by Back in college, the weightlifting program incorporated rep schemes such 10,8,6 or 12,10,8. Also known as the strandard pyramid scheme. The goal is to increase the weight on each set whilst decreasing the the repetitions. Such as the example below.
Incline Dumbell press:
Set 1: 10 reps – 65 lbs
Set 2: 8 reps – 70 lbs
Set 3: 6 reps – 75lbs.
However I was rarely able to do this, instead this is what I usually got.
Set 1: 10 reps – 65 lbs
Set 2: 6 reps – 70lbs
Set 3: 2 reps 75lbs or 5 reps 70lbs.
Due to fatigue I usually cannot complete the second set. After failing the second set, I either attempt to stick to the weight scheme on the third set and fail miserably or I try to stick to the rep scheme as close as possible by not increasing the weight. I believe that unless you are a total beginner with no muscle mass to feel the fatigue or you are just not working at a high intensity on the previous sets it is almost impossible to complete this.
After a while of be unable to perform the rep-weight scheme of the standard pyramid scheme, I started to train the way I thought was natural, which was the heaviest weight first.
After college, I learned that it’s actually called reverse pyramid training (ie. RPT). The example is below
Set 1: 6 reps – 75 lbs
Set 2: 8 reps – 70 lbs
Set 3: 10 reps – 65 lbs.
This also makes the lifting a lot more fun. Just like racing on taper is awesome, being able to hit the biggest weight fresh is fun since you can perform much better. I’m always excited to hit the gym and see if I can hit PRs.
A swimmer’s main goal in the gym in-season should not be to gain muscle mass but gain strength. I think RPT is great for this since you will be lifting heavier weights. YOU WILL BE SURPRISED HOW MUCH HEAVIER YOU CAN LIFT on your max set when you hit them first. Since you will be lifting much more weight it is going to train your central nervous system much more. Improved CNS is the key to getting stronger without adding size. RPT is also better for a low volume weightlifting routine which is what I recommend in-season.