Much like the great American poet Snoop Dogg, I’m a big believer in dropping it like it’s hot. But I’m a terrible dancer and a bit of a meathead, so I limit most of my “dropping” to my physical training.
Drop sets (also referred to as “strip sets”) provide a sequential stimulus of heavier to lighter loads with short, incomplete rests between sets to completely exhaust every muscle fiber you’ve got: both slow-twitch type I fibers and fast-twist type II fibers.
This combination of multiple sets and multiple loads within one extended giant set sends your muscles a serious message to grow. And trust me, your muscles will listen.
Drop sets also dramatically increase your training density (or the amount of work you do in a given period of time) and your muscles’ time under tension. These two factors are key drivers of rapid fat loss and make you look instantly more muscular. I’m such a big believer in drop sets that I designed two of the workouts in my new metabolic training system from Men’s Health—METASHRED EXTREME—around the concept.
Want proof? Take a look at fitness legend Steve “Hercules” Reeves, who popularized the training method. Since then, it’s been used by top strength and physique athletes for decades to maximize strength and muscle gains.
And though there needs to be more research into why drop sets are so effective, some initial studies suggest it’s due to acute hormonal responses (like Human Growth Hormone) and cellular swelling that result from such epic muscle pumps. Your muscles will literally flood with blood and the metabolic stress is off the charts.
Types Of Drop Sets
There are two main types of drop sets: loaded and mechanical.
Loaded drop sets are the classic method where you start by performing as many quality reps as you can with a heavier weight. Then you reduce the load, typically by 25-50 percent, and repeat, taking no more than 20 seconds of rest. That’s a single drop set.
A double drop set would involve bumping the load down another time and repping out once more. And if you really hate yourself, you could do a triple drop set where you use four different loads in one extended body- and life-changing set.
Using the goblet squat as example for a double drop set:
Set 1: AMRAP (as many reps as possible with good form) with a heavy load, for example a 100-pound dumbbell
Set 2: AMRAP with a medium load, for example a 50-pound dumbbell
Set 3: AMRAP with a light load, for example just your bodyweight
You’d obviously adjust the loads based on your fitness level, but this should give you a good idea of how to set up a drop set sequence. Don’t overly concern yourself with exact adjustments in weights, especially early on. The key is to just use a weight that’s light enough to attack the next set as hard as the previous one.
Though this is the simplest way to approach drop sets, it also requires access to multiple loads. So it can be tough to execute if you don’t have access to a wide variety of weights.
That’s where the second drop set approach comes into play.
Mechanical drop sets involve the strategic manipulation of one or more exercise variables to seamlessly extend a set while using the same absolute load. Essentially, you use progressively easier exercises or less challenging variations of the same exercise to keep going and going. Like a leaner, more jacked version of the Energizer bunny.
This can be accomplished many different ways. Here are just a few of my favorites:
1. Drop Set Type: Body Angle Adjustments
With this method, you adjust your body position to decrease the relative load you’re working with. No exercise demonstrates this better than the pushup as outlined below:
Set 1: Feet-elevated pushup (hard)
Set 2: Pushup (medium)
Set 3: Hands-elevated pushup (easy)
You start with the most relatively challenging body angle and then drop to a new angle that reduces the amount of your bodyweight that your chest, core, shoulder, and triceps muscles have to work against.
I love this approach because it’s so much easier and more convenient to transition between variations of the same move than to switch between different weights.
2. Drop Set Type: Stance and Grip Adjustments
Here you start with the weakest stance or grip position when you are most fresh and then seamlessly move to a stronger stance or grip position as you fatigue to keep going. Here are some examples:
Using pushups or squats:
Set 1: Close stance (hard)
Set 2: Normal stance (medium)
Set 3: Wide stance (easy)
Using presses:
Set 1: Overhead press (hard)
Set 2: Incline chest press (medium)
Set 3: Flat chest press (easy)
Using rows, curls, or pullups:
Set 1: Overhand grip (hard)
Set 2: Hammer grip (medium)
Set 3: Underhand grip (easy)
(It’s worth noting that beyond allowing you to go harder for longer, varying your hand and foot positions allows for more complete muscular development and prevents overtraining.)
3. Drop Set Type: Stability Adjustments
Starting a set with a move that requires a high degree of stability and moving to more stable positions as you fatigue is another sound strip set approach.
A great example for the upper body is to use levels changes with the same pair of dumbbells for carries (also known as farmer’s walks):
Set 1: Carry with your arms overhead (hard)
Set 2: Carry with the weights at shoulder level (medium)
Set 3: Carry with the weights at your sides (easy)
Your core has to work a lot harder to stabilize your spine when your arms are overhead due to a lengthened center of gravity.
From a lower body perspective, you could move from harder unilateral exercises to easier bilateral exercises:
Set 1: Split squat, left
Set 2: Split squat, right
Set 3: Squat
Besides requiring more balance, single-leg moves put twice as much load through your working muscles.
