Are drop sets for beginners??

emmab0902

I am interested in gaining strength and have read that drop sets are very effective but not generally recommended for beginners. I am currently doing a mixture of straight sets and pyramids but drop sets interest me as I am wondering if I am maximising my efforts by leaving the heavier weight set till last in pyramids. For the record I am very weak lol. I started weights a week and a half ago and am currently doing about about 60lb lat pull downs, 40lb seated chest press (shameful!) 60lb seated row, 66lb calf raises, 120lb leg extensions (among other exercises). All of these are in the 8 rep range. I should add that I am 42, 164cm 48kg myself, looking at a twice per week full body workout as I swim 3x a week as well, and work full time with four kids!

helpfit101

Worry about super sets, drop sets, pyramids when you've been weight lifting for half a year.

I would recommend 3 sets of 12-14 reps for everything for now. That's using the KISS principle.

Wikipedia said:
In bodybuilding and weight training, using drop sets is a technique for continuing an exercise with a lower weight once muscle failure has been achieved at a higher weight. It is most often performed on weight machines because reducing the weight quickly is thought by some to be extremely important, but it can also be performed with dumbbells and other free weights.

Here is my comment:
Drop sets are used to achieve something called hyperthrophy. That means you cause small muscle trauma / damage so that your muscles are motivated to re-build bigger. Drop sets are one way to achieve greater hypertrophy. One danger of dropsets is that they can be taxing on your nervous system. You can tire yourself out a lot (beyond muscle tiredness). So if you do dropsets you should do them just once a week or do them on one muscle group only where you want faster results. Like if your biceps need extra work just do drop sets only for biceps.

My suggestion:
Don't do drop sets until you've been in the gym for longer. If you want to hit your muscles a bit harder you can go to failure on the last set. So:
1 set of 14
1 set of 14
1 set of 18 (at which point you feel you couldn't do another, then stop)

Troublemonster

My understanding of dropsets is basically that they are intended to simply increase the volume of a workout, in other words to push on once our muscles have reached a certain level of exhaustion. The lower resistance will feel heavy because of this pre-exhausted state. I believe they really are more of a hypertrophy technique but I'm not sure on that.

Out of curiosity why are you lifting on machines only?

Do you have access to free weights?

If so I would highly recommend trying out something along the lines of a 5/3/1 type workout. This method is focused on the big compound movements and can be adapted to be done in any number of workouts from 1 up to 4 days per week. 5/3/1 is designed to build strength and since it is based on compound movements it really is a full body type workout.

If I was to do a 5/3/1 in two day weeks I would do something like OHP and squats on one day then bench and deadlift on the other. Feel free to add in some accessory exercises if you don't feel the volume is high enough but if you are doing warm up sets and going heavy with it you won't need much more work most days.

ChrisLindsay9

For the record I am very weak lol. I started weights a week and a half ago and am currently doing about about 60lb lat pull downs, 40lb seated chest press (shameful!) 60lb seated row, 66lb calf raises, 120lb leg extensions (among other exercises).

This is really good weight for a beginner. Seriously. Nice start.

Dropsets are pretty popular, but it seems like it has a lot of critics who think they are over-exaggerated. I experimented with dropsets several times, when I was focused on hypertrophy. But the only exercise I still use them on now are dumbbell shrugs.

There's no harm in trying them out, especially if hypertrophy is a goal. Just take it easy the first few times. Instead of dropping the weight by 1/3 (or 1/4), maybe drop it to a 1/2 for the immediate subsequent set. And then drop it in 1/2 again for the third and final set to failure. Progress gradually like you would with single sets so that you don't compromise the rest of your workout. Keeping track of weight levels with an app or journal is pretty important, I think, for utilizing drop sets.

Keep up the great effort!

phatguerilla

Drop sets are great for 'da pump' but beginners are probably better served by concentrating on full range of motion and small but progressive improvements in the weight moved each week, or the reps used on the top weight.