Triple Drop Set Training for Bodybuilding - Is It Effective

We are constantly searching for ways to improve. As bodybuilders, improvement is usually equated with gaining more lean muscle tissue. There are the lucky few who have already acquired as much size as they could ever want or need, and instead now focus on refining what they have. That doesn't describe me, and I bet it doesn't describe you either. We want to be bigger, and are determined to do what it takes to make our physique dreams come true. We train hard and heavy, but after a certain point muscle growth slows down to a crawl despite our most heroic efforts. When we hit a plateau like this orthodox training methods aren't enough. Your muscles have grown accustomed to what they have been doing and it's time to subject them to something they aren't used to - a shock tactic if you will. One of the most intense and effective shock tactics you can throw at your muscles is the technique known as triple-drop sets.

Triple-drop sets are not new. In fact, editor Johnny Fitness was doing them as a teenager in England. What's important is that they may be new to you, or more specifically, new to your muscles. Therein lies the reason they can quite possibly be exactly what you need to take your muscular development to the next level, and fast.

Why are triple-drop sets so effective?

It's arm day and you are pushing a set of barbell curls to the max. With 120 pounds on the bar, you grind out 7, 8, 9, and with your last ounce of gritted-teeth effort, 10 reps. You try for a final rep, but the cursed bar won't budge. Does this mean your biceps have nothing left in them, that they are utterly spent until you rest for a minute or two? No way! All it means is that at that instant, your biceps are incapable of curling 120 pounds. But what if you immediately picked up a 90-pound barbell and continued? You could probably get at least 6 or 8 good reps with that poundage before you once again hit failure. At that point, there wouldn't be much strength left in your biceps, but there is still some. You now pick up a 60-pound barbell, just half the weight you started with a minute or so before.

Normally it would be a warm up and feel light as a feather, but not now. Now it takes all your concentration and effort to get that bar moving for a few more reps. The pain in your biceps from the buildup of lactic acid is excruciating. Your brain does its best to convince you enough is enough. "Stop! You don't need to do any more," the desperate, screeching voice inside your head tells you, but you ignore it and somehow manage to get 6 reps before the bar slides out of your grasp and crashes to the floor with a clang of iron. Your biceps are pumped up like bal- loons - they feel heavy hanging off your arms. You can't straighten out your arms for a couple of minutes. The next day, your biceps are sorer than they have been in months, maybe even years. As long as you rest and eat plenty of good food, that demanding triple-drop set will cause them to grow again, maybe for the first time in months or years. Welcome to the agonizing world of the triple-drop set, where the fleeting pain is rewarded with permanent muscle gain.

How often should you use triple-drop sets?

Triple drops are among the most demanding intensity-boosting techniques you can employ in the gym. Simply put, they take a lot out of you. Both the muscles you are training and your central nervous system are asked to work at a much higher capacity than normal, and it will take longer to recover from workouts featuring triple drops. For these reasons, it is not wise to use triple-drop sets for each bodypart every time you train. Be judiciously selective about how and when you apply triple drops. For instance, if your chest is fantastic but your arms need improvement, it would make a lot more sense to use triple-drop sets in your arm training rather than when working your pecs. "Right," you say, "but what if my whole body needs more muscle mass in general?" In that case, there are several options. You could rotate the muscle groups you utilize triple drops for from week to week. This week you work quads with them, next week hams, the week afterward shoulders, and so on.

You could use triple-drop sets only for a specific lagging bodypart for anywhere from two to six weeks at a time to really hammer it into new growth. Or you could use triple drops on each and every bodypart for a week - but only if this is the week before a scheduled layoff, such as a vacation where you will have plenty of time to rest while your muscles rebuild and regenerate. But like any good technique, use it wisely and don't go overboard. One of the smartest phrases ever uttered, and one that all bodybuilders should take to heart, came from eight-time Mr. Olympia Lee Haney. He said, "Stimulate, don't annihilate."

Following is a run-through of all the major muscle groups and how we can apply triple-drop sets for each.

CHEST

You can use triple drops on both types of chest exercises, five movements and pressing movements. You will find that machines are a bit easier for the presses, both in terms of ease of changing weights, and because we all tend to lose the ability to balance barbells and dumbbells as we grow more fatigued. Fly machines and cable cross-overs are a snap to change weights on, as all you need to do is move the pin down the stack. With barbells, you need to arrange the plates in the order you will remove them.

With dumbbells, all three pairs need to be within easy reach. A spotter is highly recommended if you are doing triple drops with any type of barbell press for the chest, as the probability of getting stuck with the weight on your chest is much higher due to the increased intensity.

BACK

The back also lends itself readily to triple-drop sets. You can do triple drops with a barbell, dumbbells, cables, or machine rows, as well as pullovers and lat pulldowns. The only back exercise you probably don't want to use triple drops on is chin ups. Very few bodybuilders are strong enough to start with a certain amount of weight hanging from a belt, reduce that weight for a second set, and continue on repping with bodyweight.

If you happen to be one of those rare individuals, go for it; otherwise, the lat pulldown machine is your best bet. For the traps, barbell or dumbbell shrugs with a triple drop will get them pumped and sore.

