body into growing. It’s all about hard work. If it was easy, everyone would be in fantastic shape, and we both know that is not the case, especially in the states, with 70% of the population being overweight.

In conclusion, how you choose to plan your reps and sets can make the difference between excellence and mediocrity. You need to have a goal, something to aspire to, otherwise, you are just like a ship without a rudder. You have to have a clear direction, an outcome, a purpose.

Once you have the goal, now you just mix and manage with the reps and sets to get you to your goal. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely not boring either. Its hard work, but in the end, the result is to be the best version of you, you can be.

References

(1) http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/types_of_muscle.php
(2) http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/types_of_muscle.php
(3)  http://www.teachpe.com/anatomy/types_of_muscle.php
(4) http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/dropsets.htm
(5) http://www.mensfitness.com/training/build-muscle/supersize-your-workout-with-supersets
(6) http://weighttraining.about.com/od/glossary/g/split.htm
(7) http://www.aworkoutroutine.com/weight-training-volume/