But don’t just limit yourself to the examples above. Common sense would tell you that squat jumps are harder than regular squats. So following a set of squat jumps with a set of squats would make for a great lower-body drop set.
And since you use lighter loads with single-joint, isolation moves than with multi-joint, compound moves, following a set of triceps extensions with chest presses using the same load makes for a killer upper-body drop set.
The sky is really the limit here. They key is to just select a proper sequence of exercises that “feel” easier and easier as fatigue accumulates. Have fun and get it done!
Finally, I’ve created a upper-body and lower-body drop sets workout to get you started. These are adapted from my latest workout program, METASHRED EXTREME, where shred meets gainz!
The Diabolical Drop Sets Workouts
I’ve created a lower-body and upper-body version of this workout since I prefer an upper/lower split to a total-body split for maximum fat loss and muscle gain.
Do the lower body-workout on one day and the upper-body workout on the next day. Then rest a day or perform lower-intensity recovery work like cardio or mobility. Do each routine twice per week for four total sessions per week.
If you prefer whole-body workouts, then perform one or two cycles of each workout within the same training session. Perform two to three sessions per week with at least a day of rest between workouts.
You could also just pick and choose a drop set of your choice as a finisher to your next workout. The choice is yours!
Traditionally, reps are used to perform drop sets. But I prefer using timed sets instead. Each drop set will work like this:
Set 1: Heavy load: 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest
Set 2: Medium load: 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest
Set 3: Light load: 40 seconds of work, 20 seconds of rest
Choose loads that allow you to get at least 10 reps within each set. Don’t rest any longer than 20 seconds between sets.
You can make it harder by cutting the rest down or removing it altogether as long as you can maintain enough intensity from set to set.
MetaDrops: The Lower-Body Workout
1. Multi-Positional Bulgarian Split Squat Drop Set
Perform the following exercises for 40 seconds each in the order shown. Rest 20 seconds between exercises.
Set 1: Dumbbell overhead Bulgarian split squat, left
Set 2: Dumbbell front-loaded Bulgarian split squat, left
Set 3: Dumbbell Bulgarian split squat, left
Rest 1 minute. Repeat on the right side.
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 3 rounds on each side.
2. Unilateral-Bilateral Hip Hinge Drop Set
Perform the following exercises for 40 seconds each in the order shown. Rest 20 seconds between exercises.
1. Bulgarian hip hinge, left
2. Bulgarian hip hinge, right
3. Hip hinge
Rest 1 minute. That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 3 rounds.
3. Changing-Stance Squat Drop Set
Perform the following exercises for 40 seconds each in the order shown. Rest 20 seconds between exercises.
Set 1: Close-stance front squat
Set 2: Normal-stance front squat
Set 3: Wide-stance front squat
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 4 rounds, resting 1 to 2 minutes between rounds.
4. Super Squat Drop Set
Perform the following exercises for 40 seconds each in the order shown. Rest 20 seconds between exercises.
Set 1: Goblet squat
Set 2: Squat jump
Set 3: Squat
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 4 rounds, resting 1 to 2 minutes between rounds.
For a bonus challenge, AKA “MetaBoost:” Add a miniband around your knees to make your hips work harder and improve your form.
MetaDrops: The Upper-Body Workout
1. Changing-Grip Chest-Supported Row Drop Set
Perform the following exercises for 40 seconds each in the order shown. Rest 20 seconds between exercises.
Set 1: Overhand-grip chest-supported row
Set 2: Hammer-grip chest-supported row
Set 3: Underhand-grip chest-supported row
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 4 rounds, resting 1 to 2 minutes between rounds.
2. Multi-Angle Pushup Drop Set
Perform the following exercises for 40 seconds each in the order shown. Rest 20 seconds between exercises.
Set 1: Feet-elevated pushup
Set 2: Floor pushup
Set 3: Hands-elevated pushup
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 4 rounds, resting 1 to 2 minutes between rounds.
3. Changing-Grip Curl Drop Set
Perform the following exercises for 40 seconds each in the order shown. Rest 20 seconds between exercises.
Set 1: Overhand-grip curl
Set 2: Hammer-grip curl
Set 3: Underhand-grip curl
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 4 rounds, resting 1 to 2 minutes between rounds.
For a bonus challenge, AKA “MetaBoost:” Add Fat-Gripz to your dumbbells to improve arm activation and strengthen your grip.
4. Multi-Angle Press Drop Set
Perform the following exercises for 40 seconds each in the order shown. Rest 20 seconds between exercises.
Set 1: Seated overhead press
Set 2: Incline chest press
Set 3: Flat chest press
That’s 1 round. Do 2 to 4 rounds, resting 1 to 2 minutes between rounds.
For a bonus challenge, AKA “MetaBoost:” Add Fat-Gripz to your dumbbells to improve arm activation and strengthen your grip.
This is just a tiny taste of the most metabolic training program I’ve ever created! For the complete plan with eight full-length workouts, check out METASHRED EXTREME from Men’s Health.