SHOULDERS

All forms of lateral raises are perfectly suited for triple-drop sets: side laterals, front laterals and rear laterals. Dumbbells, cables, or machines can all be used. Upright rows with a barbell or dumbbells are also valuable. For overhead presses a Smith machine, Hammer Strength machine, or any type of shoulder press machine with a weight stack is more convenient to use than a barbell or dumbbells. Dumbbells in particular become very difficult to balance by the middle of the second consecutive set, and you don't want to end the set simply because you can't keep them balanced.

BICEPS

Any kind of curl for the biceps can be given the triple drop treatment. When you employ the triple drop technique, be sure that your form retains some semblance of what it should be. Resist the urge to cheat excessively. If you find yourself cheating it's probably because you didn't reduce the weight enough. Keep a training journal so you don't have to guess - simply refer to the sets and reps you did last time in your triple drops and strive to better them by just a little bit in this workout.

TRICEPS

All extension movements are suited to triple drops: skull crushers, overhead dumbbell extensions, kickbacks, and cable pushdowns. Cables are the fastest and easiest tools to use triple drops on, whereas skull crushers will probably present the most difficulty. You can also use triple drops on your compound movements such as close-grip bench presses and weighted dips, though as with the chins, a high level of strength on dips would be necessary. Otherwise a dip machine will suffice.

QUADS

Triple drops are a very painful yet effective way to do leg extensions, leg presses, squats and hack squats. Barbell squats are definitely the toughest of all of exercises, as it takes a great deal of balance and coordination to do the movement right, especially as you grow tired and the pain becomes severe.

HAMS

All leg curls are good choices for triple-drop sets, particularly since most use weight stacks as their resistance. Stiff-leg deadlifts are a little more complicated, but you can either use a barbell with smaller plates loaded or three pairs of dumbbells.

CALVES

Perhaps no muscle group will benefit as much from triple-drop sets as the calves. The reason is that they often respond very well to high reps. If you do a triple-drop set of standing calf raises for 15,12 and 10 reps, you can bet your calves will be screaming for mercy and be primed for growth. Donkey calf raises, toe presses on the leg press machine, and seated calf raises are all prime candidates for triple drops. Be sure to take the time to stretch your calves thoroughly afterward for maximum results.

Six tips to get the most out of triple drops

Rest between drops must be close to zero. The point of triple-drop sets is to trick your muscles into digging deeper into their very last bit of strength. To achieve this, you must move from weight to weight as quickly as possible. Even a few seconds' rest affords the muscle time to recover some of its strength. Don't give your muscles that chance. As soon as you fail with the first weight, move right to the next. Think of triple drops as l long, brutal set, rather than 3 distinct sets done in rapid succession.

Machines are easiest. The fastest and most convenient way to train with triple-drop sets is by using machines that feature selectorized stacks. All you need to do to cut the weight is remove the pin from one hole and slide it into another. It takes just one second, and you never have to move from one spot. Since we stressed the importance of minimizing rest time, this makes machines with weight stacks the ideal choice. Of course, a mix of free weights and machines always delivers better results than machines alone, so you still want to keep barbells and dumbbells in your program.

Arrange plates on barbells for what you need. Barbells can be used for triple drops, though a training partner or preferably two would be very helpful to reduce the weights as expeditiously as possible. But even when training solo, as long as you have the plates arranged in the correct order for your sets before you begin, it shouldn't take more than a couple of seconds to reduce the weight. If you are doing barbell rows and your sets will be with 315, 225, and 135 pounds, it's easy because you simply take a 45 off each side for both drops. Normally you would want to use collars to secure the plates and keep them from tipping to one side, but with triple drops they will slow you down too much. Do your best to keep the bar balanced so the plates don't slide.

Gather your dumbbells. To do triple-drop sets with dumbbells, you need to proceed quickly from one pair to the next, and rapidly to the third and final pair. What you definitely don't want to happen is to be working with a pair of 50s, and when you fail with those and look for the 40s, some wanker has appropriated them and you are now forced to wait. There goes your triple-drop set out the window. To prevent this supremely frustrating incident from happening to you, gather up all three pairs of dumbbells you will use and place them all in close proximity to where you are doing the exercise. You may get dirty looks from gym members who want to use one or more of those pairs, but assure them you will be done with all of them shortly. If you are going to be using a lot of dumbbells for your triple-drop sets, it's a good idea to train at non peak gym hours if at all possible. Monopolizing three pairs of dumbbells during evening rush hour would quickly make you one of the most unpopular guys at the gym.

Train with a partner. A training partner comes in handy with triple-drop training, for two reasons. First, there's one more person to help you get the weight off the bar or machine quickly. This becomes more helpful when the weights are heavier, such as with a leg press. For you to get up and take two 45 s off each side, by yourself, before sitting back down to continue the set would seriously negate the benefits of triple-drop training. Second, a training partner will motivate you to do a forced rep or two when the pain is practically blinding you. On your own, you may give up when things get really rough, but not with a training partner standing over you - particularly one you share a rivalry with!

Take each set to failure. It should go without saying, but for triple-drop sets to be truly effective, each of the 3 sets must be taken to total failure. You should never have a rep or 2 left in you with one weight before moving on to the next. By exhausting the target muscle utterly on each of the drop sets, you will guarantee that you have gone as deep into the muscle's inroad as humanly possible. Knowing you have done all you can to spur muscle growth lets you leave the gym with a real feeling of accomplishment.

Summing up. Now that you have a good understanding of how and why to include triple-drop sets in your weight-training program, what are you waiting for? Put these ideas to use right away and start watching your muscles expand.