Straight Sets vs Ramping (Ascending) Sets for GAINS
Do you want to know how to train more efficiently?
Are you looking to get bigger and stronger consistently?
There are two set schemes which are incredibly important for strength and muscle growth and we will compare them in this article: straight sets vs ramping sets.
Straight sets are more appropriate for beginners, as beginners are not neuromuscularly adept enough to handle higher intensity loads. Straight sets allow you to get more repetitions with a lower weight and intensity, so they are excellent for building up form and technique. Ramping sets are better for intermediate and advanced lifters, since these lifters require heavier loads and higher intensity to elicit strength and muscle growth.
Additionally, straight sets may be better for achieving pure hypertrophy, since they allow you to perform multiple sets with the same weight, allowing you to fully exhaust muscle groups.
Ramping sets may be better for achieving pure strength, because they allow you to work up to a top set which is heavier than what you could achieve with straight sets. The CNS (Central Nervous System), which is more active in pure strength training, is more highly activated using ramping sets.
However, both styles have their place, even within the same training program. This article will clearly explain what straight and ramping sets are, the benefits and drawbacks of both, and how to incorporate both into a sensible training program.
What Are Straight Sets?
A straight set is when you perform an exercise with the same amount of weight across multiple sets.
Usually, there is a target set range (i.e. 3-4) and rep range (i.e. 8-12). Before you begin a straight set, there should be multiple warm-up sets to get you prepared for safe and effective lifting. These warm-up sets should be lighter in weight than your target weight for the straight sets.
Let’s say you want to perform the dumbbell bench press with the 80 pound dumbbells for 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps. For example, it might look like:
3-4 warm up sets with less than 80 pounds
80×12
80×11
80×10
80×9
Generally speaking, straight sets are performed in moderate (6-12) or higher (12-15) rep ranges. But, that is not always the case.
For example, the Stronglifts 5×5 program is a program aimed at beginners to develop technique, coordination, and strength with the big lifts. In this program, you start with 50% of your 5 rep max (or what you perceive as a light weight if you don’t know your 5 rep max) and then perform 5 straight sets of 5 reps with that weight.
It could look like this:
155×5
155×5
155×5
155×5
155×5
Here, straight sets are performed because beginners are not accustomed to efficiently lifting heavy weights yet. So, the weight is held constant for each set. Once you make some progress on this program, it is generally recommended to switch to a program such as Madcow 5×5, where you will be using ramping sets.
Another example of a nontraditional use of a straight set would be the Dynamic Effort Method (DE) popularized by powerlifting powerhouse Westside Barbell. With this method, you select a weight which is 50-60% of your 1 rep max, and perform 8-10 sets of 2-3 reps with that weight. The reps are done as fast as possible, maximizing speed and power.
For example:
DE Box Squat
3-4 warm-up sets
8×2 @ 135 pounds (50% of 1rm)
Now, we have a good understanding of how to perform straight sets, and some different ways to employ them. Let’s move on to ramping sets now.
What Are Ramping Sets?
A ramping set is when you perform an exercise with the same amount of reps for each set, but you move up in weight each set.
Usually, there is a target weight for your top set. With ramping sets, warm-up sets are built into it, so you may not have to do as many as with straight sets. Still, it is always wise to do a couple lower weight warm-up sets before you move into your ramping. These warm-ups would be lighter in weight than your first ramping set.
Let’s use the dumbbell bench press again as an example. Let’s say you want to do a ramping set of 5×5. And you want your top set to be 105×5. So, it might look something like this:
2-3 warm-up sets
45×5
65×5
85×5
95×5
105×5
Another way to employ ramping sets is to do as many sets as you need until you reach your top set weight. So, you may not even need to say, “I’m doing 5 sets of 5 ramping sets”. Instead, you might say, “I’m ramping up in weight until I hit 315×5 on the deadlift”. That might look something like this:
135×5
185×5
225×5
265×5
295×5
315×5
This way, you wouldn’t have to worry about “warm-up” sets, per se. They are completely built into the ramping scheme. This method also allows for more “autoregulation”, a skill which will become useful as you progress in your training. And this means that our previous ramp up might look completely different on a different day. Perhaps you feel like you need more warm-up sets on a certain day. Or that your form doesn’t “feel right”, and so you do more preparatory sets.
It might look like this:
135×5
185×5
225×5
245×5
265×5
285×5
305×5
315×5
You could even build straight sets into it, so that the weight jump isn’t so close at the end:
135×5
185×5
225×5
225×5
265×5
265×5
295×5
315×5
Now, we have a solid understanding of both straight and ramping sets, including different variations of both. Time to move on to analyzing the benefits and drawbacks of each scheme.
Straight Sets vs Ramping Sets: Analysis of the Pros/Cons
Let’s take a look at some of the benefits and drawbacks of straight sets vs ramping sets.
