What can an incorrectly drawn up training program lead to or how to achieve an evenly pumped up body. Learn about the principles of constructing drop sets using the Joe Weider method. Drop sets are designed primarily to eliminate the formation of weak muscle zones in the bodybuilder's musculature. A properly selected training program allows you to achieve high results in the shortest possible time due to the most effective distribution of loads.
Reasons for the appearance of weak points in the muscles of bodybuilders
In almost every tournament, there are bodybuilders with a powerful torso, but weak muscles on the legs or a beautiful back and weak chest. There may be several reasons for this phenomenon:
- The athlete made a mistake in drawing up his training program. He actively works on his favorite muscle groups, and transfers the training of all other muscles to the end of the session.
- When performing the final exercises, the athlete's psyche has already reached its limit and for this reason the athlete is no longer able to develop maximum effort. From this, some muscle groups begin to lag behind in their development.
- Incorrectly composed split. A certain muscle simply does not have time to recover and, therefore, growth stops. The bodybuilder believes that it's all about light work and begins to work even more actively on it. This step completely undermines all physiological potential and the muscle shrinks.
However, it should be noted that weak points can be found in the muscles of professional athletes, but such mistakes are not at all peculiar to them. What could be the reason? It's all about muscle genetics, which is very heterogeneous. Simply put, any person's muscles are not as resilient and strong as others. No athlete can say that all his muscles are equally well trained. Some of them, in any case, will lag behind in development. Perhaps some muscle has more connective tissue, as a result of which its contraction is difficult, or it consists of a slightly smaller number of white, power fibers. In addition, it should be remembered that the ability to contract each muscle depends on the place of attachment to the skeleton, due to which the required contraction may not be provided.
In everyday life, all the factors described above are not noticeable, but with serious training they "float" out. But there is a way out. Joe Weider developed the bodybuilding drop-set scheme. It is about her that the conversation will now go.
Bodybuilding Drop Set Scheme
Joe Weider, working with champions, was able to develop a unique training scheme. Nowadays, many famous athletes use drop sets in bodybuilding.
For example, you may not be able to make any progress in training the pectoral muscles, although the training program does not deviate from generally accepted recommendations. The training uses a standard mini-complex consisting of four exercises:
- Horizontal press, lying - 5 sets.
- Incline Dumbbell Press, Head Up - 5 sets.
- Breeding dumbbells on an incline bench with the head at the bottom - 5 sets.
- Dips on the uneven bars - 5 sets.
The complex can be safely called classic, but it has one significant drawback: the harder you work in the first exercise, the harder it is to achieve the same intensity in all subsequent ones. The reason for this should be clear to everyone - muscles get tired. Of course, not only the complex described above suffers from this. Anyone else will have the same problem.
If we talk about the described complex, then the maximum return from the training will be achieved only in the first exercise - the barbell press. Each subsequent exercise will bring less and less effect. As a result, when working on the uneven bars, the efficiency will most certainly not exceed 10 percent. This approach is completely unsuitable for training genetically lagging muscles. It is important to ensure that each exercise gives the maximum impact and this can be helped by drop sets in bodybuilding. To use the scheme developed by Joe Weider, you must make changes to the training program, leaving its essence unchanged. Simply put, it is necessary to perform all the same four exercises, but alternate them after completing each set:
- set of barbell press;
- set of press with dumbbells;
- dumbbell breeding set;
- set of push-ups on the uneven bars.
Then return to the barbell press again. Thus, a cycle is obtained, consisting of four exercises performed in one set. You should repeat it five times per workout.
As a result, the intensity of the training does not change, as does the total number of repetitions and sets. This is the essence of bodybuilding drop sets. Most often, athletes begin to work on the lagging muscles more intensely, which leads to a serious skew throughout the training. Of course, this cannot but affect the development of other muscle groups.
In turn, if you start using drop sets in bodybuilding, this will allow you to maintain the same number of sets and repetitions of exercises, but their effectiveness will increase significantly.
Recommendations for composing a drop set
There is nothing difficult in compiling a drop set, if you take into account some rules:
- It should include exercises that exclude duplicate effects. Thanks to this, the pumping of all muscles will be versatile, but it should be remembered that the exercises should alternate. The cycle thus obtained should be repeated 4 to 5 times.
- It should also be remembered that these are not super sets and the rest pause should not be minimal. In this case, this is no less important element of the entire training than, say, the exercises themselves. By changing the rest time between sets, you can redirect this method to off-season or pre-competition training, depending on the need.
- When you want to bring the muscles out of stagnation and increase their volume, then the rest pause should be no more than one minute. The fact that the working weight in the exercises should be large, probably everyone has already understood. As for the number of repetitions, then 5 to 6 repetitions will be enough.
- In preparation for the competition, the rest should be reduced to 20 seconds, also reducing the working weight and increasing the number of repetitions to 12-20.
The principle that drop sets use in bodybuilding proves once again the fact that a constant increase in the load during training is not a guarantee of their effectiveness. It can even be said that this only alienates the athlete from achieving the set task.
For information on what drop sets are and who is recommended to use them, see the video:
