7 BEST Progressions for Old-School Gains (Sets and Reps Explained) 

BaseStrengthAI is more reliable than a coach, cheaper than an Excel template!👇👇👇 www.BaseStrength.com/the-app Bromley Merch from Barbell Apparel only available HERE! 👇👇👇 barbellapparel.com/Bromley

This video had some good editing, it seemed a real cut above the recent stuff. I'm glad to see you and the editor are figuring out how to put these videos together.

This is gold. A gift. Laser graphic goodness, too!! Gonna refer back to this a few X's, i'm sure. 5X5 +5 instantly attracts me.

What I love about this video is there are countless beginner/intermediate programs available that utilize these reps and sets schemes that I'm sure many of us recognize, and they work...but you did a great job articulating WHY they work and now ppl can pick what works for them for what means. Thank you.

5*10 is a game changer. 531 Big but boring is a masterclass in 5*10 set ups. Absolutely brutal deadlifts sessions 😢.

I love boost camp especially for writing my own programs. And it tracking and log in everything. I do the annual year subscription worth every penny.

I still can't believe a youtuber on the internet explains sport science better than an entire university specialized in it.

quality video, quality content. new sub. nobody else is putting out such detailed strength information at this pace and level of quality

I love the Hexagon concept! I've usually done a pyramid with a couple back off AMRAP sets but I like the increased volume of the hexagon. Gonna try that out today!

Great info. Definitely gave me a lot of info on my approach to lifting at my 49 soon to be 50 age.

Outstanding information and content as always. Thank you

Love this channel and all your info , thank you !

I did some plus sets recently by accident (I felt strong on the last set so I just went for it) and each time the week after was way easier than it should have felt. It's good to see that I lucked into something

This is such a good video, I love the editing

I really love your content... If I had this type of information 15 years ago, I would be even stronger than I am now. I had to figure all this things out by trial and error... You are a genius if iit comes to programming and progression. Keep up the great work

Great video. Thanks for a top notch info.

Awesome content thanks man

Great stuff as usual ✊

Been working out 36 years now, 15 years as a power lifter. I have to say i prefer the full body route from any other type of training. I train 3 days a week and have recently adjusted to create my own program based on my own body. I will do full body workout 1 with 15 rep sets, full body workout 2 with 12 rep sets, full body workout 3 with 8 rep sets. Progress has been amazing to say the least. Different types of progressive overloading within the week.

I am so happy to find your yt channel. I think that you are great guy.

I like how you use other youtube clips to drive your points. makes the videos visually engaging and feel very plugged in to the industry.

I love this ..I actually took notes in my work out journal ...and lucky me I started my new 6-8 week program I have to try and map out tomorrow..I needed this information so much ... because I was a seasoned lifter but quite for 2 years and when I came back 6 months ago I tried to get back to my old numbers and reached that wall quick

Great video it have everything I can’t believe it Thank you so much

That wave cycling idea from a recent video was awesome! Works better priming the nervous system than linear build up

I've been using the top set to back off progression for the last several months and results have been awesome. I've been doing the 5-3-1 progression like you described with 80% back offs (increased to 85% on second wave). On an alternate day i do straight sets of 5x5, 5x4, or 5x3 depending on the week. Ive found this works really well on variations where i dont really know where the ceiling is.

My guy is standing out in the fitness realm, which is hard to successfully do! Props to you brother and thanks for the great information 🙏🏾

Looking forward to putting some of these in action

Love you bromley

Yea I like the hexagon protocol. Simple, plenty of sets to work with to improve session to session or week to week. And hitting all thresholds in lift with different rep ranges. getting variability

I've done pretty much a version of the hexagon on bench, without thinking about it as such, for a while. Heavy single or set followed by working sets, followed by a volume set. The initial heavy set or single also makes the middle working sets feel much lighter (at least the first one) as an added benefit. Adding in the wave sounds like a great idea for progression. I usually bench every 4 days, first a heavy day and second a straight volume day (3 or 4 sets of 8 to 12). Not sure if the second one should be a volume day or another hexagon on the wave. Great video on this topic. Too many channels are locked into the "you must do exactly this" mode these days.

Thanks again

Props to the Jason Gallant clip towards the end. Underrated dude right there.

thanks a lot

Thanks

Not sure how to put it together in my case, but your information seems accurate. My workout is tailored to lingering injuries and means I can't squat no matter how much I want to, due to shoulder mobility. I was considering using dumbells although I don't like the idea because of grip failure, and I can't work out how to add a bar attachment for conventional squats. These used to be what I excelled at so it's frustrating, and I can't afford the special Olympic bar and all new Olympic plates.

Nice, laddering up feels intuitive to me due to some past sport training, but I’ve always felt my volume was lacking. Laddering back down solves that!

Cracking video as always, what advice would you give someone coming back to training after nearly a year off?

I bought your strongman program off boostcamp. I haven't done clean and press since high school! Kicked my ass yesterday. Enjoying the program so far and will write a review on the app when I am done running it.

