Your Training sucks! Here's How To Make it Suck Less Using Reverse Pyramid Training!

You're dead wrong if you think showing up to the gym and just doing weights is enough to lose fat, tone up and get stronger.

The problem is when you enter the gym without a workout plan and making stuff up as you go along is you stop seeing results after about four weeks. 

When you first get off the couch, and start going to the gym, your body is literally going from nothing to something. This is good, so give yourself a pat on the back for that. You're on the road to self-improvement and towards your dream body.

BUT. You need to go a level further. Because if you carry on training this way, after about 4 weeks your body gets used to your routine. And you're going to notice you stop getting results. You're going to become demotivated, frustrated and stop going to the gym and end up back at square one!

To add insult to injury, that 12 month gym contract is going to still keep taking your money every month, while you sit at home twiddling your thumbs when you know you should be in the gym. You would have been better off putting that money into a savings account!

What you need to do instead is use a training program. One that works! And that is what I’m giving you today. 

Once you learn this system and actually use it, you’ll lose the fat, gain more strength, and your body is going to transform right in front of your eyes. Just like mine did. And just like all of my clients have!

This workout program I’m going to reveal is going to stop you wasting time, and start feeling better about yourself. To drive the point home, have you ever seen a personal trainer with clients who doesn’t seem to get results? Their clients look the same week in week out, month in month out. It’s because there’s no system in place, their making it up as they go along. Those clients are just paying a luxury tax to feel like they’re training. I call this the rent a friend system!

So were going to put that right today, okay?

 Here’s a training plan and progression system that will take your body to the next level. 

 Enter Reverse Pyramid Training RPT and the Double Progression System

 Whether your goal is fat loss or muscle gain, this article is going to blow up your strength and give you the fat loss results you crave. This is one of the simplest and most sensible ways of training, yet not many people know about it. Most training actually goes in the opposite direction of what I’m going to discuss today (random training). 

 What the hell is RPT and the Double Progression System?

 RPT is a training style where you start with your heaviest weight first. Logically, you will be your strongest when you are most fresh right? So we start with our heaviest weight possible, and lower the weight as our strength decreases. This means being able to handle heavy weights with more ease and power than ever before.

 Let’s use an example to make this simple: 

 Using the bench press. Let’s say we know we can bench press 100kg for 6 reps. We always start with a general warm up, then we do a specific warm up for the bench press. I would start with the empty bar and do 10 reps. Now let’s move to 50% and do 5 reps, then 65% and do 3 reps, and lets do one last set at 80% for 1 rep. Our nervous system is warmed up, and our specific muscles (chest, shoulders and triceps) are warmed up too. 

 So we put on our favourite workout song that gets us pumped, and we load 100kg onto the bar and do 6 reps. Once this set is done, we wait 2-3 minutes to let our system reenergise. As I don’t like waiting 2-3 minutes, I’ll often do another exercise such as calf raises in between (paired set), and wait until the 2-3 minutes is over.

 Here’s where the reverse pyramid comes in. We’re going to drop the weight by 10%. So the weight should be 90kg, and we’re going to do as many reps as possible with good form. This set should feel easier than the first, and you should get more reps than 6 in. Rest another 2-3 minutes. We’re going to drop the weight by another 10%, so 20% from the original 100kg. So we now do 80kg, and again we’re going to do as many reps as possible with good form. And that’s it. 

How To Progress with RPT

While most people as we discussed just turn up to the gym and do random stuff. Were actually going to use a system that gets you stronger. This is where the double progression system comes in. The first set is your main focus and the one you should try to improve on each week. Increase the weight by 2.5 kg or 5 lbs. Add weight when you hit the rep target comfortably. 

Using our bench press example again, last week we did 100 kg for 6 reps. So this week we will add 2.5 kg/ 5 lbs to the bar. We are now benching 102.5 kg. The next set would be 92.5kg and the last set would be 82.5 kg. 

1 or 2 things will happen with your first set. You will either get 6+ reps, or you will get less. If you get 6 reps. Great. If you get less, still great. But how you approach next week will be different. 

