Dropping Sets Explained: One Set or More?

Drop sets are a powerful method of increasing muscle fatigue and facilitating muscle development, although they can be strenuous and not ideal for every individual. Typically, a drop set counts as one set, despite involving several weight reductions.

Understanding Drop Sets

Drop sets are a fantastic training protocol to incorporate into your exercise routines.

They involve gradually reducing the weight you lift over consecutive sets without rest.

The main goal here is to continue exercising after initial muscle fatigue.

However, when I say “sets”, it doesn’t count as additional sets, but as an expansion of the original working set.

In other words, drop sets should always count as one set.

The main reason for performing drop sets is to increase muscular endurance and stimulate muscle growth.

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

Additionally, although drop sets can increase strength, there is evidence published in Journal of sports medicine and physical fitnessThis shows that simply performing normal heavy sets will lead to greater improvements in strength.

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

Furthermore, you can apply them to almost any exercise, increasing the intensity and effectiveness of your workout.

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

The most common way to use drop sets

Personally, I mostly used drop sets during the last set of the exercise.

My standard protocol would include a total of 3 lunge sets after the last work set while ensuring that the rep count remains the same.

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

Here’s an example with a barbell for biceps:

However, a final work set that includes 3 drop sets should only count as ONE SET, 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 simply a way to push out a little more, while your muscles are tired and close to failure, by incorporating the same movement, but with reduced weight.

So the biceps workout above only includes 3 sets, not 6 sets.

The “Each set drop” method.

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

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

Basically, you want to push your muscles to fatigue at different levels of resistance.

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

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

First, you need to consider your overall exercise intensity, training volume, and recovery options to avoid overtraining.

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

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

So, I would not recommend beginners to try this method, plus I would avoid training this way more than two days a week.

Make sure you have at least 72 hours between these two workouts and train normally the rest of the week.

Finally, pay attention to your recovery as well as how you feel in the gym, as there is no point in continuing if you feel permanently exhausted or if you feel your workouts are suffering.

As you can see from the table, I reduced the number of drop sets from 3 to 2.

This workout will still consist of only 3 working sets, not a total of 9 sets.

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

So this is potentially something you can get to, but I would be cautious and use fewer knock-out sets until your body gets used to this type of training.

This is also a great opportunity for you to check out my article on whether you should perform bicep curls sitting or standing.

Key learning points

• A dropped set counts as one set.
• Drop sets involve lowering the weight with subsequent sets without rest between those “sets”.
• They are a great way to increase muscle endurance and muscle growth.
• The most common way to use drop sets is to include a drop set in the final set of a particular exercise.
• I would generally perform 3 drop sets after the last set of the exercise.
• You can use the “every set drop set” method, which involves doing a drop set after every single set, I usually stick to 2 drop sets using this method.
• Each set lunging sets is an advanced training method and should be avoided by beginners.
• Do not perform “each drop set” more than twice a week and train normally the rest of the week.
• Be careful with your recovery and ensure your training doesn’t suffer due to potential overtraining.

One of the biggest benefits of drop sets is that they increase metabolic stress, as well as promote greater muscle growth. Essentially, you can burn fat while building muscle. Which is exactly the focus Mastetic muscle exercise program.