When it comes to building lean muscle mass in the shortest amount of time nothing is more effective than advanced training strategies. When you go in the gym and you repeat the same workouts over and over again your body will get accustomed to the overload and it will not grow. So for example, if you’re accustomed to doing supersets during your workout, maybe you should switch it up and give drop sets a try.
Your muscles are really stubborn and you have to constantly push yourself outside your comfort zone if you want to maximize your workouts and build mass.
Today I want to introduce one of my favorite advanced training strategies of all time – the Drop Set!
Drop sets allow you to break down more muscle fibers and place more volume on a muscle group. If you are looking for the most effective workout strategy to build lean muscle mass in a short amount of time drop sets are the answer!
Drop sets were made famous by Arnold back in the bodybuilding hay-day and can be used by practically anyone looking to change up their monotonous routine and kick their muscle building into overdrive.
What is A Drop set?
A Drop set involves doing several sets of an exercise with very short rest times in between while “dropping” the weight each set. For example – a popular exercise to perform drop sets on is the barbell bench press. The way that I set up my drop sets is to start with a weight that I can perform 4-6 repetitions on.
I will press the weight until failure and then have my spotter take off weight on each side. As soon as the spotter takes off the weight you will want to get ready for your second set. You will repeat this process anywhere from 3-5 total sets.
My typical bench press “drop set” looks like this.
275 Lbs – 4-6 Reps
225 Lbs – 8-10 Reps
185 Lbs – 8-10 Reps
155 Lbs – 5- 7 Reps
135 Lbs – 6 -8 Reps
You are performing all of these sets in a row with hardly any rest in between. This is a fantastic way to place a lot of overload and volume on your body and shock a stubborn muscle group into growth.
The key for maximizing your drop set is to minimize rest between the weight drops. It should not take your spotter more than 10 seconds to take off the weight and you should get ready to start your next set as soon as he strips the weight off.
Tips for the Drop Set
- Try to start with a heavy weight that you can do no more than 4-6 repetitions of.
- If your Main goal is building mass, stick with drop setting compound exercises like the bench press, squat, dead lift and barbell row.
- Rest no more than 10 seconds between “drops”.
- Drop the weight by about 20 percent for each “drop”.
- Go until failure on every set – even the light ones at the end!
Want an entire full body workout with Drop Sets? Try this ridiculously effective muscle building regimen! I recommend that you try out this drop set workout once per month to shock your entire body and create those healthy micro tears that will get you ripped in no time.
The Full Body Drop Set Workout
Exercise One: Barbell Squat
Dropset 1: 90 % 1 rep max
Dropset 2: 75 % 1 rep max
Dropset 3: 60 % 1 rep max
Total Drop Sets: 2
Rest Time Between Drop Sets: 2 Minutes
Exercise Two: Barbell Bench
Dropset 1: 90 % 1 rep max
Dropset 2: 75 % 1 rep max
Dropset 3: 60 % 1 rep max
Dropset 4: 50 % 1 rep max
Total Drop Sets: 2
Rest Time Between Drop Sets: 2 Minutes
Exercise Three: Barbell Dead lift
Exercise Two: Barbell Bench
Dropset 1: 90 % 1 rep max
Dropset 2: 75 % 1 rep max
Dropset 3: 60 % 1 rep max
Dropset 4: 50 % 1 rep max
Total Drop Sets: 2
Rest Time Between Drop Sets: 2 Minutes
Final Thoughts on the Drop Set
Whether you are looking to build the maximum amount of lean muscle mass in the shortest amount of time or just simply change up your boring weight training routine, drop sets can be used frequently. They are one of my favorite ways to train a stubborn muscle group.
Although it is most beneficial to perform a drop set with compound exercises, you can also use it to hit the smaller muscle groups such as shoulders, traps, biceps and triceps. Get creative with your drop sets as you can use it for practically any exercise including machines!
I recently tried a drop set with weighted abdominal planks and got in a killer six pack abs workout! The sky is the limit with drop sets.
Let me know what your favorite drop set exercise is below! I’m always eager to try out new things.