More Work, Not Fancy Tricks, Builds Muscle
Crescent pyramid and drop-set systems do not promote greater strength gains, muscle hypertrophy, and changes on muscle architecture compared with traditional resistance training in well-trained men
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Drop-set training, despite being shorter in duration due to higher intensity per set, did not produce greater hypertrophy per unit of time.
Many believe drop sets are time-efficient super-tools—this study shows they don’t deliver more muscle per minute when volume is equalized.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re already trained, stick to simple, consistent routines—focus on hitting your weekly volume targets (e.g., 10–20 sets per muscle group) rather than chasing drop sets or pyramids.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Drop-set training, despite being shorter in duration due to higher intensity per set, did not produce greater hypertrophy per unit of time.
Many believe drop sets are time-efficient super-tools—this study shows they don’t deliver more muscle per minute when volume is equalized.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re already trained, stick to simple, consistent routines—focus on hitting your weekly volume targets (e.g., 10–20 sets per muscle group) rather than chasing drop sets or pyramids.
Publication
Journal
European Journal of Applied Physiology
Year
2017
Authors
Vitor Angleri, C. Ugrinowitsch, C. Libardi
Related Content
Claims (10)
When people who already train hard do different kinds of leg workouts—pyramid, failure sets, or regular sets—all of them get about the same boost in how much weight they can lift in a leg extension machine, around 17%.
Whether you lift weights using a pyramid, go to failure, or stick to a standard routine, if you do the same total amount of work, your leg strength improves by about the same amount—around 25%—after 12 weeks.
If you lift the same total weight no matter how you arrange your sets—pyramid, failure, or regular—you’ll get the same results. Fancy methods don’t make you stronger or bigger if you’re already trained.
The researchers made sure everyone did the exact same total amount of work—same number of reps, same weights—so any differences in results could only be because of how they did the workout, not how much they lifted.
By having each person train one leg one way and the other leg another way, the study made sure that differences in people’s bodies didn’t mess up the results—so we can be sure it’s the training method, not the person, that matters.