Benefits of Straight Sets and Drawbacks of Ramping Sets
Straight sets are the most commonly employed set scheme in all of weight training. And, there’s good reasons for that. Straight sets are straightforward (pun intended) and easy to understand. You pick a weight and do a certain amount of sets and reps with that weight. There’s no autoregulation or guessing at what your top weight will be, like there is with ramping. So, in that sense it is great for beginners.
Another way in which straight sets are ideal for beginners is they allow you to really hone in on form and technique. All beginning weight lifters should start their lifting careers by focusing on form and technique first. That is the foundation. All strength and muscle gains flow from there.
With straight sets, you can use a weight which isn’t too heavy or challenging, and focus on perfecting your technique. This is doubly necessary because, as I mentioned before, new lifters do not have the muscular coordination or CNS preparation to be able to recruit motor neurons efficiently and lift properly under heavy weights.
For pure bodybuilding purposes, straight sets allow you to fully exhaust muscle groups in a way which ramping may not. Sometimes, it is impossible to fully exhaust a muscle group with one top set, as in the case with ramping. But, with straight sets, you have multiple sets at a (relatively) challenging weight with which to fully exhaust a muscle group. So, for bodybuilding purposes, straight sets are excellent in this manner.
Drawbacks of Straight Sets and Benefits of Ramping Sets
Now, it’s not all sunshine and roses with straight sets. They have a dark side as well! The most glaring issue with straight sets is the intensity and amount of weight lifted (for a given set) is lower than with ramping. Because of this, for intermediate and advanced lifters it will be hard to push the limits of strength.
Generally, straight sets are lower in intensity than ramped sets because you have to maintain the same weight throughout multiple sets. For beginners, this is fine, because of the reasons I mentioned earlier. But, for more intermediate or advanced lifters, this means it will be harder to push your strength limits. These lifters are not as neuromuscularly challenged with lower intensity straight sets as they might be with ramped sets. They require the intensity and challenge of heavier, more intense sets to elicit strength and growth.
Therefore, I err on the side of recommending beginners to start with straight sets and move to ramping sets as they mature in their strength training. Still though, I prefer a mix of straight and ramping sets for optimal efficiency, since straight sets do allow you to focus more purely on exhausting muscle groups.
Summary of Straight Sets
Summary of Ramping Sets
Incorporating Straight Sets and Ramping Sets in a Workout Routine
It’s important to include both set schemes in your training in order to reap the benefits of both. If you are a raw beginner (i.e. you have never consistently lifted weights before), then you should primarily stick with straight sets. But, anyone beyond the raw beginner stage would do well to incorporate both.
So, how do you do it? How do you effectively incorporate both into a sensible training routine?
Let’s take a look at what a session with straight sets and ramping sets might look like in combination. Let’s say you are working with an upper lower split and working upper body in this workout:
Upper Body (Option A)
Bent Over Barbell Row – 5×5 ramping sets
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press – 4×6 ramping sets
Dumbbell Lateral Raise – 3×8-12 straight sets
Barbell Shrug – 3×12-15 straight sets
Barbell Curl – 3×8-10 straight sets
Triceps Pushdown – 3×12-15 straight sets
Because ramping sets are generally heavier and require more intensity, I usually do my ramping work in the beginning of the workout and move to straight sets as the workout progresses. I want to do the hardest work when I’m the most fresh. But, this isn’t always the case.
For example, I may do ramping sets for certain exercises, like the barbell curl and barbell shrug and decide to do straight sets for the flat dumbbell bench press:
Upper Body (Option B)
Bent Over Barbell Row – 5×5 ramping sets
Flat Dumbbell Bench Press – 4×8-10 straight sets
Dumbbell Lateral Raise – 3×8-12 straight sets
Barbell Shrug – 3×12-15 ramping sets
Barbell Curl – 5×5 ramping sets
Triceps Pushdown – 3×12-15 straight sets
Because I only ramped up one exercise early on in the workout (Bent Over Barbell Row), I still have a good amount in the tank to do heavier, more intense work. And, since Barbell Shrugs and Barbell Curls are isolation exercises anyways, they are not as taxing on the body.
There are tons of ways you can mix it up, and I encourage you to do so. Varied stimuli will tend to produce better benefits than the same sort of stimuli over and over.
Closing Thoughts
As we’ve seen, when you compare straight sets vs ramping sets, both have their advantages and disadvantages.
If you are a beginner to weight lifting, you would probably do better to stick to straight sets. If you are more intermediate or advanced, it would be wise to incorporate some ramping sets into your routine.
Remember though, the most important thing with either set scheme is the principle of progressive overload. This means constantly challenging your muscles to grow by providing new stimuli in the form of increased weight, reps, or even sets. You have to always be striving to improve, even if only by a little bit each time.
Listen to your body and rest when you need to. You can’t always improve or else you’d be lifting a Mack Truck in no time!
Now go blast some sets!
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