Drop sets made muscles puff up more and felt harder, but didn’t make the body produce more lactic acid or raise the heart rate more than regular sets.
Scientific Claim
Drop set resistance training is associated with greater acute muscle swelling and perceived exertion than conventional resistance training, but not with greater acute metabolic stress (blood lactate or heart rate) in young men.
Original Statement
“Acute pre/post measurements for one bout of RT showed significant changes in MT (18.3±5.8%, P<0.001) and MVC (-13.3±7.1, P<0.05) in the DS group only and a significant difference (P<0.01) in RPE was observed between groups (7.7±1.5 for DS and 5.3±1.4 for NS).”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
association
Can only show association/correlation
Assessment Explanation
The claim accurately synthesizes multiple acute findings without overreaching. It uses 'associated with' and correctly frames the mixed results.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Effects of drop set resistance training on acute stress indicators and long-term muscle hypertrophy and strength.
The study found that doing drop sets made muscles swell more and felt harder to do than regular sets, which matches part of the claim — but it didn’t check blood lactate or heart rate, so we don’t know if those were different.