If you got 6+ reps

Increase the weight next week to 105kg and aim to get 6 reps. 

If you got less than 6 reps

Stay on the same weight (102.5 kg) and try and get 6 reps again. 

And this is what the double progression system is. If you hit the rep target, add weight. If you don’t, stay on the same weight until you hit the rep target, and then add weight. 

Here’s a 4 week example:

Week 1, Bench Press

1.   100 kg x 6

2. 90 kg x 8

3. 80 kg x 10

Week 2, Bench Press

1. 102.5 kg x 6
2. 92.5 kg x 7
3. 82.5 kg x 8

 Week 3, Bench Press

1. 105 kg x 4
2. 95 kg x 6
3. 85 kg x 9

 Week 4, Bench Press

1. 105 kg x 6
2. 95 kg x 8
3. 85 kg x 10

Something like that.

RPT Sample Week

Alright, here’s a free program you can use for the next 12 weeks. It’s the one I’m using as this article is being typed. 

Let’s have a look at a basic setup, using Monday, Wednesday and Friday. If you don’t like those days, use Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday or Sunday- Tuesday-Thursday. Note only 1-2 exercises on each day uses RPT. The rest use straight sets which ill discuss on another day.

Monday

 A1: RPT Romanian Deadlift – 3 x 8+ reps

A2: Calf raises – 3 x 20 reps

 B1: Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3 x 8-12 reps

B2: Floor Dumbbell Pullover – 3 x 12-16 reps

 C1: Pronated Grip Floor Dumbbell Fly – 3 x 12-16 reps

C2: Bent Leg Hollow Body Hold – 3 x 30-60 seconds

D1: Dumbbell Step Up – 3 x 8-12 reps

D2: Standing Hammer Curl – 3 x 8-12 reps

 E1: Plate Loaded Neck Extension – 3 x 10-20 reps

E2: Hand Grip Squeezes – 3 x 16 reps

 Wednesday

 A1: RPT Bench Press– 3 x 6+ reps

A2: Squat with band– 3 x maximum reps

 B1: RPT Chin Ups– 3 x 6+ reps

B2: Dumbbell Triceps Kickback– 3 x 12-16 reps

C1: Bench Dumbbell Rear Delt Fly – 3 x 12-16 reps

C2: Knee Banded Glute Bridge– 3 x max reps

 D1: Dumbbell Shrugs– 3 x 12-16 reps

D2: Standing Hammer Curl – 3 x 8-12 reps

 E1: Cat/Camel – 3 x 10-20 reps

E2: Side Lying Banded Clamshell In/Out – 3 x max reps

Friday

 A1: RPT Front Squat– 3 x 6+ reps

A2: Press ups – Maximum reps

B1: Chest Supported Dumbbell Row – 3 x 8-12 reps

B2: Dumbbell Lateral Raise– 3 x 12-16 reps

C1: Barbell Curl – 3 x 12-16 reps

C2: Hamstring Curl – 3 x 8-12 reps

D1: Dumbbell Single Arm Overhead Triceps Extension– 3 x 8-12 reps

D2: Standing Hammer Curl – 3 x 8-12 reps

E1: Plate Loaded Neck Flexion – 3 x 10-20 reps

E2: Knee Tuck Ups – 3 x 12-16 reps

E3: Inverted Hand Grip Squeezes – 3 x 16 reps

Workout notes

A1: A2 means paired sets. Once you do one exercise, catch your breath and move into the other exercise. Repeat until 3 sets is done and move on to the next pairing.

RPT IN A NUTSHELL

1. Do warm-up sets, gradually working up to around 80% of your first set weight.
2. Put the heaviest working set first.
3. Drop the weight, rest and do the second working set.
4. Drop the weight, rest and do the third working set.
5. Rest and move onto the next exercise.
6. Push HARD. Do as many reps as you can.

I hope you found this article informative, if you did, please give it a like. Comment if you have any questions. And share with a friend who you think could find this style of training helpful.