Pyramid Sets: How And When To Use The Workout Structure, According To A Trainer

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If your lifting routine has gone stale and you’re looking for a way to shake it up, let me introduce you to the pyramid set. While you typically increase volume, weight, or reps to make a session more challenging, the pyramid approach adds novelty—and a whole lot of intensity—by varying both weight and reps. Basically, as you increase weight with each set, you decrease reps, or vice versa (kind of like a pyramid—hence the name!).

If you feel like your progress has stalled and need a push, or if you’re a beginner lifter looking to graduate to an intermediate level, a pyramid set could get you there. But it’s not for daily, or even weekly, use, says Colette Nguyen, CPT, a trainer at Soho Strength Lab. “Don’t make a regular occurrence of it,” she says (we’ll explain why in a sec). “But once every now and then, it’s fun to liven things up and try out a different structure or give yourself a challenge.”

Meet the expert: Colette Nguyen, CPT, is a trainer at Soho Strength Lab.

So, if you need a fun way to shake up your day-to-day grind or are looking for a high-intensity challenge, here’s what you need to know about when and how to add pyramid sets to a workout.

The Pyramid Training Concept, Explained

The whole point of the pyramid approach is to up the intensity of a workout, says Nguyen. Starting with your lightest weight and highest rep count, you increase your weight and decrease your reps with each set to make a pyramid. (Picture: the tip of the pyramid represents the smallest number of reps you’re doing, and the bottom of the pyramid is you upping the reps—or vice versa.) You can also form a pyramid by starting with your highest weight and lowest reps, and then decreasing the weight and increasing reps.

As for how many reps you should do? Until you’ve got one or none left in you. Getting super close to failure while still maintaining good form is key to the pyramid concept, says Nguyen.

While some exercisers and trainers stick to the more common pyramid approach of starting with high reps and low weight, Nguyen actually only recommends using the pyramid structure of starting with your fewest reps and highest weight. “It makes sense to lift your heaviest weight when you are the most fresh, and drop the weight as you progress through the sets gives you a fighting chance against the fatigue you’ll accumulate,” she says.

An inverted pyramid approach is very similar to a drop set, where you would continue to reduce weight while lifting in order to keep going. The only difference is the rest time. When doing a pyramid workout, you need to leave ample time for rest in between sets—up to three minutes—to recover, since you’re working to the point of failure. With a drop set, you go immediately into the next weight and reps.

“It makes sense to lift your heaviest weight when you are the most fresh.”

When It Makes Sense To Do A Pyramid Workout (Or Set)

TBH, a pyramid workout isn’t for everyone. It’s best suited for a beginner-about-to-turn-intermediate lifter, especially if you’re feeling like your routine has suddenly lost intensity, says Nguyen. It’s not something you’d want to do regularly because it can be so demanding. At a maximum, you should only do a pyramid set twice a week, making sure you had three to four days recovery in between.

It might be too complex and too intense for a beginner, says Nguyen. It also could take days to recover from a pyramid set since you’re getting in so many reps, which could derail the consistency that is so critical in a beginner’s training plan. It also requires some gym savviness that develops with more experience, like how much weight you should start with and decrease by and what it really feels like to be one rep from failure.

Meanwhile, a pyramid workout might not be specific enough for the advanced lifter who needs to get really targeted in their approach to see more muscle gains, Nguyen says. Tweaking two variables at once also makes it harder to track progress, and doing a pyramid set could have you going beyond the max number of reps your body can handle for the week.

How To Build A Pyramid Workout On Your Own

When picking moves to use for a pyramid set, decide between compound or isolation exercises.

Compound exercises: These are exercises that use multiple joints and multiple muscle groups at once, like a dumbbell front squat. If you do a compound move, you only really need to do one, and you should probably save it for your finisher. “Think of it as the cherry at the top of your workout,” says Nguyen. “It should be the last thing to perform because it’s the most systemically taxing item that you’re doing. Anyone who does a proper pyramid set, once you’re finished with it, you’re probably going to just want to go home after that.”

Isolation exercise: This is a move that targets a single muscle and uses only one joint, like a biceps curl. You can do three to five isolation moves following a pyramid structure, Nguyen says. Just make sure they’re all hitting different muscle groups, because, again, it’s a lot on your muscles.

