If you are talking about just starting with the two ramped sets a week with a light one in the middle and then utilyzing his tweaks as layed out...should be good but I think you would be served better to start with SS then go to that and progress from there.

He mentions RIP but never mentions the SS program at all and that's a little misleading.

Another thing that I find confusing about Pendley is how he calls ramped sets (pyramids) "working up to a max set". I've done 5x5 with ramps and I've done 5x5's where you do max sets, and they are not the same thing. You're not working up to a max set. You are simply cutting some of the workload by ramping the sets so that the last set would be higher than it would with 5x5 sets accross. LOL, if you were to have someone do actual max sets twice a week you'd kill em. I think people need to be more precise on what they say on the internet. The ramped sets on these 5x5's COUNT towared the volume and they all add in to the relative intensity. They are not "warm up" sets per se. Calling the last set a max set makes it sound like you are supposed to hit your absolute 5RM twice a week.

I know that he means it's a top set compared to where you tested at in the beginning since of course to be precise you'd test using the same variables. So calling it you top set of 5 makes sense but I wouldn't interchange the words "top" and "max".

LOL, it's really one of my pet peeves. This thing about calling ramped sets "1 set" and sets accross 5 sets. 5 sets is 5 sets. Its doesn't matter if you up the weight a bit on each subsequent set the sets still add up to 5. That's why the term sets accross is used. If I'm doing 1x5 it's only one set that counts so that anything before that would be warming up or acclimization. If I'm simply doing 5 sets and "pyramiding up" then I'm doing a ramped 5x5.

Rip uses similar terminology but I think it is important when these guys talk about rep maximums in this context it is meaing "relative max"....in other words relatvie to the specific circumstances of the workout and program.

Another thing is that most people don't have a coach evaluating them on a daily basis so when changing things on the 5x5 such as going from ramped sets on monday and friday to sets across on monday and ramped sets on friday I think it is probably useful for the average guy to take some time and figure out his actual 1RM and 5RM. This way he has a concrete point from which to gauge loading since he doesn't have an experienced eye leading him. For instance know his maximal ability may help him determine the increments to use of Friday so that he doesn't end up using a sort of intensity that makes Monday and Friday so close (as far as the body is concerned) it is not doable. Failing that I would err on the side of doing too little on some day and Friday would be the best day to decrease the total intensity while increasing the top set. In other words the total relative intensity for the whole exercise would go down but the maximum intensity would go up.

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If you act sanctimonious I will just list out your logical fallacies until you get pissed off and spew blasphemous remarks.