Increasing
Drop Set Intensity
There are several good techniques you can use to increase
the intensity and effectiveness when you are doing drop sets
on selectorized machines.
- Use
multiple pins - Set one at your heaviest weight,
one at your next drop, one at your next drop, etc. Just
pull the bottom one out when you are done that part of
the drop. This decreases the turnover time between drops,
increasing the intensity of the exercise as you don't
have to take the time to put the pin back in.
- Pin-pulling
spotter - An even better way is to get someone
else to pull each pin for you so you can keep tension
on the muscle the whole time. Just graze the plates at
the bottom for the split second it takes to whip out the
pin. You may even want to try not grazing but actually
holding it slightly above the next plate and letting the
plates drop from there (make sure it is only a fraction
of an inch - don't break anything to do this).
- Leaning,
pin-pulling spotter - An alternative is to
have the spotter lean down on the weight stack while they
pull or reset the pin so you can keep pushing against
it (at the bottom of the movement - push just enough to
maintain tension in the muscle, not enough to throw them
off).
- Leapfrogging
- If you only have two pins, try leapfrogging them
(this only works with someone doing it for you). Your
spotter will take the pin that they just pulled out and
insert it higher up while you are still doing your set
(preferably wait until the peak of the movement when the
weight is stopped for a second or two and being very careful
of fingers the entire time). This trick allows use of
the multiple-pin technique without using all the pins
in the gym.
"I
found this book to be one of the more interesting books
on training that I've seen in a long time. You have
an excellent product. Variety is essential to maintaining
interest in training, and your book should keep a lot of guys
busy trying out new ideas." - Nelson Montana - Bodybuilding
journalist and author of "The Bodybuilding Truth"
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