Bench Press Pyramid Calculator

If you're looking to plan a pyramid chest workout, our bench press pyramid calculator might be of help. This training method, named after the renowned Egyptian constructions, is among the most popular. Many avid gym-goers probably have already used it, even without realizing it.

Doesn't sound familiar? Don't worry! The article below will explore the principles of bench press pyramid workouts. You'll also learn how to increase your bench press with this program. 💪
Let's get to it!

Imagine that you're mountain hiking. ⛰️ It's easy initially, but the closer you get to the top, the more challenging it becomes. After you reach the peak, you start to descend. While the journey is less demanding, fatigue makes the last steps heavy.

The above description depicts what a bench press pyramid workout feels like. The general principle is that the difficulty changes as you progress. Specifically, your bench press reps decrease as the weight increases, and vice versa.

The load is typically based on your single repetition maximum (1RM) and its percentages. If you don't know what that is, the one-rep max calculator can help you.

Since you act as your own guide, you can revert the order or go on only half of the journey - there are a few types of pyramid chest workouts out there. The ones you can find in the bench press pyramid calculator are:

• Ascending — You start at the bottom and work your way up, decreasing your bench press reps but adding plates to the barbell.

• Descending (reverse) — It's like an ascending bench press pyramid workout, but the heaviest set is first, and you progressively reduce the load.

• Full (triangle) — It combines both above options. Beginning with lighter weights, you build up to the heaviest bench press pyramid set and then decrease the intensity.

• Full reverse — You start with the heaviest lift and gradually reduce the load. However, then you must climb the pyramid again.

You may be wondering what the benefits of the bench press pyramid are. Below we list some of the pros:

• Combining varying loads and number of reps results in increased training volume, which is necessary for muscle growth. It can be a potential solution if you're wondering how to increase your bench press.
• The varying ranges in the bench press pyramid give you a combination that can stimulate both strength increase and hypertrophy.
• If you choose the ascending or full pyramid, the warm-up is naturally included as you gradually prepare your body for the heavy load.

It may be helpful to note that the ascending pyramid is usually considered better for strength training. On the other hand, the descending variant more often leads close to muscle failure, which is essential for growth.

Let's consider an example of what to expect from the bench press pyramid calculator.
A frequent gym-goer, John, compared his Wilks score with his friend, which motivated him to improve. He had hit his plateau with regular training some time ago, so he decided to try a pyramid chest workout plan.

He tested his 1RM to be 95 kg (209.44 lbs). After some reading, John decided to do a descending pyramid comprising of 3 sets. He input this into the bench press pyramid calculator and saw the following result:

As you can see, there are also bench press pyramid percentages, so John knows exactly what's awaiting him in each set!