what does everyone think about doing heavy set 1st then progressively lighter sets.

[Mr. Deltoid]

I ready an article somewhere about this an the author was convinced it was a good way to build muscle. I have been adding this in to my routines a little and I like it. For instance today was chest day and I always start out incline then flat then incline db flys followed by cable flys from high to low for lower chest and so on. Incline I did low to heavy 5sets same with flat but incline dumbbell flys I started heavy and reduced weight same with cable crossovers. So what do you guys think ? I'm not nearly as versed in training techniques as I should be. I have good form but for a long time I did the same routine and now I want to change things up drastically. Any advice would be appreciated , thanks.

 

[TANGO.ECHO.KILO]

we always just called em "burnouts"
2 warmup sets with bar weight then load it up. Decrease weight and increase reps each set burn till failure. Used to train like that more when I was younger and wanted to puff up real quick

 

[MindlessWork]

Those are great

 

[ebkallday]

I cycle heavy to light for four weeks. Then ill pyramid light to heavy and back down again and repeat every four weeks. I do this with all my benches, deads and squats. Works great for me both strength and muscle.

 

[Xlgx]

I like doing a heavy set first and then a back off or lighter set myself

 

[naz]

Variety is always good ..shock your muscles..In my Opinion.

 

[Mr. Deltoid]

I cycle heavy to light for four weeks. Then ill pyramid light to heavy and back down again and repeat every four weeks. I do this with all my benches, deads and squats. Works great for me both strength and muscle.

I like this approach and will experiment with this in the future , thanks EBK

 

[sin]

I'm a fan of heavy lifting in all my compound lifts (2-6 rep range) and lighter lifting(8-12 rep range) in my isolation exercises. At the end of the day, what builds muscle is doing more (via more weight, more reps, more tut) each workout. How you get there isn't the biggest factor, it's just that you get there. Some training styles may have more benefits than others but I don't believe any style/program is far superior to another. Find what you like to do, and make progress.

 

[Benny]

I've been doing that on bench and squats. I run short rep warm ups on up to a 3RM weight, then drop down to something that I can rep 6-8 and start the real work. I find doing it that way makes the lower weight feel even lighter and easier to get my reps. It's all in my head I know, but it works for me.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Your fine OP I want my heavy sets first any way. When im strongest. Works great on shoulder presses, bench presses etc. In fact I start my shoulder day like that

Military press
start 200x10
End at 110x10

10 sets total. Keep stripping off weight when I fail to reach "10".

All in all there are 3 major ways to increase stress on muscles
1-rest between sets
2-progressive overload
3-adding sets

Then of course you have negatives, static holds, forced reps/half reps, rest/pause. You know there are alot of ways to mix it up

 

[powerlifter89]

I've given this approach a try in prior training blocks, where I'd work up to a relatively heavy single in the big three, anywhere from 87-90%, then do my working sets and thought it was a good way to go. Could usually gauge how the working sets would go from how smooth the single was.

 

[defscreams]

I throw them into my workouts every once and while. I call them drop sets. I'll do few warm-up sets with light weight, then start heavy and work down. If I'm trying to max out on the bench, I feel this is the best way. Muscles are ready to go and not beat yet. Another fav of mine on chest day is 10 sets of 1rep max. I'll do 10 sets on all benches, flat, inclined and declined. Great pump after this.

 

[Melly Mel from hell]

It's my favorite routine.
After my warm up sets I go heavy on the first set of each exercise and lighten the weight each set after. I rest/pause the last set of each exercise to fail the muscle. I rest 90 seconds between sets and 3 min. Between exercises.

 

[Docd187123]

I'm a fan of heavy lifting in all my compound lifts (2-6 rep range) and lighter lifting(8-12 rep range) in my isolation exercises. At the end of the day, what builds muscle is doing more (via more weight, more reps, more tut) each workout. How you get there isn't the biggest factor, it's just that you get there. Some training styles may have more benefits than others but I don't believe any style/program is far superior to another. Find what you like to do, and make progress.

This is very good advice.

If I'm doing different intensities for the same lift I will always do my heaviest sets first. Why wait to do then until you're fatigued....they won't be as heavy

 

[Switcher]

Agree with Docd, Melly and gr8white. It is the way probably many old timers were taught to lift.

I just wish I had also learned way, way, way back when... the benefit of light days to train the slow twitch fibers. Same principle as the heavy days just in reverse.

I was told and told but couldn't get it past my ego to do it. When I started adding the light days (actually more light than heavy days now) my strength showed material gains.

 

[Mayne]

Alright I am confused are we talking heavy -> light in the same workout or on diff days? Periodization is good so I think adding deload or other forms of endurance work every now and then is good. However when it comes to heavy -> light sets in the same workout I have been doing a lot of it lately especially on big compounds and believe it has added benefit especially while on gear since you can burst out 1-2 high rep sets after 5x5 or something. Not sure natural lifters can benefit because workouts get a lot longer... But in all honesty none of the big name lifters incorporates such technique I think, so one could wonder...

 

[fightingfires]

This is a subject I have given a ton of thought to... Over the years there seems to be every style of workout being done. Light weight high rep, heavy weight low rep, pyramids, etc etc, the one thing I have noticed is they all seem to work. The only time I really change much up is to snap out of plateaus. I have come to think that so many are always searching for the next magic routine instead of focusing on consistency and progression. Yep I do alternate lighter and heavier days but I think the key to progressive gains is overload on a CONSISTENT basis. Not skipping days or the days we feel a bit run down so we go light or only a half assed day.
Just my thoughts

 

[Switcher]

Alright I am confused are we talking heavy -> light in the same workout or on diff days? Periodization is good so I think adding deload or other forms of endurance work every now and then is good. However when it comes to heavy -> light sets in the same workout I have been doing a lot of it lately especially on big compounds and believe it has added benefit especially while on gear since you can burst out 1-2 high rep sets after 5x5 or something. Not sure natural lifters can benefit because workouts get a lot longer... But in all honesty none of the big name lifters incorporates such technique I think, so one could wonder...

There are heavy days and light days-not during the same workout, at least the way I do it/was taught.

Yeah there are many ways to skin the beast and what us proponents of heavy days and light days would do might not be the way others would go. However, the idea of doing all heavy or all light on a particular day is very old school.

Docd kind of hit on it regarding heavy.. You lift heavy because heavy increases strength which has a positive correlation to density and then to mass and size. So, at least periodically you need to go heavy.

If you wear yourself out before you get to the heaviest you can go for a specific number of reps, is there not the possibility the benefit for lifting heavy might be diminished? If one could bench 405 for 6 when fresh but did a working set or two that made it possible to only do 385 for 6, would the benefit not be a bit less? Perhaps not but it seems it could be.

 

[Melly Mel from hell]

This is a subject I have given a ton of thought to... Over the years there seems to be every style of workout being done. Light weight high rep, heavy weight low rep, pyramids, etc etc, the one thing I have noticed is they all seem to work. The only time I really change much up is to snap out of plateaus. I have come to think that so many are always searching for the next magic routine instead of focusing on consistency and progression. Yep I do alternate lighter and heavier days but I think the key to progressive gains is overload on a CONSISTENT basis. Not skipping days or the days we feel a bit run down so we go light or only a half assed day.
Just my thoughts

You do have to be careful on the days youre not feeling it 100%. If your minds not right and you go too big injuries occur