Bunch of basic questions..

Hey everyone, i don't know if you remember me, but it's been a while since i've used this site.  I just started working out again (after maybe 6 months of being lazy) and i started working out with a few buddies and they have done some things that i always remember being wrong, so i just wanted to confirm-

For gaining muscle size/tone you should be doing 3 sets right?  My friends were dead set on doing 4 regular sets and doing a 5th set of low weight.

I always remember doing Back/Bis and Chest/Tris but they did Back/Bis... does this matter?

They would switch muscle between sets (ie we would do bench, then curls, then decline bench.. etc) so instead of what i used to do, like 3 chest, then 3 tri workouts, they would alternate.  Does this matter?  Is one or the other better?

One of the last workouts we did was something he called pyramids.. we took a curling bar, put 10s on either side and one person would do 1 rep, then pass to the next who would do 1... and we did it 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 8, 4, 2, 1 reps in that order (he would do 1 rep, pass to me, i would do 1, then he did 2, then i did 2... etc).  Is this an effective workout?  It seems like it would be more just to add endurance and not strength or size

One person also recommended to me Nitrix, something i remember hearing about a long time ago on these boards, but i never tried it.  He said it opens more blood flow to the muscles (his veins were like exploding).  Is it a reliable supp?  I have used NO-X in the past and it didnt work for me.. i don't know why.

Lastly, what exactly are omega-3's and do they affect lifting or anything?

Age: 19
Height: 6'3
Weight: ~255

ok well...ill just go down the list...

-size responds well to 3-5 sets in most cases (with higher weight and lower reps for each)

-chest/tris back/bis is pretty effective, its the whole push muscle and pull muscle thing

-i myself do switch exercises like that in such a pattern however i only do it if i am not going to rest at all between sets(one muscle group at a time), that way each muscle group has i chance to rest while the body itself is constantly active. it does in some cases add to endurance, depending on intensity

-those pyramids.. dont look to good, deffinetly ot for size. pyramids to me look more like this...


bench press: 

set#1: 125lbs 15 reps
set#2: 175lbs 12 reps
set#3:200lbs 8 reps
set#4:255lbs 5 reps
... more weight and less reps untill failure

-i know more about no-explode.. i think its the same NO supp. nitric oxide in the body relaxes the muscular outer layer of the vein/artery, so the arteries and veins can expand thus you get more blood to the muscle (thats a good thing)
  yes it can be reliable

-omega-3's are this... an essential fatty acid important to normal growth especially of the blood vessels and nerves, helpfull to keeping skin and other tissues youthfull and supple  throught their lubricating qualities.
omega-3s need to be ballenced with omega-6  at a 1: 1 ratio


welcome back.

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I'm just going to comment on the pyramid since Pastor covered everything else. When you're starting with a one rep to do pyramid you're just lifting for no reason, since you do one and pass it to your friend, by the time they're done you are rested again, so you do two more, and so on... This way you just lift what your body is capable of lifting and no actual muscles are being stressed. As Pastor said, you start with lower weight and more reps, as you increase weight you decrease reps.

I've seen some people actually start with heavy weights and do as much as they can, then drop it down and move down until they're dead, but that's more of a drop sets.

Its not what you know, its what you can do that counts!

Age: 18
Height: 5' 7"
Weight: 162 lb
Current Status: Strength Training (Max-OT)

yeah and drop sets are awesome too

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