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Reverse Pyramid Training + Double Progression

Straight sets on heavy lifts make your reps fall apart by the last set. Classic reverse pyramids give every set a different target. This system fixes both: every set stays in the same rep range, close to your limit, and you always know exactly when to add weight.

By Radu Antoniu · the progression system behind ShredSmart's OptiWorkout

1. What it is

A normal pyramid starts light and builds up to the heaviest set at the end, when you're already tired. Reverse pyramid training (RPT) flips it. After warming up, your first working set is your heaviest, while you're fresh. Each set after it is a bit lighter.

One exercise, three working sets of 6–8

Set 1
60 kg × 8 heaviest
Set 2
55 kg × 8 −5 kg
Set 3
50 kg × 8 −5 kg

The weight drops just enough that you stay in the same rep range on every set, even as you get tired. On barbell lifts, a 5 kg drop per set usually works better than 2.5 kg.

Multi-set double progression is how those sets get heavier over time. You keep the weights the same and add reps until every set hits the top of the range. Then all the sets go up by the smallest increment, together, and you build the reps back up.

vs. straight sets

Same weight on every set of a heavy lift means your reps fall away, or you hold back early to survive the last set. RPT keeps every set close to your limit.

vs. classic RPT

Every set has the same rep range and they all move up together, so you always know exactly when you've earned more weight.

The whole system

  1. Stop every set at the RIR target for that exercise. Never fail a rep, and never grind one out.
  2. On exercises marked RPT, your heaviest set comes first. Then drop the weight 5–10% for each set after it (on barbell lifts, usually 5 kg).
  3. On exercises marked SS (straight sets), use the same weight for every set.
  4. Add reps until every set reaches the top of the rep range. Then add the smallest weight increment and build the reps back up.

That's the whole system. The rest of this page shows how to do those four things properly.

2. How you progress: multi-set double progression

This works the same on every exercise, RPT or SS. You progress two things in a fixed order: first reps, then weight. Never both at once.

1

Build reps

Keep the weight exactly where it is and add reps from session to session. You're trying to reach the top of the rep range in every set, not just the first one.

↓ only once every set is at the top of the range
2

Add weight

Increase every set by the smallest increment available. Your reps drop back toward the bottom of the range. That isn't a setback. That's how it works.

↺ then go back to step 1 and build the reps back up

Worked example: 3 sets of 6–8

Workout 1

Set 160 kg × 7
Set 255 kg × 7
Set 350 kg × 8TOP

No weight increase. Set 3 reached 8, but sets 1 and 2 stopped at 7. Next session you go for the same weights again.

Workout 2

Set 160 kg × 8TOP
Set 255 kg × 8TOP
Set 350 kg × 8TOP

Every set is at the top. You've earned the increase. Next session, add the smallest increment to all three sets. On a barbell that's usually 2.5 kg.

Workout 3

Set 162.5 kg × 7
Set 257.5 kg × 7
Set 352.5 kg × 7

The extra 2.5 kg cost you a rep on each set, which is exactly what should happen. You're back in step 1, building reps at a heavier weight than three sessions ago. That's the progress.

Straight sets work the same way

Lateral raise, 3 × 10–15, over a few weeks

Workout 110 kg × 14, 10, 9
Workout 210 kg × 15, 11, 9
…
Workout 1210 kg × 15, 15, 15TOP
Workout 1312.5 kg × 11, 10, 9

Same weight on every set, adding reps each session. When every set hits the top, the weight goes up by the smallest increment and the reps drop back a bit. One cycle can take several weeks.

Dumbbells drop more reps

A dumbbell exercise loads both hands, so the smallest increment counts twice. Going up 2.5 kg per hand is a 5 kg jump in total. That's why dumbbell exercises get wider rep ranges. Expect to lose three or four reps after an increase, not one or two.

Incline DB press, 3 × 6–10

Set 130 kg × 10TOP
Set 227.5 kg × 10TOP
Set 325 kg × 10TOP

Every set at the top, so go up 2.5 kg per hand next session.

The session after

Set 132.5 kg × 6
Set 230 kg × 7
Set 327.5 kg × 7

Reps fell by three or four because the total weight went up 5 kg. The wider range absorbs that. Build back to 10 on all three sets.

