Drop Sets Explained: One Set or Multiple?

Drop sets are a powerful method to enhance muscle exhaustion and facilitate muscle development, although they can be strenuous and not ideal for every individual. Typically, a drop set is counted as a single set, even though it involves multiple decreases in weight.

Understand Drop Sets

Drop sets are a fantastic training protocol that you can incorporate into your workout routines.

They involve gradually reducing the weight you lift during consecutive sets without taking a break.

The main goal here is to continue the exercise past the point of initial muscle fatigue.

However, when I say “sets”, this does not count as additional sets, but rather as an extension of the original working set.

In other words, the drop sets must always be counted as a single set.

The main reason for doing drop sets is to increase muscle endurance and promote muscle growth.

This is achieved by the complete fatigue of the muscle fibers.

That said, although drop sets can increase strength, there is evidence published in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitnesss showing that simply performing normal heavy sets will lead to greater strength improvements.

Drop sets are suitable for beginners, intermediates and advanced, but should be used carefully to avoid overtraining.

In addition, you can apply it to almost any exercise, thus increasing the intensity and efficiency of the training.

Just make sure you maintain proper form throughout to reap the maximum benefits.

The most common way to use drop sets

Personally, I mainly use drop sets during the last set of an exercise.

My standard protocol involved a total of 3 drop sets after the final work set making sure the reps remained the same.

Additionally, I will usually reduce the weight by about 10-30% for each subsequent drop set.

Here is an example with biceps barbell curls:

Biceps Barbell Curls: The Single Drop Set Method
September	Representatives	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, the 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 just a way to squeeze a little extra, while your muscles are tired and close to failure, incorporating the same movement but with a reduced weight.

Therefore, the biceps workout above involves only 3 sets and not 6 sets.

The “Every Set Drop Set” Method.

The drop set method is exactly what it sounds like, you do a drop set for every single set of every exercise throughout your routine.

This will significantly increase the intensity and volume of your workout.

Basically, you are trying to push your muscles to fatigue at different resistance levels.

This will increase muscle endurance and growth by exposing your muscles to a wide range of stimuli in a single session.

I would say that this is extremely effective for muscle hypertrophy, but with a few caveats.

First, you should consider your overall training intensity, training volume and recovery powers to avoid overtraining.

Therefore, I would recommend that the drop set method is only used by experienced lifters, especially those trying to break out of a plateau.

Then again, use this method if you want to temporarily intensify your training.

Therefore, I would not recommend that beginners try this method, moreover, I would avoid training in 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, take note of your recovery, as well as how you feel in the gym, because there is no point in continuing if you feel permanently tired or if you find that your training sessions suffer.

Biceps Barbell Curls: The Every Set Drop Set Method
Phase	Representatives	Weight
Initial set	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 sets of drops from 3 to 2.

This workout will always consist of only 3 sets of work and not 9 sets in total.

Now, you can try the method of each set with 3 sets of drops per set, but this is a huge amount of intensity and volume.

So, this is potentially something that you can work your way, but I err on the side of caution, and use fewer drops until your body becomes more accustomed to this type of training.

This is also a great opportunity for you to check out my article discussing it if you should perform biceps curls sitting or standing.

Key learning points

• A drop set is counted as a set.
• Drop sets involve reducing the weight with successive sets with no rest between these “sets”.
• They are a great way to enhance muscle endurance and muscle growth.
• The most common method of using drop sets is to incorporate a drop set into the final set of a specific exercise.
• I generally perform 3 sets of drop after the last set of an exercise.
• You can use the method of “every drop set”, which involves performing a drop set after every single set, it is typically for 2 drop sets with this method.
• Each set of drops are an advanced training method and should be avoided by beginners.
• Do not perform “each drop set” more than twice a week and train normally for the rest of the week.
• Pay attention to your recovery and make sure your workouts don’t suffer due to potential overtraining.

One of the biggest advantages of drop sets is that they increase metabolic stress and promote greater muscle growth. Essentially, you can burn fat while building muscle. What exactly is the focus of the Massthetic muscle training program.