Wassup guys!
How many reps should i do? What weight shall i put it at? Should i go to failure?
These are questions that get asked so much when it comes to building muscle so i thought i would cover what i do.
Drop sets:
In my experience i have found that going to failure increases my gains so much faster than not, and when i started to do drop sets i really started to see big muscle gains and strength along with it.
I start off with the highest weight i can do for at least a few reps, going to failure. Then i reduce the weight and immediately do another set until failure. I drop the weight again and push out as many reps as i can until my muscles can hardly move.
Guaranteed by this point your muscles will burn like fuck and you'll probably make some grunting noises on the last few reps ;)
For instance, for decline bench press you could start on 90kg for 3 reps. Then 70kg until failure. Then 50kg until failure and then push out as many reps as you can with just the bar.
I just did this type of training because i found it made the most gains for me, however there is some science to it that has recently been confirmed by new research on occlusion training.
How occlusion training is linked to drop sets
Occlusion training involves cutting off the blood supply to the muscle and training until absolute failure with a low weight. This does a few things:
1. Increases recruitment of Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers.[1]
2. Accumulates Metabolites (lactic acid > acidic environment > GH secretion) [1]
3. Stimulates mTOR pathway activation (protein synthesis) [1]
With drop sets not only are you lifting heavy weights at the beginning that will increase your strength, by continuing to lift straight after with lower weight you are naturally accumulating metabolites, increasing fast twitch fibers and simulating the mTOR pathway at the same time.
This is why you get such a 'pump' and your muscles burn so much after doing a drop set like i described earlier.
I like to drop set with pretty much every exercise, be it for abs, lats, chest or anything. Drop setting bicep curls is insane!
This style of training has helped so much in my development and is definitely something that has helped me gain a lot of muscle as well as strength.
And that's what i do!
Much love,
Charlie
References:
1. http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/ABCocclusionpaper.pdf
How many reps should i do? What weight shall i put it at? Should i go to failure?
These are questions that get asked so much when it comes to building muscle so i thought i would cover what i do.
Drop sets:
In my experience i have found that going to failure increases my gains so much faster than not, and when i started to do drop sets i really started to see big muscle gains and strength along with it.
I start off with the highest weight i can do for at least a few reps, going to failure. Then i reduce the weight and immediately do another set until failure. I drop the weight again and push out as many reps as i can until my muscles can hardly move.
Guaranteed by this point your muscles will burn like fuck and you'll probably make some grunting noises on the last few reps ;)
For instance, for decline bench press you could start on 90kg for 3 reps. Then 70kg until failure. Then 50kg until failure and then push out as many reps as you can with just the bar.
I just did this type of training because i found it made the most gains for me, however there is some science to it that has recently been confirmed by new research on occlusion training.
How occlusion training is linked to drop sets
Occlusion training involves cutting off the blood supply to the muscle and training until absolute failure with a low weight. This does a few things:
1. Increases recruitment of Fast Twitch Muscle Fibers.[1]
2. Accumulates Metabolites (lactic acid > acidic environment > GH secretion) [1]
3. Stimulates mTOR pathway activation (protein synthesis) [1]
With drop sets not only are you lifting heavy weights at the beginning that will increase your strength, by continuing to lift straight after with lower weight you are naturally accumulating metabolites, increasing fast twitch fibers and simulating the mTOR pathway at the same time.
This is why you get such a 'pump' and your muscles burn so much after doing a drop set like i described earlier.
I like to drop set with pretty much every exercise, be it for abs, lats, chest or anything. Drop setting bicep curls is insane!
This style of training has helped so much in my development and is definitely something that has helped me gain a lot of muscle as well as strength.
And that's what i do!
Much love,
Charlie
References:
1. http://www.abcbodybuilding.com/ABCocclusionpaper.pdf