Dropsets

Do drop sets build more muscle than traditional lifting?

First, what is a drop set?  When performing an exercise, for example, triceps pushdown, perform a couple working sets to near failure, then, with as little rest as possible, decrease the weight, rep to near failure, decrease weight again…and continue to repeat. 

 Drop sets are one of my favorite techniques to incorporate into my clients programs and my own training.  Not only do they add extra intensity to the exercise, but they induce greater hypertrophy in the muscles worked.

In a recent study, participants performed leg extensions where one leg used traditional rep schemes and the other leg used the drop set method.  Over the course of 8 weeks, there was a significant increase in muscle size on the legs that were performing drop sets(+17.7% vs +3.7%).  Similar results were found in a study measuring triceps thickness, where one group used drop sets and the other used traditional methods over the course of 6 weeks(+10% vs +5.1%).  While promising, more studies need to be done to fully understand the benefits of drop sets on muscle building.  

While the stimulus for hypertrophy is still not fully understood, the general thinking as of now is that drop sets increase hypertrophy by increasing stress placed on the muscle fibers(and more fibers being utilized!)  leading to more muscle protein synthesis.  If you are short on time at the gym, drop sets can be a great option to incorporate into your workouts!

Effects of drop set resistance training on acute stress indicators and long-term muscle hypertrophy and strength

Julius FINK 1, Brad J. SCHOENFELD 2, Naoki KIKUCHI 3, Koichi NAKAZATO 1

1 Graduate Schools of Health and Sport Science, Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, Japan; 2 Department of Health Sciences, Lehman College, New York, NY, USA; 3 Department of Training Science, Nippon Sport Science University, Tokyo, Japan

Sports 2021, 9(9), 119; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports9090119

PMID: 28532248 DOI: 10.1080/02640414.2017.1331042