What are drop sets and how do they affect muscles?

What are drop sets, why are they needed in strength training. Can drop sets be used by beginners? How to use drop sets correctly, basic recommendations.

The drop set is an effective technique that is used in strength training. It involves reducing the weight of the bar, while the muscles begin to grow with greater intensity. For example, you perform exercises with a barbell of the usual weight. After one approach, you immediately drop about 25% of the weight of the projectile and continue to exercise without rest until muscle failure. After that, once again lose weight and continue training. A drop set covers 2 or 3 stages, which should be completed with minimal stops, and ideally no stops at all.

Why are drop sets necessary?

Drop sets are used to make muscles grow. This is an unusual technique that will literally shock them. After all, the more you are in sports, the more you train, the more difficult it is to “surprise” the muscles with something, because they are already accustomed to heavy loads, show resistance to them.

1. Drop sets allow you to train your muscles to the maximum. For example, when you lifted a barbell with a weight of 7 kg 10–40 times, you no longer have the strength to do another lift. But we are talking about 40 kg! If you reduce the weight of the bar, you will be able to lift it again. Drop sets are designed to use even the minimal reserve of strength that remains after you deplete your main strength by lifting a lot of weight.
2. Thanks to this, not only your muscles grow, but also the endurance of the whole organism increases. It will be useful to you in life, will become the main trump card during training. You create artificial stress for the muscles, as a result of which more creatine phosphate and glycogen are formed in them. These substances allow the muscles to work further, even when they are tired. In addition, you will increase muscle strength, improve your physical abilities several times over time.

Important! If you’re new to bodybuilding, then you don’t need drop sets just yet. Muscles already respond well to training, grow and strengthen. So far, the stress of regular exercise is enough for them. You will need drop sets when training progress has stopped. For example, if you notice that your muscles have stopped growing, your strength is not increasing. See also: How to overcome the plateau effect?

Drop Set Recommendations

There are some important tips on how to use drop sets effectively:

1. Drop sets are best done in one go. For example, you did a warm-up, and after it – a drop set and nothing more about this exercise. It should be remembered that such training is tiring and exhausting. There is no need to follow other approaches. If you have a lot of experience with these types of workouts, you can do multiple sets of drop sets for strength.
2. It is recommended to resort to drop sets only when you feel a surge of energy. To do this, it is best to have a good rest before training, not to overexert. If you have already come to the gym tired, then the load can only harm you – the muscles will refuse to work much earlier than you expected.
3. You don’t have to do drop sets alone. Such loads put the muscles in a stressful state, which takes a long time to recover. Alternate these exercises with others to keep your muscles in good shape, but at the same time allow them to rest.
4. It is best to do up to 4 weight drops, as their number will complicate the drop set. But it also makes no sense to do less than 3, since this will no longer be a drop set, but a regular exercise.

Remember that drop sets should be used periodically, not constantly. Then there will be the desired effect. If you overwork regularly, you can provoke a decrease in muscle mass.

In order not to take too long pauses in the moments when you need to drop the weight from the bar, these exercises are best done in pairs. That is, there should be a person next to you who will be responsible for weight loss. And then you can do it as efficiently as possible, without being distracted by forced stops. As for the number of kilograms dropped, it is selected by everyone for himself individually.

If you are exercising with a trainer, he will tell you how best to do this so that your workouts are optimal for muscle growth and increasing strength and endurance of the body. See also: How to choose a personal trainer?

How can you make muscles grow and still not perform multiple repetitions of sets?

According to recent studies, even one set can bring muscles to a state in which most of the muscle fibers are involved in the work, and their potential and energy are used to the maximum. First, the muscle is brought to the point of failure, and then, in the process of recovery, muscle growth as a whole occurs, through the growth of connective tissues.

You can reach the point of failure in just one set with a drop set:

• To do this, perform the exercise with the weight with which you can do a maximum of 5 repetitions.
• Then you quickly take less weight (it will be enough to reduce it by 20-25%) and perform 7-9 repetitions.
• Then further reduce by 20-25%, perform 7-9 repetitions, and so on, until there is no strength left even for one repetition with a minimum weight.

The drop set allows you to achieve the necessary goal – the muscle works at 100%, the recovery process after the load is activated, the muscle is provoked to grow. But in case you are working on your back or chest, things are not so simple. Such large muscle groups are divided into autonomous sections – for example, there are upper, lower and middle muscles of the back, and each group of such muscles needs its own drop set. For example, for the chest, you can do a bench press, then an incline bench press (on the upper part of the chest), and finish with information on the blocks.

The main thing to consider is that the constant use of this technique causes overtraining, so try to alternate regular workouts with drop sets. See also: Workouts for a beautiful back and proper posture