A descending/ascending rep scheme is a workout structure where two exercises start at high reps and ladder down while two others start low and ladder up. Instead of grinding through 150 reps of everything, you pair something like 50-40-30-20-10 of ski calories and sit-ups with 10-20-30-40-50 of row calories and pull-ups. As the top half of the workout gets easier, the bottom half gets harder. In this Physical Friday I explain the structure I have been having a lot of fun with lately.
Watch now: press play above, or listen in the player on this page.
It is a workout where you pair a descending rep ladder of two exercises with an ascending rep ladder of two other exercises. One pair starts at 50 reps and drops by 10 each round, while the other pair starts at 10 reps and climbs by 10 each round. While two exercises are getting easier, the other two are getting harder, which keeps the workout interesting all the way through.
The one I describe in the episode: 50 ski calories and 50 sit-ups, then 10 row calories and 10 pull-ups. Round two is 40 ski calories, 40 sit-ups, 20 row calories, 20 pull-ups. You continue that pattern — 30/30 with 30/30, 20/20 with 40/40, 10/10 with 50/50 — until the descending pair hits 10 and the ascending pair hits 50.
Because doing 150 of one thing, then 150 of the next, gets stale. Altering the rep scheme creates variety, makes the workout more fun or more challenging in certain ways, and produces a different outcome from the same movements. It is one of the simplest programming tools available for keeping training fresh.
As you make it easier on the top half of the workout, it is getting more difficult on the bottom half. You never get to coast. The relief of the shrinking sets is always offset by the dread of the growing ones, and managing that trade in your head is half the workout.
Yes — you could do it with any exercise. Another example I give is assault bike calories and push-ups paired with ski calories and double-unders. Pick two exercises for the descending ladder and two for the ascending ladder, and the structure does the rest.
Drop a comment on the YouTube video or email me at podcast@saltwaterexperience.com. I would love to know what exercises you are putting into this rep scheme and what you think about it.
Here is the exact structure from the episode.
A lot of workouts call for a flat 150 reps of everything, and that format works — until it bores you. The rep scheme is a programming lever most people never touch, and pulling it changes the entire character of a workout without changing a single exercise. I explain how I think about that trade in the episode, so press play above.
The descending/ascending structure forces a pacing decision every round. Go too hard while the big sets are in front of you and the ascending ladder buries you at the end. Hold too much back and you waste the easy rounds. Learning to ride that line is where the fun is. I talk through how I pace it in the episode — press play above.
Variety is not a gimmick — it is how you stay engaged with training for years. The descending/ascending rep scheme is one of the most interesting structures I have put into my own workouts lately, and it costs nothing to try.
Put it into some of your workouts, then let me know what exercise combinations you used — comment on the video or email me at podcast@saltwaterexperience.com. Press play above for the full breakdown.
rep schemes · ski erg · rowing machine · assault bike · pull-ups · sit-ups · double-unders · workout programming · Physical Friday
Physical Friday is my weekly fitness series for fishing guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen — the training, nutrition, and mindset to stay in the game for life. Watch and listen to every Physical Friday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's Physical Friday series I share the workouts, nutrition habits, and mindset tools that keep guides, anglers, hunters, and outdoorsmen strong on the water and in the field for life.
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