There will be a point where you cannot finish another rep with good form. Dropsets allow you to keep lifting once you hit this fatigue by making the load lighter. In doing this, your form is not compromised and you are able to keep training through this fatigue.
WHAT IS A DROPSET?
A drop set is an advanced training method where you focus on completing a set until failure, then make the load lighter and without rest continue to lift the weight until failure. This process is typically repeated for 2-3 drops.
Changing the load to a lighter weight should be fast, so you are doing one consecutive set rather than 3-4 sets with short recovery.
When making the load lighter, 10-20% increments is a great place to start.
Ultimately, it is down to the dropsetter and their goals how many reps they want to achieve before failure on each drop. 8-12 reps is a good range for the first load, aiming for the same again on the second drop, and whatever you have left in the tank for the remaining sets) but expecting a rep fall off.
BENEFITS OF PERFORMING A DROPSET
Dropsets are an effective way to promote muscle growth as well as muscular endurance. They also a great way to fatigue your muscle if you are limited for time.
If you're at a plateau with your weight training, adding dropsets will help you fatigue your muscle by training in a different but very strenuous way!
Lifting weights for a longer period of time, while dropping the weight when we're under fatigue, increases the time our muscles are under tension.
TIME UNDER TENSION in itself is a way to PROGRESSIVELY OVERLOAD our muscles without having to keep increasing the weight we use for an exercise.
SAVING TIME WHILST DROPPING THE WEIGHT IS ESSENTIAL-
Have the lighter weights ready to be lifted straight away-
For example,
• Line up your dumbbells in front of you ready to be lifted
•Pre-select the weight in a resistance machine using our ‘ELITE DROPSET PINS’
WHAT CAN BE USED TO DROPSET?
• Dumbbells
• Barbells
• Resistance Machines
• Bodyweight
DROPSETS BUILD MUSCLE
Dropsets use both mechanical and metabolic fatigue to help with muscle growth.
Mechanical fatigue is when the muscle fibre gets damaged from physical overload.
When cells repair the damaged muscle protein, the fibre grows back stronger and thicker.
This results in increased muscle size
Metabolic fatigue, is when a muscle is exerted to the point of no return, and is unable to perform another rep.
WHEN SHOULD I DO A DROPSET
Dropsets are typically the last exercise and can be referred to as a "burnout set".
If you dropset at the start of your session, you may struggle to perform the rest of your workout effectively, dropsetting last will not compromise your workout but will allow you to give everything you have left but will also ensure to are warmed up properly. If you do it at the beginning of your workout, you risk your muscles becoming too fatigued.
Another type of dropset, less common than a load based dropset, is a technique based dropset. This is where an individual will complete a standard set of an exercise until failure, then without rest, continue the exercise but with partial movements.
STUDIES
Research shows that dropsets do increase muscle strength as well as muscle growth, however, it is unclear if dropsets will help you reach those goals faster than conventional exercise sets. Dropsets save you time and do not hinder your progress in the gym that's for sure!
SAFETY
Always maintain good form and ensure that your muscles are warm before performing a dropset. Being strenuous on your muscles, overtraining can be a factor if dropsets are completely on a muscle group too often. We recommend only dropsetting once or twice a week per muscle group allowing at least 48 hours recovery between each muscle group being worked for sufficient rest.
GET ELITE DROPSET PINS👇
https://www.xtra-reps.co.uk/collections/all
WANT A FREE WORKOUT SAMPLE?👇
https://www.xtra-reps.co.uk/blogs/news/push-pull-legs-split