When you’re new to lifting, making progress is simple. Start light, practice good form, and add a little bit of weight to the bar each time you train. Rinse and repeat.
If you’re consistent, you can use this approach to milk your “newbie gains” for a LONG time. How long? It’s different for everyone, but once you can no longer consistently add weight to the bar each week, you’ve probably crossed over from beginner status to intermediate.
Once lifters shed their novice status, I like to switch them from a sets across approach to a top set approach. Sets across means using the same weight for multiple sets and reps. For example:
5 sets x 5 reps @ 8 RPE
A top set approach involves warming up to one heavier set, followed by multiple backdown sets at a lighter weight, such as:
Work up to 1 set x 3 reps @ 9 RPE, then…
3 sets x 3 reps @ 90% of top set
I prefer a top set approach for most of my intermediate and advanced lifters for several reasons.
Intensity Drives Progress for Intermediate and Advanced Lifters
I’ve said it a thousand times and I’ll say it a thousand more: the weight on the bar doesn’t matter for novice lifters because they can make progress with a ridiculously low percentage of their 1-rep max. The number we typically see in research is as low as 40% of 1RM. Therefore, rookies can just focus on learning proper technique with light weights, adding weight slowly over time, and still make substantial progress.
The stronger you get, the harder you have to keep working. It’s like reverse compound interest: the more you put in, the more you have to keep putting in to get the same return. Intermediate and advanced lifters need to work relatively closer to their 1RM to keep getting stronger, and a top set approach enables you to do that.
Also, stronger lifters are less able to reproduce high-intensity efforts compared to a newer lifter. For example, a beginner could probably do multiple sets of 3 reps at 90% of their 1RM and be fine. An advanced lifter, however, could probably do 1-2 sets of 3 at 90% and be totally wrecked. Why is that? Shouldn’t an advanced lifter be more skilled at heavy lifting and therefore be able to handle more heavy sets?
It’s simply not the case. As you get stronger, you get better at recruiting fast-twitch muscle fibers and high-threshold motor units, which produce a ton of force but fatigue quickly. In a less scientific sense, you probably also get better at pushing yourself to that “dark place” where you also generate a lot of neural fatigue from getting amped up, psyched up or whatever you want to call it. Even when novice lifters push themselves as hard as they think they can, they can’t quite tap into their true potential and “empty the tank” like an advanced lifter.
That said, a top set approach takes advantage of this one-and-done effect that occurs as you get stronger. Rather than having to bring the heat for multiple tough sets, you perform one very heavy set followed by lighter sets to build volume.
Learn to Call Your Own Weights
I firmly believe that learning to listen to your body and pick the right weight on the bar each training session is just as important as learning proper lifting technique. I’ve made a point over the past few years to do less and less assigning of specific weights and to teach my lifters how to decide for themselves. This is done via RPE (rate of perceived exertion) and takes some practice to get right, but the results are worth it.
When you work up to one heavy top set, you’re taking an educated guess when you choose what weight to put on the bar. You’re putting all your eggs in one basket, so to speak, because you’re placing a good deal of importance on one set. It’s no big deal if you guess wrong because you can course correct and adjust the rest of your training for the day or week, but the top set does set the tone for the rest of the training session and training week.
I’m always amazed at how accurately lifters can choose their weights for a specific set/rep/RPE assignment once they practice a top set approach for a while. This helps tremendously with choosing weights in competition, takes a lot of pressure off the coach, and leads to a more collaborative process between the coach and the lifter.
Builds Confidence
Piggybacking on the last point, a top set approach helps lifters build confidence as they improve their ability to call their own weights. Frequent exposure to heavy weights makes them less scary, because let’s be real, putting hundreds of pounds on your back or over your face can be intimidating. Yes, theoretically you can increase your 1RM strength by doing lots of submaximal volume training. But if you never touch heavy weights in training, it’s going to be tough to build the confidence needed to attack personal record attempts when it matters the most.
I’ve certainly shifted my approach to this in recent years. I’ve long been of the mindset that you train with submaximal weights to BUILD strength and trust that the gains will be there when you TEST your strength. But if we agree that performance in any sport is as much mental as it is physical, we need to address the mental side in our preparation. There’s no better way to do that than to incorporate heavier sets to build confidence.
Of course you can’t max out on every lift every week. You have to tactfully incorporate these heavier loads, and a top set approach does just that. A lifter who consistently practices heavy sets of 1-5 in training is going to be better prepared to attempt a 1RM in competition than the lifter who plugs away at nothing but sets of 3-5 in the 7-8 RPE range all the time and considers heavier weights “off limits.”
Eventually, you have to take heavy weights off the pedestal. The mindset that heavy singles should only be done in competition only makes them more intimidating, a forbidden fruit that wages psychological warfare when the time comes to take a bite. Like anything else, if you gradually exposure yourself to heavier weights in training via a top set approach, you’ll adapt, both mentally and physically.
Top Sets for Peak Strength
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