Drop sets or conventional sets: which is better?

When searching for the best hypertrophy workout, several methods can be incorporated to achieve greater results. One of them is the drop set, which allows you to train beyond muscular failure. However, to what extent is it worth doing drop sets instead of conventional series?

 

What are drop sets?

Drop sets are a training technique used to increase muscle hypertrophy. The technique allows you to extend the set beyond initial muscle failure.

Doing drop sets consists of performing a set to failure (until you can no longer complete a repetition with good form), and then immediately reducing the weight and continuing to do more repetitions until failure again.

This process can be repeated several times, decreasing the weight each time, without resting between changes, to intensify the stress on the muscle and promote greater stimulation for muscle growth.

Drop sets are useful for:

Use more training volume in less time;Increase muscle swelling (pump);Increase the metabolic stress imposed on muscles, which is one of the factors in stimulating muscle hypertrophy.

What are conventional series?

Conventional sets in bodybuilding are basically sets where you perform an exercise for a certain number of repetitions until you reach or near muscular failure.

After finishing a conventional set, you rest for a predetermined amount of time (usually 60 to 120 seconds) and then move on to the next set.

For example, an exerciser might do 3 sets of 10 bench press reps, with a 60- to 120-second rest interval between each set. This is equivalent to 3 standard bench press sets.

At first glance, this may seem like an inferior way to train, but conventional sets are the foundation of most training programs, suitable for both beginners and advanced users. They allow precise control over training volume (total sets and repetitions) and intensity (load used), facilitating planning and progressive overload.

Are drop sets better than conventional sets?

When compared in isolation and when the goal is solely muscle hypertrophy, drop sets are better than conventional sets. However, drop sets need to be used within a specific context, otherwise you can actually hinder your results. Keep reading and you'll understand why.

In a 2017 study by Fink and colleagues, researchers compared the effects of using drop sets or conventional sets on muscle growth in the triceps pulley exercise.

The drop set group performed a heavy set of 12 reps and then immediately performed two sets of drop sets with lighter weights to failure. The normal set group simply performed three heavy sets of 12 reps, with ample rest periods in between.

After 6 weeks, the group performing drop sets achieved nearly twice the triceps growth compared to the group performing conventional sets. Furthermore, this study is consistent with others that show drop sets (in isolation) as a superior method for achieving muscle hypertrophy when compared to conventional sets.

But before you start implementing drop sets into your training, there are a few things you need to consider. These studies compare drop sets with conventional sets (or other methods) alone, disregarding the rest of the workout.

When we consider the complete training of a muscle group, if we use drop sets at the wrong time, in all exercises and/or in all workouts, they can bring the following disadvantages:

 

1 – Drop sets decrease mechanical tension

Mechanical tension is one of the most important factors in hypertrophy. Essentially, when muscles are subjected to loads that exceed their normal capabilities (undergo mechanical tension), a series of stimuli occurs designed to enhance muscle repair and growth.

See, while conventional sets allow you to train with heavier loads and adequate rest periods to recover energy to do the next set with maximum strength, drop sets focus on taking the muscle to exhaustion through consecutive sets with reduced weights without rest in between.

The "problem" with drops sets is precisely the fact that you train with reduced loads in most sets, which means you'll generate less mechanical tension overall and lose some of the benefits of an important factor in stimulating hypertrophy.

2 – Drop sets can affect recovery during training

It's almost inevitable to train to failure when using drop sets. While this isn't necessarily bad for hypertrophy, when done incorrectly, it can affect recovery during training.

When muscles are repeatedly pushed to their limit without adequate rest periods (such as when training to failure), this can lead to central nervous system fatigue and require longer recovery times.

This, in turn, can impair performance in subsequent sets of the same workout and limit progress due to the body's inability to recover to train with sufficient intensity.

In other words, if you start your workout with heavy drop sets (for example), this could sabotage your muscles' ability to recover properly for the next exercises and you'll end up training less heavy than you could.

It's highly recommended to read our guide on training to failure if you haven't fully grasped how this can sabotage your training.

3 – Drop sets can increase the risk of injury

When doing drop sets, you'll train your muscles to maximum exhaustion, which can easily cause movement quality to decrease, leading to incomplete and misaligned movements that will inevitably increase your risk of injury.

Some individuals have enough experience and muscular maturity to counteract this effect of drop sets, while other people (beginners) may put themselves at unnecessary risk and end up injuring themselves.

Additionally, some exercises are naturally more dangerous and contraindicated for use with drop sets, such as heavy compound exercises like free squats, leg presses, and bench presses.

How to incorporate drop sets into your workout correctly

To incorporate drop sets into your training correctly and safely, minimizing the risk of injury and avoiding disadvantages, it is important to use drop sets selectively and moderately, using the technique mainly at the end of the workout, rather than applying them, without context, in all exercises and sessions.

This means choosing one (maximum two) exercises per workout to do drop sets, prioritizing muscle groups that can benefit most from the technique, such as those that are lagging behind in development or that you want to prioritize.

Furthermore, it's crucial to choose safe and practical exercises to incorporate the technique. For example, it's much easier and safer to incorporate drop sets on a pulley machine than on barbell exercises, where decreasing the load will take a long time.