Workout of the Week: New PT Pyramid (Full Body with Weight Options)

As winter slowly blends into spring, you want to mix calisthenics into the weight training program and progressively move from a full weight cycle into more running and calisthenics. 

This week, we added new exercises into the classic PT pyramid to make it a full-body day as well as a mix of weighted options and calisthenics throughout the 19 sets of the 1-10-1 pyramid.

New PT pyramid: The PT pyramid is quite the old-school methodology, but it works. Here are some new ideas we tested out today to improve your pyramid game.

The PT pyramid 1-10-1 means you go up and down the pyramid from one to 10, then back down to one for a total of 19 sets. This will give you 100 repetitions of whatever exercise you do. The exercises you double and triple each set will give you 200 and 300 repetitions when you finish.

The PT/weight pyramid

• Pull-ups x 1
• Thrusters x 1 (squat with overhead press combination; use 50-100 pounds)
• Push-ups or bench press x 2 (feel free to mix it up each set; the weight is up to you)
• Abs of choice x 3 (get creative. You even can do plank pose; 1 reps = 1 second -- to get the reps)
• Dips or military press x 2 (weight is up to you)
• Flight of stairs x 1

PT pyramid circuit

Make a circuit of these exercises so your first set will look like this:

• 1 pull-up
• 1 thruster
• 2 push-ups or bench press
• 3 abs of choice
• 2 dips or military press
• 1 flight of stairs ... (if you do not have a flight of stairs nearby, save for later or do step-ups to the pace of one flight of stairs per 15-20 seconds)

Increase the second set by two times the first set. The third set is three times the first set, the fourth set, the fifth set and so on. Keep going up to 10, which would be:

• 10 pull-ups
• 10 thruster
• 20 push-ups or bench press
• 30 abs of choice
• 20 dips or military
• 10 flights of stairs

Then repeat in reverse order ...

After you are done, your totals will be 100 pull-ups, 100 thrusters, 200 push-ups, 300 abs of choice, 200 dips and 100 flights of stairs.

If you have anything left, do a cooldown cardio set for 15-20 minutes. Run/jog, bike, elliptical, swim and mix in stretching as you will need it.

It is not recommended to try this PT pyramid in full if you are new to the pyramid training method. If you want to try it, just go up until you fail at a few of the exercises and repeat in reverse order. Going up to six sets and back down, for instance, on the PT pyramid still will give you 36 pull-ups/thrusters/flights of stairs, 72 push-ups/dips/military presses and 108 abs of choice. This is plenty for the intermediate fitness levels.

Stew Smith is a former Navy SEAL and fitness author certified as a Strength and Conditioning Specialist (CSCS) with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. Visit his Fitness eBook store if you're looking to start a workout program to create a healthy lifestyle. Send your fitness questions to stew@stewsmith.com.

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