Question on Weights...

I've heard advocates for both training methods... both being top coaches and trainers.... HOWEVER, I'm sure you'll find that MOST successful strength athletes use the pyramid method - arnold, dorian yates, frank zane, football players, olympic weight lifters, powerlifters etc... Perhaps its more useful to think of it like this... whenever you are trying to push your weights up... use the pyramid method.... and this is the method you should be using most of the time... sets across might help you get more volume in if you dont want to go for maximal weight... such as if you have a "light" training day in your schedule.... I just injured my shoulder from overtraining last week and my trainer made a new schedule for me where I will be using lighter sets across 2 days of the week, just to get some stimulation without overtraining the shoulder girdle.

Hi Raj

This is my opinion and just from my experience. I usually see the best results when I change my routine, for me it doesn't depend much if I use pyramid o fixed, so, from my point of view, use one of them for 4 weeks, and then chage to the other. Both methods will give you results (if you have a good diet, training properly and hard). But as I said before, this is for me, try for yourself and see which one is best for you. Probably each person will give you his own point of view, it is good to have it, but you have to find your own, and be patience, building muscle (and for skinny guys like me) it is a question of time and dedication. I don't know if this comment will help you but just my opinion.

Good luck.

You need to make sure that you are warming up and acclimating to your "fixed" weight though. As in, do a few sets of lighter but increasing weight for maybe 12-15 reps. Then for your next two or three sets, start increasing the weight and dropping the reps. Finally you should reach your working (or "fixed") sets. This is where you give each set 100%.

Let's say I am bench pressing and my FIXED set is 260lbs, my target rep range is "8-10". I would do something like this:
95lbs x 15reps (warmup)
135lbs x 12reps (warmup)
185lbs x 8 reps (acclimation)
225lbs x 4 reps (acclimation)
And finally:
260lbs x "8-10", 3 sets (working sets)

Unfortunately Dazzaem you are incorrect. While pyramiding may be a decent program for strength training (you'll find many football teams use this method in their training program), its not the end all be all. And for your information Dazzaem, I use, and have been using, the "fixed" style since about 9 months into my training. Its still working, im still gaining size and strength.

"Obsession is a term the lazy use to describe the dedicated" - Anon.
"Shoot for the stars, you might just reach the sky" - Unknown

i'm sorry ravenous but IN MY OPINION you are wrong , why would any human being chose the "fix" aproach over pyramiding , pyramiding is what you HAVE to do to overload your muscles and to make sure they dont get use to the same thing ( in this case weight ) , by the third set your muscles will be yawning and saying " haha we know whats coming next " , you have to up the weight very slighty each set to make sure your muscles are never getting use to the one weight , you need to shock your muscles and give them a reason to grow , keep in mind ( in my opinion ) putting on muscle is 70% your DIET , make sure your diet is down to a key , the workouts arent so important , any workout that stimulates your muscles will make them grow , as long as your diet and nutrition is spot on !!!

your acting like one of these options ( pyramiding or fix ) is going to give you 20inch biceps and one is going to give you 15inch biceps, both ways will make your body put on muscle PROVIDED YOU GIVE YOUR BODY THE RIGHT NUTRITION TO GROW , it doesnt matter if you pyramid or not , as long as you are lifting as heavy as you can for the 8-12reps then your muscles will grow . nutrition is extremely important , focus on that raj , not the training ;) good luck bro.

Fix!