Muscle growth is activated through three primary mechanisms.
- Muscle Tension
- Metabolic Stress
- Muscle Damage
This intensification method uses all three mechanisms. A typical drop set is when you perform an exercise and then reduce the weight and continue for more reps until your reach failure.
A coach who has been a big influence on my training, Christian Thibaudeau, shared the Mechanical Drop set which I thought was genius and more effective than the normal drop set.
Instead of reducing the weight like you would during a drop set, Coach Thibaudeau said, “You make a small change to the execution of the movement to allow yourself to get more reps with the same weight.” That small change can be through a difference in foot stance, grip, and angle
As shown in the video above, I perform a Bicep Curl Mechanical Drop Set by executing a tall (with a slight lean back) curl, into a slight hinge forward, and ending with a bent over bicep curl. When doing the curl, you want to flex the muscle as hard as possible and slowly lower it down. By doing so and changing the angles, you ensure that you hit all three mechanisms for muscle growth, or hypertrophy.