Dumbbell weights are per hand.

3. How hard to take each set

RIR means reps in reserve: how many more reps you could have done when you stopped. Each exercise has its own target.

The goal is to do every rep you can while you're still confident you'll complete the one you're on. The moment you're no longer sure the next rep will go up, the set is over. That's what 0–1 RIR means in practice.

Two things you never do. You don't fail a rep: getting stuck halfway up costs you the rest of the session and gains you nothing. You don't grind: if a rep crawls up over several seconds and empties you out, that was one rep too far.

Where did you stop?

Too early

You racked it with three or more clean reps still in you.

Too far from failure to do much.

Correct

You stopped because you were no longer sure the next rep would go up.

This is the target on every 0–1 RIR set.

One rep too far

Your last rep ground out over several seconds.

It cost you the rest of the session.

Too far

You attempted a rep and couldn't complete it.

There's no reason to fail a rep in this system.

RIR 1: the big lifts stop one rep earlier

On these, stop when you're certain you had one more rep in you. Not hopeful. Certain. And be just as certain that the rep you left would have been ugly: a slow grinder, or one you could only finish by letting your technique go.

Technique breaks down before the muscle does, and a rep rescued with a rounded back or a shifted hip is where injuries come from. Heavy compound lifts also cost a lot: a leg press set taken to true failure wipes you out far more than one taken to 1 RIR, and everything after it in the session pays for it.

Squat-type movementsHip hingesHip thrustsBarbell & dumbbell pressingOverhead workWeighted pull-ups & chin-upsBarbell rowsSkullcrushers

4. The two set models

Every exercise is either RPT or SS. That tells you what to do with the weight between sets. Nothing else changes.

RPTReverse pyramid

Heaviest set first, while you're fresh. Then drop the weight 5–10% for each set after it. Used on compound lifts and anything else loaded heavily.

Incline barbell press, 3 × 6–8

Set 160 kg × 8TOP
Set 255 kg × 8TOP
Set 350 kg × 8TOP

The weight drops just enough to keep you in the same rep range as fatigue builds.

SSStraight sets

Same weight on every set. Used on isolation exercises and smaller muscles that recover well between sets, where an RPT drop would leave you lifting almost nothing by set 3.

Dumbbell lateral raise, 3 × 10–15

Set 110 kg × 14
Set 210 kg × 10
Set 310 kg × 9

Your reps drop across sets, and that's expected. Keep the weight and add reps from session to session.

Why RPT on heavy lifts? If you kept the same weight for all three sets, your reps would fall away, or you'd have to hold back on the first sets to survive the last. RPT keeps you in the target range and close to your limit on every set. That avoids junk volume: sets too far from failure to be worth doing.

Set calculator and progress check

Enter your first working set. You get your warm-ups and every working set. Then fill in the reps you actually got, and it tells you whether you've earned the increase.

Warm-up

No real rest between these. Then rest 2–3 minutes before your first working set.

Working sets

SetWeightTargetReps you got
Fill in your reps to check if you've earned the increase.

This is the exact system inside OptiWorkout. In ShredSmart, every exercise in your program comes marked RPT or SS, with its rep range and RIR target.

See ShredSmart →

This isn't training by feel

Before every set, you check what you did last time on that exercise and try to beat it, by a rep or by an increment. Without a written record of every set you can't do that, and without that there's no progression. That's what the ShredSmart app is for.

See what's inside ShredSmart →

5. Warming up

Before the first exercise for each muscle group, work up to your first working set. Three quick sets, with only enough rest to change the weight.

When your first working set is 60 kg

Warm-up 130 kg × 5~50%
Warm-up 245 kg × 3~75%
Warm-up 355 kg × 2~90%

Move through them with no real rest, then rest 2–3 minutes before your first working set.

For later exercises that hit a muscle you've already warmed up, you don't need to repeat this. For small isolation work the full warm-up is overkill: one set to feel the movement and get used to the weight is enough.

The system works. ShredSmart runs it for you.

Progression is one piece of getting lean and muscular. You also need the right calories, meals you'll actually stick to, and someone keeping you on track.

See what's inside ShredSmart →

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