Masheen

Sets and reps

Drop set

Also called dropset, drop sets, strip set

A drop set is a set taken to failure, after which you take weight off the bar and carry straight on with the lighter weight, with no rest.

50 kg60 × 850 × 6→40 × 5→
Take 5 kg off each side, no rest: 50 kg for 6. Bench press: 60 kg for 8, then 50 kg for 6, then 40 kg for 5, with no rest between drops. Nineteen reps in all.

In plain words

One exercise, one or more drops, no rest in between. You lift to failure, take weight off the bar and carry on. A 2023 review by Sødal and colleagues found six studies, 142 people in all, pooled five of them, and found drop sets and ordinary sets both built muscle, with no significant difference between them; some drop-set routines took half to a third of the time. A 12-week study of 32 well-trained men found drop sets, pyramid sets and ordinary sets gave similar gains in muscle size and strength when the total work was equal. So a drop set is a way to do the work in less time, not a way to get more from it.

An example

Bench press. 60 kg for 8 reps, the last one all you had. Without resting, take a 5 kg plate off each side: 50 kg for 6. Take another 5 kg off each side: 40 kg for 5. Nineteen reps in one long effort. A 20 kg bar with 20 kg a side makes 60 kg.

Often confused with

Superset A superset changes the exercise; a drop set keeps the exercise and lowers the weight. Pyramid sets Pyramid sets change the weight between sets with rest; a drop set changes it with none.
Failure Failure is the point in a set where you try another rep and cannot finish it.
Superset A superset is two exercises done back to back with little or no rest between them, with the rest coming after the pair.
Rest-pause set A rest-pause set is one set stretched by very short rests, so you can keep lifting the same weight for a few more reps.
Working set A working set is a set done at the weight and reps the program asks for: the sets that count.

Sources

  1. Sødal et al. 2023. Effects of drop sets on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Med Open 9(1):66 Read
  2. Angleri, Ugrinowitsch, Libardi 2017. Crescent pyramid and drop-set systems do not promote greater strength gains, muscle hypertrophy, and changes on muscle architecture compared with traditional resistance training in well-trained men. Eur J Appl Physiol 117(2):359–369 Read

Updated . How these pages are researched and corrected: editorial policy. Every term in the glossary.