From Mike in Massachusetts, a 38 year old advanced lifter who wants to know if he should increase the weight with each set he performs.  His question is: 

Dear Mike:

My question is in regards to when you perform your 3 or 4 sets.  Do you stay with the same weight for each set or do you pyramid up the weight for each one? 

Dear Mike:

Thank you for visiting my web site and for submitting a great question.  There are many different ways to approach this, with no one way being the only way.  Personally, I like to incorporate a varied set and rep scheme.  If you are in a pure mass-building cycle, I recommend using mostly a powerlifting method (e.g. 8 sets X 2 reps or 5 sets X 5 reps using the same weight, not pyramiding). 

If you are in a leaning-out cycle, I recommend a different approach.  For example, as I approached a contest and wanted to lean out yet keep all the mass I worked so hard to attain, I would switch to mostly a pyramid set and rep scheme (e.g. 12, 10, 8, 6 rep scheme).  This would allow me to increase my training volume and keep my poundages heavy, thus helping me to hold onto the mass I gained in the off-season.

An example on the bench press for a leaning out (or pre-contest) cycle would be as follows:

It is my personal philosophy to train as heavy as possible, but at the same time it is important to vary the set and rep scheme according to your goals and competition season.  

In closing, if you are a competitive bodybuilder, you may want to mostly use the mass-building (non-pyramiding) cycle during your off-season and then switch to the leaning-out (pyramiding) cycle for the months leading up to your contest.  I am not saying to strictly use the mass-building cycle in the off-season.  I did pyramid in my off-season, but I mostly used the mass-building cycle.   The same goes for pre-contest - I used mostly the leaning-out cycle, but I also used the mass-building cycle at times.  If you are not a competitive bodybuilder, I recommend doing the mass-building cycle for 8 weeks and then the leaning-out cycle for eight weeks.  The key is to vary not only the kind of exercises you perform, but also the method in which you perform the exercises.

Thanks again for the great question.  Good luck and keep training hard.

Mike Francois

Note: Before embarking on any nutrition, supplementation, and/or training program, consult with your physician or other licensed health-care professional.