Once you have your exercise selected, determine the heaviest weight you can safely and properly lift at a five-rep minimum, doing as many reps as you can until failure. Since you’re at the heaviest weight of the pyramid, you’ll likely be doing the fewest amount of reps, likely anywhere between five and 12, says Nguyen. “As you continue onto the next set, you will decrease the weight and, in theory, you should be able to perform some more reps than the set prior since the weight is now lighter,” she says. “You can rinse and repeat this process for as many sets as it takes before you are tired and satisfied.” At lower ends of weight, you should be doing closer to 13 to 20 reps, she adds.

When it comes to reducing weight, it depends on the kind of exercise you’re doing. For compound movements, you might drop more weight, like 10 to 15 pounds, and for isolation movements, you might drop closer to two to five, says Nguyen.

Super important to mention: Before you get started with a pyramid workout, you need to warm up. “You never want to lift heavy weights cold turkey,” says Nguyen. To do this, do the move with lighter weights for at least one set to prime your muscles before starting your pyramid.

Sample Pyramid Workout To Try When Your Progress Stalls

Compound Exercises To Use As A Finisher (Choose One)

Dumbbell Back Squat

Muscles worked: Quads, glutes, core

How to:

1. Start standing with feet parallel and hip-width apart, holding a dumbbell in both hands and resting behind neck.
2. Engage core, push hips back, and lower down slowly until thighs are parallel with the floor.
3. Press through feet to reverse the movement and return to start. That’s 1 rep.

Gorilla Row

Muscles worked: Upper back, mid back, triceps, biceps, core, glutes, hamstrings, adductors

How to:

1. Stand with feet wider than hip-width apart, arms hanging at sides, and two dumbbells on the floor in between and slightly in front of feet.
2. Bend knees and hinge forward at hips so chest is perpendicular to floor and hands can reach dumbbells. Engage core, draw shoulders down and back, and gaze toward floor to maintain a neutral neck as you grasp both dumbbells, palms facing inward.
3. On an exhale, pull through with lats and drive right elbow up toward side until right biceps are aligned with ribcage and right elbow is bent at a 90-degree angle.
4. On an inhale, straighten right arm to return to the starting position. Repeat on the left side. That’s 1 rep.

Dumbbell Floor Press

Muscles worked: Chest, serratus anterior, triceps

How to:

1. Lie on back with knees bent and feet flat on floor, about a foot from butt. Hold a dumbbell in each hand with backs of upper arms resting on floor.
2. From here, press dumbbells up by extending arms straight.
3. Then, with control, bend at elbows to lower weights down until triceps touch floor. That’s 1 rep.

Isolation Exercises For A Full-Body Pyramid Routine (Choose Three To Five)

Dumbbell Hip Thrust

Muscles worked: Glutes, hamstrings

How to:

1. Sit with feet flat on floor in front of a couch, workout bench, or stable chair.
2. Rest shoulder blades directly across the surface, lift seat up off floor, walk feet out until planted slightly beyond knees, and place one dumbbell on each hip. This is your starting position.
3. Push through heels and engage glutes to extend hips up until body forms a straight line from shoulders to knees.
4. Reverse the movement to return to start. That’s 1 rep.

Reverse Nordic Curl

Muscles worked: Quads, glutes, core

How to:

1. Start in a tall kneeling position on a cushioned surface with knees hip-width apart with hips and shoulders stacked tall. Tuck toes under or keep relaxed. Clench glutes for duration of the set, even when moving.
2. Slowly recline backwards, keeping torso in one long line.

Once you feel a modest stretch in your quads, pull body back up into tall kneeling position. Be sure to have torso arrive in one piece (avoid sequential movements, or breaking the line of the body at the hips or back). That’s 1 rep.

Weighted Sit Up To Overhead Press

Muscles worked: Core (rectus abdominis, quadratus lumborum), hip flexors, shoulders

How to:

1. Start by laying on back with knees bent and feet on floor. Hold weight over collarbones with both hands.
2. Using some momentum, sit up tall while simultaneously pushing weight straight up to ceiling with weight stacked directly above shoulders and hips.
3. Using some control, bring weight down to chest keeping elbows narrow while sequentially rolling back down to floor to return to starting position. That’s 1 rep.

Lateral Raise

Muscles worked: Shoulders

How to:

1. Stand with a dumbbell in each hand with arms at side, palms facing down and inward.
2. Without bending arms, raise them up and straight out to the side until they’re shoulder-level.
3. Lower the dumbbells back to starting position. That’s 1 rep.

Isometric Bicep Curl

Muscles worked: Biceps

How to:

1. With a dumbbell in each hand, stand so feet are hip-width apart.
2. Bend elbows and lift dumbbells until arms form 90 degree angles, forearms parallel to the ground. Hold for 30 to 60 seconds and return arms to sides. That’s 1 rep.