Drop Sets For Serious Muscle Growth – Ready For Some Pain?
If you’ve been following my blog you know I am a big proponent of switching up your routines. Using drop sets for serious muscle growth is a great way to switch things up. These things are crucial to do for your body to constantly be challenged. Over the years I’ve experimented with what seems like literally hundreds of high intensity training methods. Everything from supersets, giant sets, continuous tension, negatives, partials, contraction, 8 sets of 8, 6 sets of countdowns from 12 to 2, 5 sets of 5, and 21’s come right off the top of my head. I do all this not just because it’s fun to mix my workout up but more importantly so I don’t plateau. Drop sets for serious muscle growth are not easy but they work and anyone can do them. Beginner or experienced body builder, these work for all types and will be intense for anyone no matter the level.
How To Perform Drop Sets For Serious Muscle Growth
First of all, let me start by saying you shouldn’t do drop sets with every exercise. Pick out one or two exercises per workout to drop set (assuming you are doing 4 to 5 exercises per body part per workout). Here are some different drop sets you can use. NEVER!!! I MEAN NEVER!!! Sacrifice good technique for extra weight, technique always wins. Not only because it helps build muscle but “jerking” and “cheating” lead to injury.Enjoy the muscle blast!
How much to drop and how much to lift each set
If you are a beginner or just getting back into weight lifting, 1 drop set is plenty. Intermediate and advanced should do 3 drops. You should drop 20%, no more than 30% at any time. The 20 is not set in stone, the 30 is. In other words, you can drop 10,15,18%, you’ll know how you feel but never drop more than 30% of the weight, otherwise you are just wasting time. So if you are benching 250 lbs. your first drop would be 50 lbs. 2nd drop 40 lbs. 3rd drop 32 lbs. To perform drop sets for serious muscle growth, you will lift until you can barely finish your last rep. Key word here is finish your last rep, do not work until total failure. If I’m doing a set of 8 reps, when I drop I make sure I can do 5 good reps in the first drop, 6 reps second drop, 8 reps third and final drop. It’s important you write down the amounts you are lifting for each drop for future use.
Barbell drop set
You are going into your last set. In this case I will use a barbell curl as an example. Set your barbell up with weights that will be easy to take off quickly. So if I am curling 125 lbs for 8 reps, I would load up a bar with three 10 lb and two 5 lb plates on each side. I will then do my 8 reps using perfect form. Upon completion, I take off a 10 on each side as quickly as possible. I then immediately start curling again with 8 as a goal but honestly, I can normally only get 5 the second set. This time I quickly drop another 10 on each side and try to reach 8 again. I then quickly drop another 5 on each side and get as many reps as possible before moving on to my next exercise. Make sure you are hitting 8 that last drop!
Dumbbell Drop Sets
You can use dumbbell drops for many exercises, chest, shoulders, biceps, triceps, even legs (lunge). Example of a dumbbell drop set – Shoulder press. I start by doing 8 reps of 45 lbs, then I drop to 40, 35 and finish at 30. One thing I haven’t pointed out is my rep counts. I am, at the time of this writing, using a 4-1-1 method which means in the case of my shoulder press, I will start with the weights resting shoulder width height. I press up until just before locking out my elbows, pause for a count of one, then lower the weights to a four count back to the start position, pause one second before exploding back up. This leads to being able to lift less weight but I love the burn it gives my muscles. If I go 3-1-1 or 2-1-2 I will increase my weight amounts. Be sure your dumbbells are either next to you or nearby on the rack so you keep the constant burn on whatever muscle you are working.
Drop Sets With Machines
Machines are a great way to use drop sets, especially if you work out solo because you don’t lose time taking weights off a barbell or getting up to grab another pair of dumbbells. Machines are easier because all you have to do is pull the pin and drop it to the next weight you want to lift. They are also great for legs because you can use a leg extension or leg url machine and easily drop the weight.
I could write for a week on different drop sets for serious muscle growth but I do not want this to turn into a novel. Besides, you have enough above to get started and build some serious muscle as well as burn off some fat if needed. Go get em hard charger, please let me know how it goes by commenting below.
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