Dropset that makes you stronger
Smart lifters work so damn hard to build on their big lifts; from their warm-up to cope with the progressive load, all this is not accidental. When they fall under the barbell, their muscles and nervous system are mechanically and neurologically tuned to perform.
But what will happen after this heavy top set? In my personal research of peak strength and so-called potentiation methods after activation (PAP), I found that the sweet spot for PAP is 3-7 minutes until the central nervous system (CNS) drops to the previous basic levels of excitement.
You can do a lot in 3-7 minutes, but, as you know, anyone who has had a nerve workout experience, when the CNS peak is high, it also sets you up for one hell of a valley. And for many lifters, this valley has hit hard at a time when they need to destroy their secondary strength and support work.
If you feel that everything you do after a big lift is a big step down, then you should consider using the last bit, if your power window is new – with the fall of the neural drive.
See how I perform this protocol after some serious work with a small number of repetitions on the floor press with athlete Bodybuilding.com and athlete-NPC-man Riben Brooks. And to see more of these techniques that hit the muscles, but do not spare the joints, check out Unstoppable: the ultimate training guide for injuries through Bodybuilding.com. Full access.
Neural Drive Dropset
The idea of this protocol is to extend the excitable duration of the central nervous system and transfer this neurologically charged state to the rest of the workout. Here is how it works.
- Make the final set of work, then rest, as if you were doing another set. Do not rush.
- Perform 2-4 singles in a dropset mode. Start with a working weight gain, do it once and transfer the weight. Remove 20-30 percent of the weight, rest for about 10 seconds and perform another single. Spotter can be very helpful here.
- Raise as much as possible explosively at each repetition, maximizing the speed of the bar.
After the fallout of the neural drive is completed, clear the remaining weights from the rod and rest for 2-3 minutes before proceeding directly to work on accessories during the day. This dropset should feel that it stimulates you, not destroys.
Exact points
It seems pretty simple, right? Wash your weights while at the same time refueling your system to continue. But you better believe that this can be done wrong. Here are the details to keep in mind.
Do not rush
After the last top working set on your main boom lifts, take your usual rest period – 3-5 minutes, for example – and then do a dropset protocol. You want to be able to really give strength to these singles, so give yourself time to get over it before you do it! In this respect, it is different from the bodybuilding style dropset.
Keep it explosive
Your dropset will have 2-4 explosive singles. Single repetitions will be performed in a rest pause style, with approximately 10 seconds per repetition. This will allow you to unload weights if you train alone, or it is safe to rearrange and spin the bar when using this technique on any type of squat and bench press. This short cluster in the rest pause style also allows the CNS to recharge and even mix between repetitions.
Stand, then the strip
I do not recommend you do an Instagram trick when someone lifts weight while you are holding the barbell. Remove the load while the boom is secured in the rack for safety and improved performance. Stabilizing an uneven barbell against the tension of a person removing the plates is a recipe for a catastrophe for orthopedic injury, especially after peak rises the day before the fall of the nervous system.
In addition, in terms of performance, the goal of inflaming the CNS requires you to minimize the stretching time during a fall, while not tiring the key movement stabilizers more than they already are. Keep it simple: move the bar between each drop.
Use natural weight jumping
You should remove about 20-30 percent of the total weight of the bar in each drop. For stronger lifters that use several 45-pound plates on one side for large movements, this basically results in removing the plate from each side per drop.
For lower weight athletes you can play with, you can standardize droplets using a few 10-pound or 25-pound plates per side when you increase to your top weight during the day.
Do not worry about exact interest.
Although the percentage of bar weight that fell between sets should ideally be around 20-30 percent, I understand that this is the real world, and the likelihood that even the most anal of athletes will accurately calculate their drops when the bar cleaning is small. So yes, approximating the drops and tearing one or two plates at a time, regardless of the actual weight of the bar, is also good. You can also remove the shape of the fixture, such as chain or strip, from the bar, and then continue to remove the weight of the bar.
As long as the plank becomes easier to install, and there are no monumental drops that could hit the central nervous system and mechanical systems (not in a good way), the method will still work.
Use partner if you can
Ideally, I recommend doing a neural drive droplet with a lift partner or two. This allows the athlete to remain mentally involved in the workout, while at the same time having the opportunity to fully use the rest pause period to recalibrate the technique and effort. Both must be at the highest level in order to optimally potentiate the nervous system.
But again, if you are a lonely simulator, do not rush to remove the scales. Prioritize the quality of the explosive movement, rather than poorly executed repetitions. An additional 10-15 seconds will not cancel the benefits.
No more than four drops
Before embarking on this method with the “the more the better” mentality, I warn you that you should not exceed 4 full repetitions in a set of neural disks. The key point of execution must be placed in the quality, speed, and production of the power of each repetition, performed as clean as possible.
In other words, there is no grinding! Keep it in one repetition and resist the desire to make long drops, when fatigue and mechanical failure are inevitable. Keep it clean and fast and you will see the difference.
If you can stay within these parameters, you will see that any other ascent that you make during a session benefits from it.