Originally Posted by
carleton
Thanks!
Would you back down at a certain percentage? Like:
185 x8
80% of (185) x8
60% of (185) x8
40% of (185) x8
20% of (185) x8
or would it just be by feel?
I personally just did it by feel when doing drop sets. I'd basically back down by 10-20 pounds depending on the lift, because that enabled me to quickly strip a plate off the bar, then get back under it and do another set, because you basically do the shortest rest periods possible when training that way.
Originally Posted by
Quinn8it
A couple of things to remember about Arnold's programming:
Arnold was at his peak physically in the 70's and retired from competition in 1980..
Arnold was a beast- and undoubtedly strong... But he trained for and competed in Bodybuilding.. Not strength events..
I agree here. He was a really strong guy, but that wasn't his primary goal. There are more efficient ways of being strong, he wanted to be big.
Originally Posted by
carleton
So, Drop Sets are a hypertrophy program?
In the sense described above, the multiple drop sets are definitely geared towards hypertrophy. I wouldn't use it often, but it's fun to end a workout with some curls or pushdowns done in this manner.
A lot of strength programs do utilize some method of stepping back down after your heavy set. Madcow's/Bill Starr 5x5 had a lighter set of squats/bench done for 8 reps one day. When I run 5/3/1 I do a drop set where I go back to my first working set, and repeat it for max reps. And quite a few other programs do something like that.
For strength I think you're better off doing the second option.
If you squat say 365x3-5 for your top set of squats that day. Dropping to 315 and going for 8-10 reps isn't a bad idea. But 8 different drop sets going from 315 down to 185 with no rest wouldn't really have a huge strength benenfit IMO, you'll just hurt like hell for a week.
/longwinded post