Instinctive Training on the Pyramid Workout

Q: Hello, I'm an ectomorph that has been lifting for around six months now. I have been working out 4 days a week hitting each muscle group once with 2-3 sets for each. I will say that I have become more cut and put on a little weight, but with school and work currently I find it hard to make it 4 days a week and would like to condense down to working out 3 days a week. 

I've noticed that your workout plan is designed for body types such as myself. My main concern is that I'v never tried pyramids before, and I'm not sure how to come at 10 8 6 15 routine. For example, I can currently bench 145 for three sets of 10. How would I incorporate this into your pyramid routine? Would I start with lighter weight increase by 5 until I get to 15 then drop to light weight again for the last 15? Any help is greatly appreciated. I would love to start this routine next week. 

- M. Patterson 

My Answer: Pyramiding is quite easy. All you do is add more and more weight from set to set. If you normally can bench 145 for 10 reps, then start out with that weight and add more weight as the sets progress. Five pound increments are fine, but it really depends on how your first set felt. If you shot through the first set easily and could've performed more than 10 reps, then a 10 pound increase would be more appropriate. 

Likewise if you performed the 8 rep set and fell short of your target by a rep (7 reps total), then your increase for the next set (6 reps) should be small (2.5 pounds) or nonexistent. Ultimately, you should be able to intuit how much weight to add or substract. Your performance on each set determines the weight of the next set. Over time, you should raise the starting weight, so keep track of your poundages.