\n<\/p>\n
“], “filter”: { “nextExceptions”: “img, blockquote, div”, “nextContainsExceptions”: “img, blockquote”} }”><\/p>\n
\n Get full access to Outside Learn, our online education hub featuring in-depth fitness and nutrition courses and more than 2,000 instructional videos when you
\n >”,”name”:”in-content-cta”,”type”:”link”}}”>sign up for Outside+.\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
If you\u2019re looking to shake up your workout routine, there are three techniques you should consider adding to your repertoire: drop sets, supersets and giant sets.<\/p>\n
These advanced techniques are used to boost the intensity of a workout, improve muscular endurance and shock your body to prevent a plateau. This kind of training also can enhance fat loss, and because they incorporate very little rest, you also get some cardiovascular benefits.<\/p>\n
In addition, these techniques all force more blood into your muscles, which helps deliver nutrients and amino acids to the tissues and accelerates the repair process. These techniques can be intense, so use them sparingly \u2014 overuse can lead to overtraining. We\u2019ll dive into each one and share their individual benefits, examples and training tips to keep in mind.<\/p>\n
A drop set is basically an extended set of a move, usually performed as the last set of that exercise as a burnout. For example, for a seated dumbbell\u00a0shoulder press, you\u2019d do two sets of 10 to 12 reps using a certain weight. For your third set, you\u2019d begin with the same weight and do as many reps as you can, then \u201cdrop\u201d or reduce the weight and go to failure, and then drop the weight once more and rep out until you can\u2019t lift the weight anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cDrop sets are effective for increasing volume of training while still maintaining good technique for the purpose of muscle growth and fat loss,\u201d says Alex Harrison, Ph.D., CSCS, a sports performance consultant for Renaissance Periodization, who has a Ph.D. in sports physiology and performance. \u201cFor example, there are certain exercises that are just better than others. Squats vs. leg extensions, for instance. It\u2019s probably better to just add drop sets of squats than to add leg extensions but not do all the squats you can handle. Same thing for bench press vs. bench flye.\u201d<\/p>\n
The short answer is yes \u2014 but you probably don\u2019t need to. If you\u2019re only training a few times a week with weights, then Harrison says you can do drop sets every time you train since maximizing volume of the important movements is critical in low-frequency training.<\/p>\n
However, if you lift most days of the week, you\u2019ll want to avoid drop sets on your lighter days. \u201cIt\u2019s better to focus on recovery and reserve loads of drop sets for more challenging training days,\u201d Harrison says. \u201cIf you\u2019re going to do drop sets on light days, they should probably be done as a replacement for a working set to reduce volume and training stimulus further rather than to add to the overall volume.\u201d<\/p>\n
You can do anywhere from one drop set to as many drop sets as you did working sets \u2014 it just depends on how much volume of training you\u2019re trying to push with that one exercise. \u201cFor a big compound movement of high value in training \u2014 such as squats, deadlifts, bench, lat pulls, or pull-ups \u2014 it might be worth doing more than one drop set, if you deem that lift to be a primary focus for the day,\u201d Harrison explains.<\/p>\n
If your goal is to maximize muscle growth and fat-loss stimulus, then decrease weight by 8 to 15 percent and continue to match reps from the previous heavier sets or even increase reps by a modest amount per set.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re a newer lifter and your goal is to increase muscular power or provide more opportunity for learning a newer movement at a less challenging weight, then Harrison advises a bigger decrease in weight from the working weight. \u201cDecreasing weight by 20 to 40 percent is great,\u201d he says. \u201cComplete the same number of reps but probably not more than what was being completed in the working sets at the higher weight.\u201d<\/p>\n
A superset\u00a0is a combination of two or three moves that either work the same bodypart or opposing muscle groups \u2014 the key is that the exercises are done back-to-back with no rest in between. Examples of typical supersets include a seated row with a push-up for back and chest and an overhead press with a seated lateral raise for shoulders. Between supersets, you rest only long enough to recover and catch your breath, then hit it again. This helps you save time, burn fat and spike your metabolism.<\/p>\n
