Drop Sets - How much to drop by?

I was wondering how much is it best to drop the weight by each time? Just by one "block"?? Which is 5kg? Or should there be bigger drops each time??

Also when doing drop sets how do i know which weight to start with, do i start with one that i can only do a few reps of, such as four reps? and then work down to a lower weight each time i can no longer do any more?

Also is this more effective for increasing muscle size than doing the same weight for three sets?
 
Dude, stay away from drop sets until you are an "advanced" trainer. I know the magazines and media are full of the these kinds of hypes, but it is really the curse for the natural lifter.... b/c you will most surely lead to overtraining.

Stick with the compound big lifts and focus on your diet. If you are trying to get bigger, make sure those calories are in a surplus!
 
Cheers for the advice mate, This will sound really silly but could you give a brief description of a "compound big lift"
 
The Deadlift is probably the number one compound movement. Also a bench press that works arms, shoulders and chest muscles along with stabilizer muscles. Pull ups are also a good compound movement that can be done without any special equipment, just find a stong tree limb about the right height. Remember to change hand position often.
 
Greenetuckian said:
The Deadlift is probably the number one compound movement. Also a bench press that works arms, shoulders and chest muscles along with stabilizer muscles. Pull ups are also a good compound movement that can be done without any special equipment, just find a stong tree limb about the right height. Remember to change hand position often.

At the minute i use the stairmaster pull up machine, the one where you adjust the weights to increase or decrease the difficulty, i currenty do:

10 Dips
10 Wide grip Pulls
10 Dips
10 Military Pulls
10 Dips
10 Parallel Pulls

I do these on a weight setting that i really really stugle to make the full ten each side. I do this with a short rest before each of the sets of dips so:

10 Dips
10 Wide grip Pulls
**Short rest**

And so on.
 
So are free weights a lot more useful than machine weights, i'm assuming compund lifts can only be done effectively with free weight workouts? Should i stay away from machines completely? Or do they have a place within an effective full body workout?
 
Yes the majority of your workout should be based on free weights and compound exercises. A compound exercise is simply a movement that requires more than one muscle to complete the lift. Machines have their place and can add variety, but they should not be the dominant stimulus in your training.
 
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