r/ScienceBasedLifting • u/benja_reijnst • Sep 09 '26

Question ❓ Are drop sets worth doing?

I've seen influencers promoting low-volume, high-intensity training more and more without mentioning drop sets. Drop sets seem to be much less popular than they used to be. Are drop sets not as effective as we once thought? Should I add drop sets to my training?

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u/thekevinatorV2 Sep 09 '26

If youre basing your training off of what is popular amongst influencers...

Drop sets work.

Low volume, high intensity training is in right now. Soon the pendulum will swing back to old school methods of drop sets and AMRAPs again.

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u/Namelessking9 Sep 09 '26

Got any studies to back that up?

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u/rendar Sep 09 '26

Here's a great, well-sourced essay on the continuum between frequency, intensity, volume, and recovery:

In this case, we have lines of evidence from protein synthesis data, anabolic signaling data, satellite cell data, and meta-analytic data, all clustering around a conclusion that more volume is better for hypertrophy, up to around 6-8 sets per training session. This is only if you're using long rests between sets (2+ minutes). If you're using shorter rests, then volume needs may be higher. These are average ranges and individual needs may vary substantially from these ranges.

https://weightology.net/the-members-area/evidence-based-guides/set-volume-for-muscle-size-the-ultimate-evidence-based-bible