a man squatting with a barbell in a gym

Here's the best way to lift to gain muscle. Reverse pyramid training. After you've warmed up, you want to do your heaviest set first. That's actually when you're strongest. As you work out, you break down muscle and you get weaker. So you want to hit that heavy set when you're fresh. That way, you can best promote strength and muscle gains. You do your heavy set first, four to six reps, 3-minute rest. Drop the weight and go for six to eight reps, take a 3-minute rest, drop the weight again, and go for eight to ten reps. You hit the entire rep range and you do your heaviest set first, and that first heavy set actually gets your body to recruit more muscle fibers. So when you go lighter, the weight feels so easy and you're getting more muscle activation than you normally would out of a lighter set.