What Is an Ascending Ladder Workout?

An ascending ladder is a simple workout format where the number of repetitions increases with each round.

For example, if your workout is:

Squats + Burpees: 2 / 4 / 6 / 8 / 10

you would perform:

Round 1: 2 Squats + 2 Burpees
Round 2: 4 Squats + 4 Burpees
Round 3: 6 Squats + 6 Burpees
Round 4: 8 Squats + 8 Burpees
Round 5: 10 Squats + 10 Burpees

You've now completed the ladder.

How Does an Ascending Ladder Work?

The repetitions don't have to increase by two.

A 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 ladder increases by one rep each round.

A 5 / 10 / 15 / 20 ladder increases by five.

You can use the format with one exercise or combine several exercises within each round.

The important part is simply:

Each round contains more work than the round before it.

Why Use Ascending Ladders?

I use ladder workouts because they're an easy way to structure strength, conditioning and muscular-endurance training.

They allow you to start with relatively little work and gradually increase the challenge as the session progresses.

They're also incredibly easy to understand.

You don't need to remember a complicated workout while you're tired — just complete the exercises and move up to the next number.

Depending on the exercises, loads, rest periods and size of the ladder, they can be used for anything from strength practice to a fairly horrible conditioning workout.

Ascending Ladder Example

Here's a 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 ascending ladder using squats and burpees:

1 Squat + 1 Burpee
2 Squats + 2 Burpees
3 Squats + 3 Burpees
4 Squats + 4 Burpees
5 Squats + 5 Burpees

That's 15 squats and 15 burpees in total.

Simple.

Although by the end of a sufficiently large ladder, not necessarily easy.

Watch the Example

In the video below, you can see a 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 ladder of squats and burpees in action.

and so on.

A descending ladder is the same, but the reps will decrease each round.