You may find interesting. When I was a beginner 40 years ago, I could gain strength in the 8-12 rep range. After about 8 years I could never gain strength in that range. Im 55 and Never taken drugs (besids pot ect). I gain strength in the 3-6 rep range ONLY. And when people say when you gain strength in the 3-6 range, it should carry over to 8-12. It doesnt for me. 8-12 reps im weak no matter what

1:40 oh I'm so excited!

I'm still developing my base at the moment, but I'm loving 5/3/1 BECAUSE of the plus sets. There's a psychological aspect to it. I have 3 warmup sets that get me in the right headspace for the lift, then 2 working sets where the weight ramps up. Then I can really focus in on that plus set and put all of my energy into it to get as many as I can at a set weight. The way I think about it is that the AMRAP top set is really the only set that matters; everything else is just preparing you for it. The 5x5 FSLs really help with volume and neurological adaptation as well. The coolest thing is that in a given workout I'm getting at least 50 reps on each main lift per workout without impacting my recovery too much. The version of 5/3/1 I'm doing has 2 heavy compound lifts per day over a 3 day split that hits DLs and OHP once per week and squat and bench twice per week. Once I get a bit stronger I'm probably going to have to stop doubling up on the compound lifts, but I think I have a while before I get there.

I lost 102lbs and put on a metric phuck ton of muscle this year by using the hexagon method and I’m glad it has a name now 😂 thanks Bromley!

6x6 is simple, gives a good mix of strength and hypertrophy work, and I'm pretty new. Think I'll jump on that train and see how far it carries me.

Hey Alex! What percentage and reps would you recommend for the top set and the Amrap method? Thanks for the great content!

JM Blakely does 6x6, but instead of going 70-80%, I think he goes max 6. Of course that is hard to do for 5 more sets after max, so he chases that perfect 6x6 then ads weight when he gets it and goes again. For example week1: 6,5,4,4,4,3 Week2: 6,6,5,4,4,3 Week3:6,6,6,5,5,4 Week4:6,6,6,6,6,6 At least something like that.

6:00 Good advice on the pyramid set progession. This is why I got stuck when I did them for a while. On reverse pyramid sets what percantage and how many reps & sets would you recommend for them warm up sets?

The little hexagons in the background have a message to them. Bees made their honeycombs in shape of hexagon. Bees are crucial for survival on the planet, so is Alex.

Very nice video, again! The only thing missing, is the question: Does this make sense, or is it not better to do separate hypertrophy and strength blocks, instead of trying to mix both in one session?

I'm amazed by how much of this I did intuitively.

A side note, at the end of the 5 and Dime segment you talked about not doing this while on a cut. Have you ever talked about what kind of programs/style of training one should do when cutting fat?

6 by 6 with the same weight is the enlighten version of 5 by 5 ? Wait until you'll hear about 12 by 12 with the same weight of doing a 5 by 5 bro it'll blow your mind

I like the "Martini glass" scheme.

Best gains I've ever made was 3 sets, 6 reps. It just worked.

Dum Dum Dugan? Needs his own series.

Percentage based pyramid is used for some Olympic weightlifting programs.

Useful. 358. That squatter at the start is hiking his rump a bit early, though.

Could you do a video on a beginner in their 40’s? What type of program to start with that will keep them healthy while adding strength/muscle and to lose body fat.

I do 30 reps @ 10 lbs and work up to 3 reps @ 55 lbs on the dumbells and another day barbells (bicep and hammer curls) on my off days from work

Hi Alex, could you give an advice please? I have completed bullmastiff: 2 base rounds and 1 peaking. I have gain any strength, but that’s on me, spent the whole peaking phase on a quite aggressive cut. Didn’t lose any strength either, and gain some muscle (arms, shoulders, lats, chest and quads are definitely bigger and rounder). Now I’m deciding what’s next. Kong looks quite interesting, but I feel that to break through my current strength capacity I need something more specific. Maybe back of to 75-80%.

I did 6x6 on all major movements every 2 days (alternated 1 day upper, 1 day lower) for 2 months straight about 3 years ago...so not what he said at all, but I ended up at my strongest ever 1rms. Absolutely horrendous amount of volume and I will never do it again because it was a stupid way to train, but using it in secondary movements seems like a great idea

Base set 6-10 reps heavy set 1-3 reps and back off 11+ reps seems to work well on presses. When you hit the top end of the rep range on the base set you can go up in weight across all sets.

29:08 oh man look at that if it's not my favorite natural bodybuilding shaman Jason Gallant himself!

Not quite a pyramid But ascending sets are starting to regain some popularity.

I have experienced reverse pyramid in squat, because it was easier and it worked 6 months ago i couldn’t squat 225 now i’m 290 x3

Popular formulas There are many more than one way to calculate your 1RM. These are the formulas I’ve found: Brzycki: weight × (36 / (37 - reps)) (another way to write it) Epley: weight × (1 + 0.0333 × reps) Lander: (100 × weight) / (101.3 - 2.67123 × reps) Lombardi: weight × reps ^ 0.1 Mayhew et al.: (100 × weight) / (52.2 + (41.9 × e-0.055 × reps)) O’Conner et al.: weight × (1 + 0.025 × reps) Wathan: (100 × weight) / (48.8 + (53.8 × e ^ -0.075 × reps))

I'm working out using the Hexagon setup. Good name; I'll refer to it as that. It goes: 3rm (week 1 RPE6, increase RPE by 1 each week for week 4, then start over) 3 sets of 5 with 80% of my perceived 1rm 1 set of AMRAP (RPE8-9) with 70% of my perceived 1rm

29:07 hell yea, shout out to Jason Gallant

Why not call the Hexagon a Diamond since its such a gem of a progression?

