Drop sets are an effective way to enhance muscle exhaustion and facilitate muscle growth, although they can be strenuous and are not ideal for every individual. Typically, a drop set is counted as one set, although it involves several weight reductions.
Understanding projection sets
Drop sets are a great training protocol that you can incorporate into your workout routines.
It involves gradually reducing the weight you lift over successive sets without taking a break.
The main goal here is to continue exercising past the point of initial muscle fatigue.
However, when I say “sets”, this is not considered additional sets, but rather as an extension of the original working set.
In other words, Drop sets should always be counted as one set.
The main reason to perform drop sets is to increase muscular endurance and promote muscle growth.
This is achieved by completely exhausting the muscle fibers.
However, although drop sets can increase strength, there is evidence published in a journal Journal of Sports Medicine and FitnessThis shows that simply performing regular heavy sets will lead to greater improvements in strength.
Drop sets are suitable for beginners, intermediate and advanced trainees, but should be used carefully to avoid overtraining.
Moreover, you can apply it to almost every exercise, thus enhancing your workout intensity and efficiency.
Just make sure to maintain proper form at all times to enjoy maximum benefits.
The most common way to use drop sets
Personally, I mainly used drop sets during the last set of the workout.
My standard protocol will include a total of 3 drop sets after the final working set ensuring the reps remain the same.
Additionally, I will typically reduce the weight by about 10-30% for each subsequent drop set.
Here’s an example of a barbell bicep curl:
| Barbell Biceps Curls: The One-Drop Set Method | ||
|---|---|---|
| hiring | Actors | weight |
| 1 | 8-12 | 70 lbs |
| 2 | 8-12 | 70 lbs |
| 3 + 3 drop sets | 8-12 | 70 lbs ➡️ 50 lbs ➡️ 40 lbs ➡️ 30 lbs |
| Brought to you by mybodyweightexercises.com | ||
However, a final work set that includes 3 drop sets should only count as one set and not 4 total sets.
Realistically, your “real” sets (for lack of a better word) should be performed with maximum weight, intensity and repetitions.
Drop sets are simply a way to push a little, while your muscles are fatigued and on the verge of failure, by incorporating the same movement but with less weight.
Therefore, the above biceps exercise only involves 3 sets and not 6 sets.
The “all group drop group” method.
The drop set method is exactly what it sounds like, where you perform a drop set for each set of each exercise throughout your routine.
This will dramatically increase the intensity and volume of your workout.
Basically, you’re looking to push your muscles to fatigue at different resistance levels.
This will enhance muscle endurance and growth by exposing your muscles to a wide range of stimuli in one session.
I will say this is very effective for muscle hypertrophy but with some caveats.
First, you need to consider overall exercise intensity, training volume, and recovery capabilities to avoid overtraining.
Therefore, I recommend that each group’s method be used by experienced lifters only, especially those who are trying to get off a plateau.
Then again, use this method if you want to temporarily ramp up your training.
Therefore, I do not advise beginners to try this method, in addition, I would avoid training this way for more than two days a week.
Make sure you have at least 72 hours between these two sessions and train normally for the rest of the week.
Finally, pay attention to your recovery, as well as how you feel in the gym, as there’s no point in continuing if you feel constantly exhausted or if you find your training sessions suffering.
| Biceps Curls with a Barbell: How to Each Drop Set | ||
|---|---|---|
| phase | Actors | weight |
| Primary group | 8-12 | 70 lbs |
| Drop set 1 | 8-12 | 50 lbs |
| Drop set 2 | 8-12 | 30 lbs |
| Brought to you by mybodyweightexercises.com | ||
As you can see from the table, I reduced the number of drop groups from 3 to 2.
This workout will still only consist of 3 working sets and not 9 sets total.
Now, you could try each set method with 3 drop sets per set, but that’s a huge amount of intensity and volume.
So, this is probably something you can work on, but I would err on the side of caution, and use fewer sets of drops until your body becomes more accustomed to this type of training.
This is also a great opportunity for you to review my article discussing whether you should Perform bicep curls sitting or standing.
Key learning points
- The drop set is counted as one set.
- Drop sets involve reducing the weight with subsequent sets without taking a break between these “sets”.
- It is a great way to enhance muscle endurance and muscle growth.
- The most common way to use drop sets is to incorporate the drop set into the final set for a given exercise.
- I usually do 3 drop sets after the last set of the exercise.
- You can use the “Each Drop Set” method, which involves doing a drop set after each set. I usually stick to two drop sets using this method.
- Each drop set is an advanced training method and should be avoided by beginners.
- Do each drop set no more than twice a week and train normally for the rest of the week.
- Be careful about your recovery and make sure your workouts do not suffer due to potential overtraining.
One of the greatest advantages of drop groups is that they increase metabolic stress as well as promoting greater muscle growth. Basically, you burn fat while building muscle. Which is exactly the focus on Massive muscle workout program.
Hi, I’m Partha, Owner and Founder of My Bodyweight Trainings. I am a Level 3 Personal Trainer and a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the UK Exercise Professionals Register. I’ve been a regular gym goer since 2000 and training clients since 2012. My goal is to help you achieve your body composition goals.