How to Use Drop Sets for More Muscle Gains

This is your Quick Training Tip, a chance to learn how to work smarter in just a few moments so you can get right to your workout.

No one goes to the gym in hope of achieving average results—but that’s exactly what will happen if you only do “straight sets.”

You know the drill: Do one set of an exercise, rest, and repeat. It’s the formula nearly every guy follows when they're just starting out in the weight room, and it’s quite literally “lifting to failure.” If you’re trying to maximize muscle growth, focusing exclusively on straight sets will always cause you to come up short.

Straight sets are only so effective because they target only one type of muscle fiber. If you do the typical 6 to 10 reps per set, you’re targeting your larger, more powerful type II muscle fibers. If you do 12 or more reps per set, you’re focusing on your more endurance-oriented type I fibers, which are smaller than type IIs, but which can still grow and add to overall ABS Muscle size. What you’re not doing with straight sets is targeting both.

That’s where drop sets come in. Also known as descending sets, strip sets, or simply “running the rack,” drop sets are a technique in which you perform multiple sets of an exercise to technical failure with successively lighter loads and little to no rest. In so doing, you’ll not only fatigue both types of muscle fibers, but also increase your training volume and the target muscle’s time under tension and metabolic stress—all of which can crank up muscle growth.

THE TWO-PART PLAN TO GET RIPPED ABS IN 4 WEEKS

Look, getting abs ain’t rocket science, and it’s easier for most guys than getting big or putting pounds on their bench press. You have to eat right, and you have to lift weights. That’s it. Commit to being consistent with the following program—which outlines exactly how to go from “fat gut” to “lookin’ cut”—and you’ll have abs to celebrate before summer comes to a close.

STEP 1: FIX YOUR DIET

No amount of ab training Opens a New Window.  or cardio Opens a New Window.  or fat-burning Opens a New Window.  supplements will reveal your abs if you’re eating too much food or eating the wrong proportions of macro­nutrients. Start by multiplying your body weight in pounds by 12 to find the number of calories you should consume daily. You should take in 1 gram of protein per pound of your body weight, 1 gram of carbohydrates per pound, and 0.4 grams of fat per pound. Follow the guidelines in the Muscle & Fitness Food Pyramid Opens a New Window.  for the particulars on setting up a fat-loss diet, including which foods to eat.

It may be tempting to remove carbohydrates altogether, as much has been written about the effectiveness of low-carb diets. But cutting carbs too much and too soon can send your energy levels into the tank and can cost you the muscle you need to keep your metabolism burning bright.

STEP 2: TRAIN LIKE A BODYBUILDER

You’ve probably tried a CrossFit class Opens a New Window.  and have been led to believe that your workouts must be “functional.” And you may have no interest in ever competing in a bodybuilding contest. (It’s the skimpy underwear, isn’t it?) But put these hang-ups aside for the next month, and understand that snatches and box jumps won’t give you the beach-ready physique you crave. Moves like the bench press Opens a New Window.  and crunch Opens a New Window.  aren’t flashy, but they will build muscle and give you the shape and definition that make the body impressive—in and out of a shirt. Focus on the basic lifts, body part by body part, and avoid the temptation to break WOD PRs for a bit.

Concentrate on how you perform each rep, too. For maximum muscle gain, slow and steady wins the race. Using a full range of motion for 12 situp reps will produce deeper ab cuts than repping out 50 fast, sloppy ones. Take at least four seconds to perform each rep on your ab exercises. You’ll train abs directly three days per week, followed by interval cardio activity to burn excess fat.