Bodybuilding Forums

so i just got done with my first THT workout... and all i can say is wow.

i'm not new to lifting, been doing it for years now, and i had forgotten what it's like to combine body parts... my chest is my most lacking part of my physique, so i did the chest and tri's workout today. i also added a couple sets to each body part (but stayed within the limits of THT)
here's what today looked like:

Chest
Flat barbell bench 165*10, 165*8, 165*7 (could have done more weight with the confidence of a spotter)
Incline DB bench 65*8, 65*8, 60*7 (completely died after the end of set 2...)
Flat DB flies 40*8, 40*8, 40*8 ( don't know how i pulled these sets off

Tri's
Flat EZ bar tricep extension 70*8, 70*8, 70*8 (normally i do way more weight, but my tri's were already blasted from chest work)
Tricep pressdown 60*8, 60*8, 60*7 (on tricep station, resistance is 60, but def more weight... i couldn't even move the rope past 7 on last set)
DB kickbacks 30*8, 30*8 (quit at this point, cuz my tri's were so pumped and weak i was barely getting the reps out...)

can't wait to do back tomorrow!!!

I see you do 3 in a row? I thought the T.H.T. workout was a Pyramid-down heaviest set first then working down.

krs wrote:I see you do 3 in a row? I thought the T.H.T. workout was a Pyramid-down heaviest set first then working down.

Well, it would be, if you couldn't do the second and third sets at the same weight you can do your first set. Whatever weight leads to positive failure in your rep range is the weight you should use.

yeah, for the sets that stayed the same weight and reps, the first set was usually to failure at a constant rhythm, and the second set required a pause or two mid set to get the last rep or so in... it was a hard workout, especially since i was running on empty. i'm in the middle of induction, so i have little energy from trying to get used to burning fat...

so THT is a reverse pyramid with your heaviest weight first?

You would do the heaviest you can lift first. You don't need to drop the weight or reps if you don't need to, but if your set was as intense as it should have been, you will not be able to do exactly what you just did before. The idea is that you lose some strength/energy with each set so you lift the most you can lift while you are still fresh (after a proper warm-up of course). Pyramiding up just wears you down and keeps you from lifting your max potential as by the time you get to your heaviest set you've already lifted a ton on that muscle already.

ahh, gona try that thanks

i usually do pyramids

which usually go something like this:

bench flat
100lbs 12 reps(warm up)
150lbs 12 reps
170lbs 10 reps
210lbs 8 reps

so the way THT would work i should do:
210lbs 8 reps
170lbs 10 reps
150lbs 12 reps

or should i just drop the less weight from 210lbs

ex

210lbs
190lbs
180lbs

?

yahoo!

ahh, gona try that thanks

i usually do pyramids

which usually go something like this:

bench flat
100lbs 12 reps(warm up)
150lbs 12 reps
170lbs 10 reps
210lbs 8 reps

so the way THT would work i should do:
210lbs 8 reps
170lbs 10 reps
150lbs 12 reps

or should i just drop the less weight from 210lbs

ex

210lbs
190lbs
180lbs

?

yahoo!

The idea of doing the reverse pyramid is that you will have better performance than doing the regular.
So if you did ,
100lbs 12 reps(warm up)
150lbs 12 reps
170lbs 10 reps
210lbs 8 reps
(the heaviest set last)

you except doing better than 210x8 if you have the heaviest set first,maybe more reps or even weights. That's the basic idea of the reverse pyramid.

Secondly, there is no rule that you can't stay with the same weights for all of the sets as long as you keep 8-12RM. There is a chance that you can increase the weight some more than the first set. For example you do your first working set and you hit 12 with relative easiness(probably due to doing the exercise after a long time or you have a really good day or misjudge). You can still increase the load for the second working set. As long as you don't break 8-12RM. The natural way of doing most of the THT workouts,though, is the reverse pyramid. You will find yourself in the situation to drop the weights in order to keep 8-12RM most of the times.

yahoo! wrote:ahh, gona try that thanks

i usually do pyramids

so the way THT would work i should do:
210lbs 8 reps
170lbs 10 reps
150lbs 12 reps

or should i just drop the less weight from 210lbs

THT does not use pyramids as it is all about progressive overload. You are lifting as much as you possibly can lift in the 8-12 rep range for every single exercise. There is no decreasing/increasing weight for any reason other than your maximum effort is putting you somewhere outside the 8-12 rep range in that exercise.

So you would attempt to do your maximum which is 210lbs x 8 reps every single set. However if you find you cannot do 8 reps for the 2nd or 3rd sets, you would drop down just a little to 200 so you can stay within that 8-12 range.