You mentioned you wouldnt do most of these for deadlfiting. What would be a good set and rep range for deads? Also how many times a week would you recommend?

5th set uses plus sets 4x2 1xAMRAP @80% for example

Muscle vs tendon + ligament training, then exercise that is high rep. Need strength for high rep...super deep energy, not just muscle...something else.

How do you really gauge leaving reps In the tank? That could change dramatically per set.. or even day.

What are the rest periods like for the Gironda 6x6? I'm reading that it's 30-60 seconds which seems absolutely insane

Pyramids are a great way to trick my high-rep-sets-hating-ass into doing volume. I can bear the first, high rep set, since I'm fresh and then it's all just getting better from there.

Can anyone tell me if it makes sense to combine pyramids for the main lifts and volumizing for the second lift/accessories?

For topset/amrep set, do u need to warm up to the top set? If yes isn’t that pyramid followed by amrep?

At the end of the Hexagon segment you say you wouldn't recommend that for deadlifts. In the 5/3/1 Boring but Big program it has you doing that with deadlifts. Do you think that's not a good idea? Would it better to sub good mornings for deadlifts in that program for the sets of 5 x 10?

Question - if following the 5&dime, what if you followed an upper/lower split, and first 1/2 week the sessions where 5x5, second 1/2 week it's 5x10? Does that cut it?

The top set followed by amrap how much are you taking off your top set, if any?

I incidentally did a phramid scheme with my bench when I couldnt push through my double progression goals. I wanted to go for 6 sets of 10 reps at my 85% max but got stuck at 8 reps max and just couldnt recover till my next workout. So i said fuck it at least ill have some fun and started adding 5kgs to each following set (and saw my reps decrease of course), till I reached my 1rm or very close to it. Now ive been working the same pyramid scheme for about 2 maybe 3 weeks and saw my 1 rm go up and im hitting my previous 85% for 10 without a problem. I havent done it for long enough to talk about hypertrophy effectiveness but i suppose with the reduction of volume (the total tonage) and increase of intensity im in the sweet spot now.

When ever I do 10 set workout I pick one exercise and take like 5 to 10 minute rest between sets depending the weight.

What's meant by top set and back sets?

💪🏻

I'm surprised Bromley didn't give a shout out to Hepburn's Power/Pump protocol which is basically "Hexagon-ish" less the last AMRAP blow out set. Perhaps Bromley thought the top-end volume in Power/Pump was too high? I've been running Hepburn Power/Pump for the last few months and I am really liking it so far. It doesn't grind you down and you are still doing a fair bit of volume. I am going to take this hexagon idea and throw in an AMRAP back off final set and see if that makes a difference to recovery. The only con of running Hepburn is that the workouts do take longer, so maybe not the best option for those under a bit of a time crunch.

I want Bromley to sell a tee that reads "Walking Human Deathstar".

The guy in the video thumbnail looks like ''Ron'' from Parks and Recreations. : )

Based

6*6 at what percent 1rm?

so two times hexagon for bench a week is fine?

What percentage range would you use for the amrap after the top set?

it's to much. I can't afford to be in the gym for to long but i want more gains. i did full body ( leg press, extensions, ham curls, trap pulls, back row, bench press, bicep curl, lying tricep extensions ) all 5x5 with lighter weight ( and it's rlly light already ) with 30 sec tot 1.5 mins break in between sets. 2 or 3x a week. Is this a good deload instead from just 5x5 heavy leg press, shoulder press, and back row, mixed with one exercise for tricep, bicep? 3 warm up sets, 2 work sets with 4-5 min break. I wanna handle more workload again so i'm gonna try building up tot 10x10 like my good old volume with lighter weights but i don't think i can handle being in the gym for that long again. i'm 29 and realise there's more to life then gym. Also, with all these reps and sets schemes with all these different intensities, i'm suffering of analysis paralysis..; Any advice? i'm buff but handle light weights it's ridiculous but i do them pretty slow.

I believe in heaveh sets of FAAAHHHV. Anyone else think about sets of FAAAHHHV?

I find that 8 reps works best for me. Good stimulus to fatigue ratio for sure.

Is that Mike Haggar on the thumbnail?

To me, a FULL pyramid goes up and then comes back down. A HALF pyramid only goes in one direction. For deadlift: 5,3,1,3,5 is an example of a FULL pyramid. This knowledge has been obscured by some more recent mistakes in nomenclature. Yes, I'm from the 1970's.

What is the point of duplicate sets?

7:20 With a top-set + Amrap. dont you not get as many reps at the beginning versus the later sets?

1:15 while it is probably true, it is not practical. Explained very well by dr mike israetel from RP

Bro please tell me the name of man in the thumbnail

Who is the person in thumbnail?