Q: I hear people say that they are doing a pyramid workout, but I don't have a clue as to what they mean. Please explain. - S.M., Sandy, UT

A: The goal in weight training is to keep your workouts fresh and interesting. You want to set up new challenges for yourself each time you go to the gym. Pyramid training will do that for you. You start with a warmup of high reps and low weight as the base of the pyramid. Then you decrease the reps as you add more weight. Finally, you finish off the pyramid's peak with the least reps and the most weight.

Here is an example of a pyramid I often do with the bench press. If you want to try it, perform one set only and be sure to end up with a heavy weight you know you can bench one time:

Reps Weight
12 135
8 185
6 225
4 245
2 275
1 300

You can do any number of reps for the desired number of sets as long as you follow the high rep/low weight progression to heavier weights and less reps. Finish off the workout by backing down the pyramid, taking off weight and adding reps according to your ability.

Source: fitlinxx.com