Beginner Tip (Drop Sets)

Up Your Intensity with Drop Sets ~Bob Myhal

They've been around forever. They're particularly popular with the high intensity crowd (the advocates of H.I.T or High Intensity Training). And they're a true test of your concentration and focus. I'm talking of course about Drop Sets.There's no doubt, that occasionally working Drop Sets into your resistance training is still one of the best ways to up your intensity, blow by your plateaus, and blast your muscles to new growth and definition.

The idea behind Drop Sets is simple enough. After you've taken your muscles to failure with a given weight, drop the poundage and immediately push them to failure again.

This can be repeated several times.So, for instance, let's say you're doing Seated Incline Dumbbell Curls (a personal favorite). After a warm-up set or two, you take some heavy dumbbells (we'll say 50 lbs.)

and curl out 6-8 solid reps. Now, immediately grab a pair of lighter dumbbells (40 lbs.) and blast out as many reps as you can. Finally, drop down once more to 30 lbs. dumbbells and feel your biceps scream.

Drop Sets can also been done on virtually any exercise, though in some cases you'll need a spotter or two to make them work.

With Bench Presses, for instance, you can do a Drop Set by having your spotter strip off a certain amount of weight after you've reached failure.

I particularly like to recommend using Drop Sets on stubborn muscles or on exercises where you're struggling to overcome a sticking point.

This is certainly a high intensity technique, so if you're a natural trainer, you want to use it sparingly to avoid overtraining. Once or twice a month for each muscle group you select is plenty.When done properly, the pump you get with Drop Sets is phenomenal.