Drop sets can take your training to another level. If your goal is to gain muscle, you may want to consider the one popular approach in the bodybuilding circuit which is drop set training.
What Is A Drop Set?
It is an advanced resistance training.
In simpler words, the lifter will try to perform as many reps as possible with a good form until their muscles get tired. Then, they reduce the load and immediately go at it again, without resting between load changes.
It is a popular workout technique that is used to increase muscle endurance, promote hypertrophy and break through plateaus in training.
Ways you can perform drop sets
It can be performed in any type of exercise that uses weights:
- Weight: dumbells, barbells and machines
- Body weight: push ups or squats.
The benefits of drop sets
There are several benefits to gain when you incorporate it into your workout routine.
1 . Increased muscle endurance
You can increase your muscle endurance by pushing your muscles to a fatigued state.
2 . Promote hypertrophy
It can help promote hypertrophy by increasing the duration of the tension in your muscle.
3 . Help you break through plateaus
You would be able to break through plateaus during your training, by providing a new stimulus for your muscle.
4 . Time- efficiency
In a drop set training, you would be able to get more done in a short amount of time.
How to perform it
These following steps will guide you on how you can perform drop sets.
1 . Pick an exercise and weight
If you choose an exercise you can follow through and weight you can sustain, there would be more reps you cover before reaching muscle failure.
2 . Carry out the exercise until failure
Keep going with the exercises until you reach muscle failure, which means you wouldn’t be able to pull through another rep with good form.
3 . Reduce the weight
You should start to reduce the weight by 20-30% and immediately continue to perform the round.
4 . Perform the exercise until failure again
At this point, continue the exercise until you reach muscle failure again, then reduce the and continue to go at it right until your muscles tire out.
5 . Repeat as you desire
Keep repeating as many rounds as you want. However, the typical rounds are between 2-3.
Possible Risk in drop sets training
As much as it can be an effective training technique, there are some things to consider when you decide to add this type of training but into your workout session.
1 . You may overtrain
They can become quite intense, which could lead to overtraining of your muscles, if you don’t incorporate it properly into your workout routine. So, it is advisable to only perform drop sets once it twice per week and per muscle.
2 . Risk of injury
You could end up injuring yourself, due to fatigue and use of heavy weights. So therefore, it’s important that you always use proper form and technique, and not sacrifice your form to get in additional reps.
3 . Recovery time
Drop sets can be very intense and would require additional recovery period. That is why you must allow yourself to get some adequate rest and recovery between each workout.
4 . Not suitable for every workout
It may not be cut out for every workout, especially for exercises that require strict form and technique.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are drop sets better and normal sets?
The nature of drop set is to accumulate volume in a shorter amount of time, achieve a greater muscle pump and trigger metabolic stress. But this is not the case with standard/normal straight sets. Which would hypothetically mean that drop sets can lead to better muscle growth and mass gain.
However, recent research has revealed that metabolic stress may not be as important for muscle gain as we once thought.
Although normal sets would require you to take in more rounds, it doesn’t mean you can’t achieve your goals with it. It all depends on how you want to go out your muscle training.
What’s the difference between rest-pause and drop set?
Many people seem to believe that both are the same but they really aren’t.
A rest pause training is taking a very brief rest after reaching failure, then resume lifting to get a few more reps in. While drop sets involve reducing the weight after you reach failure to continue the set and focus on the muscular endurance.
Above all, the rest-pause and drop set work great on their own and can help increase the intensity in your exercise and muscle training.
Conclusion
For an advanced lifter, drop sets can provide a way to break through a plateau while getting more work done in less time. It will also challenge your muscles in a more strenuous and different way.
Nevertheless, you still need to take care and not overtrain. Always remember that recovery is just as important as the workout itself.
