If you are interested in bodybuilding you are doing or have done drop sets. Drop sets have been a major part of bodybuilding programs for decades. The great thing about using this intensity technique is that you are only limited by your imagination.
Here are some ways to use drop sets:
1. Down the rack / Up the rack
Down the rack drop sets are simple. You start with your desired heaviest weight in the dumbbell rack at your gym, crank out some reps, set that weight down and immediately pick up the next lowest weight and continue on down the rack.
Let’s use dumbbell lateral raises as an example:
| set | weight | reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 25 | 10 |
| 2 | 20 | 9 |
| 3 | 15 | 7 |
| 4 | 10 | 6 |
| 5 | 5 | 4 |
Don’t worry about trying to get specific numbers on each set, your reps will vary.
Up the rack is the same, just going in reverse order
2. Barbell Drop Sets
This one is one of my favorites. You are simply using a barbell instead of dumbbells. The trick here is to use smaller plates when you load the bar. You won’t be using 45s with this method. Let’s say I’m going to perform incline bench presses. I’ll add a bunch of 10 lb plates to the bar to make it a total of 225 lbs. I do a set of 8 reps, rack it, then have my partner take off a 10 lb plate on each side then I go again. I keep going until I either fail, or I’m down to just the bar.
It would look like this:
| set | weight | reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 225 | 8 |
| 2 | 205 | 6 |
| 3 | 185 | 6 |
| 4 | 165 | 5 |
| 5 | 145 | 3 |
| 6 | 125 | 3 |
| 7 | 105 | 2 |
| 8 | 85 | 1 |
| 9 | 65 | fail |
3. Halves
Halves are simple. The drops of weight are at 50% each time, so your rep ranges will vary quite a bit. Here’s an example:
| set | weight | reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100 | 6 |
| 2 | 50 | 20 |
4. Tight Drops
Tight drop sets are done with very small drops in weight. Dumbbells are considered tight drops. If you wanted to do tight drop sets with a barbell you would have use smaller weights on the bar. 45s, 25s, and in some cases 10s would be too large of a drop in weight depending on the exercise. An example of a tight drop would be the down the rack example above.
5. Wide Drops
A wide drop is a larger decrease in weight. Halves (50%) would be considered a wide drop. This is where 45 lb plates could be useful, depending on your strength. Let’s say you want to do a squat drop set with 45s. It would look like this:
| set | weight | reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 315 | 8 |
| 2 | 225 | 12 |
| 3 | 135 | 9 |
6. Stack Drops
These are drop sets done on selectorized equipment. The stacks are generally 10 lbs each so you are dropping the weight by 10 lbs on each drop. Leg extensions would be a good example. Say you start out at 100 lbs. You get a set of 15 reps. After the 15th rep you lower the weight, pull out the pin, and set it at 90 lbs, then keep going. Talk about pain!
You could also do these drops in reverse order just like you do with the dumbbell rack drop sets.
7. Low Rep Drops
These are good if you want to keep the weights heavy and the reps low. You keep the weights high and do very small drops. These small drops will keep the reps very low. These are good for trainers who want to use drop sets but still stay in a heavier training zone. Here’s a squat example:
| set | weight | reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 365 | 4 |
| 2 | 345 | 2 |
| 3 | 325 | 1 |
8. Ascending Rep Drop Sets
These drop sets require you to choose weights that allow you to perform reps from low to high. 6-12-15 is a popular rep scheme to go with here. This way you get your heavy, medium and very light weights in.
| set | weight | reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 90 | 6 |
| 2 | 65 | 12 |
| 3 | 35 | 25 |
Generally the weight drops will be very wide on these sets.
9. Descending Rep Drop Sets
These are just the opposite. You start lighter and get heavier. 15-10-5 is a good example here. This type of drop set would be considered a tight drop. At least much tighter than the ascending sets would be.
| set | weight | reps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 | 15 |
| 2 | 55 | 10 |
| 3 | 50 | 5 |
10. Weight and Band Drop Sets
You need bands and barbells or dumbbells for these. I use my resistance bands for these drops. Lets say I’m going to do barbell curls. First I get my 25 lb band in my hands, then grab my barbell. The barbell doesn’t have to be extremely heavy…..say just the bar (45 lbs). I start my reps and struggle to get 8. I then drop the bar and keep going with the bands until failure. This one burns like you wouldn’t believe.
11. Drop Supersets
These combine to intensity methods and are very intense. Let’s say you are going to superset leg presses and leg extensions. The amount of weight and rep range you want to start with are completely up to you. I go relatively heavy with my leg presses and get 10 reps, then without rest I run over to leg extensions and crank out 10 of those. Without resting I go back to the leg press, strip off some weight and keep going, then its back to the leg extension, lower the weight, then repeat the super set one more time.
This is a very challenging drop set. I would use this method sparingly.
12. Fiber Type Drop Sets
This is information from Charles Poliquin. These are based on the type of muscle fiber make up the particular part of your body you are training contains. If you don’t know what type of muscle fibers you have, you can find that out here.
Drop sets for a predominately fast twitch ( Type IIA or IIB) trainee
- perform 4 rep max
- drop the weight 10-15% perform as many reps as you can (should only be a couple)
- drop the weight 10-15% rep out until failure (again, very low reps here)
- Rest
- Repeat 2-3 times
Drop sets for a fast twitch (Type IIA or IIB) trainee
- perform a double (2 reps)
- drop the weight 5-7% perform reps until failure (same as above)
- drop the weight 5-7% perform reps until failure
- drop the weight 5-7% perform reps until failure
- Rest
- repeat 3-4 times
Drop sets for a normal fiber (mix of Type I and II fibers) trainee
- perform 8 rep max
- drop the weight 5-10% perform reps until failure (probably half your number on the first set)
- drop the weight 5-10% perform reps until failure (probably 3-4 reps)
- Rest
- repeat 2-3 times
Drop sets for a normal fiber (mix of Type I and II) trainee
- perform 6 rep max
- Drop the weight 20% perform reps to failure (probably 2x your first set number)
- Drop the weight 20-25% perform as many reps as possible (probably 3-4x your first set number)
- Rest
- Repeat 1-2 times
13. Mechanical Drop Sets
These are drop sets where you transition from most difficult mechanically to easiest mechanically, maximizing muscular fatigue on a specific muscle group. Here are some examples:
Shoulders 1
| 1 | Strict Overhead Press | 8 reps |
| 2 | Push Press | 8 reps |
| 3 | Push Jerk | 8 reps |
You use the same weight for all 3 exercises.
Shoulders 2
| 1 | DB Lateral Raise | 8 reps |
| 2 | DB Front Raise | 8 reps |
| 3 | DB Upright Row | 8 reps |
Same weight for all 3 exercises
Quads
| 1 | Sissy Squats | 8 reps |
| 2 | Leg Extensions | 8 reps |
| 3 | Squats | 8 reps |
Chest
| 1 | Incline Bench Press | 8 reps |
| 2 | Flat Bench Press | 8 reps |
| 3 | Decline Bench Press | 8 reps |
Conclusion
There you have it. 13 different types of drop sets. Believe it or not, there are even more. A word of caution though, don’t go crazy and try these for every muscle group. I like to use them to focus on one particular body part. If you do want to use them in a complete program, cut back on your total volume a bit to prevent overtraining.