Supersets serve two primary purposes. \u201cFirst, they\u2019re often used to drag a smaller muscle group into more fatigue and muscle damage under the assistance of a larger muscle group,\u201d Harrison says. \u201cIt\u2019s a great way to stimulate hypertrophy of muscles that reach failure quickly in isolation movements and to work them over a broad range of motion and varying angles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Second, they\u2019re great for anyone who is crunched for time, because while local fatigue is present in one muscle group, another muscle group (usually the opposing group, such as biceps and triceps) can get some work in. So think of supersets as a way to cut total rest time in the gym in half.<\/p>\n
On the flip side, if maximizing strength is your goal, longer rest periods and more recovery for local muscle groups may be the better approach.<\/p>\n
If you\u2019re looking to drag smaller muscle groups to fatigue, then Harrison says 10 to 15 is a great target for each exercise within a superset. \u201cIf you\u2019re doing it because you\u2019re short on time, this technique could be used for any set-times-rep scheme in the gym \u2014 from sets of three up to 15 reps per set,\u201d he says. \u201cGoing much higher than 15 per set might put too much of a load on cardiovascular demand for it to truly be timesaving overall.\u201d<\/p>\n
A good example of a superset is skullcrushers: Try 10 reps (or to roughly two to three reps from failure), and then without taking any break, transition into a close-grip bench press with the same weight until two to three reps from failure.<\/p>\n
A giant set is a circuit of three or more moves for one bodypart performed one after another with little to no rest in between. For example, you might do an overhead press, a lateral raise, a rear-delt raise and an upright row for shoulders \u2014 then rest a few minutes to catch your breath and repeat.<\/p>\n
Giant sets increase the intensity of a workout by overloading a muscle group and pushing it to its limit to burn fat and boost the cardiorespiratory response. That being said, Harrison doesn\u2019t think they\u2019re for everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiant sets are only minimally more effective than supersets,\u201d he explains, adding they are probably better reserved for the most demanding sessions for more advanced trainees who are seeking absolute maximization of hypertrophy stimulus. \u201cGiant sets offer the same benefits as supersets if done correctly, but there are more ways to get giant sets wrong and compromise the effectiveness of training \u2014 essentially, just turning training into cardio and circuit training rather than either more effective hypertrophy training or more time-efficient strength and hypertrophy training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrison doesn\u2019t recommend giant sets during any phase of strength training because they are really only good for hypertrophy training (since the loading intensity can\u2019t be high enough for the third exercise to provide any strength benefit to anyone but the most novice of exercisers). \u201cAnd novice exercisers don\u2019t need to be doing giant sets because they\u2019ll benefit from honing the techniques of movements under less fatigued states, and they respond beautifully to simpler, more conventional models of training,\u201d he argues.<\/p>\n
A giant set is typically three or more exercises in a sequence. \u201cBut I would recommend against doing more than three,\u201d he says. \u201cFirst because the timesaving benefit of doing so is limited \u2014 due to setup and tear-down inefficiency \u2014 but more importantly because it doesn\u2019t add much benefit to one\u2019s training, other than cardio fitness, to do more than three in a row.\u201d<\/p>\n
For example, for someone looking for glute growth, chest-elevated glute bridges, followed by barbell walking or reverse lunges, followed by conventional or stiff-legged deadlifts would hammer the glutes first with an isolation movement as a pre-fatigue exercise and then continue to use them with the assistance of quads, hamstrings and lower back, which would be less fatigued overall.<\/p>\n
Harrison says sets of 10-plus reps for each exercise would be ideal. \u201cCardio demand here is going to be big, so don\u2019t expect to do more than three of these giant sets in a single session,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n
We independently source all of the products that we feature on oxygenmag.com. If you buy from the links on our site, we may receive an affiliate commission, which in turn supports our work.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n