The Study
Rest-pause and drop-set training elicit similar strength and hypertrophy adaptations compared to traditional sets in resistance-trained males.
This study tried to see if two new ways of lifting weights (rest-pause and drop-set) made people stronger or bigger than the usual way — and because they randomly assigned people to groups, we can say one might be better than another. But we can’t be super sure because we don’t know if the people measuring results knew who was in which group.
Analysis score
Maximum 90 for a randomized controlled trial.
Where the score came from
Three groups of guys lifted weights in different ways for 8 weeks, but all did the same total amount of work. One way (rest-pause) made them stronger in the squat than the usual way, but not the other new way. None of the methods made them bigger than the others, except in the upper and middle parts of their thighs.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 554 / 100
Quality score
Participants are randomly assigned to treatment or control groups, minimizing bias. The gold standard for testing whether an intervention causes an effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes — rest-pause may give a small strength edge without extra volume, but no method beats others for muscle growth when volume is equal.
- 2Rest-pause: + stronger squat than traditional.
- 3Drop-set: same strength as traditional.
- 4All groups: same muscle growth in upper/middle thigh.
- 5No growth in lower thigh.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme
Year
2021
Authors
Alysson Enes, R. C. Alves, B. Schoenfeld, Gustavo Oneda, S. Perin, T. B. Trindade, J. Prestes, Tácito P. Souza-Junior
Related Content
Claims (10)
The increased number of hard repetitions (within 2–3 reps of failure) in drop set protocols compensates for the absence of inter-set rest, resulting in equivalent hypertrophic outcomes compared to traditional training with longer rest intervals.
Doing short bursts of heavy lifts with brief rests in between can make you stronger in squats a little more than doing regular sets, if you're already trained and doing the same total amount of work.
This claim says that taking short breaks during sets or dropping weight between sets are useful training tricks for certain situations.
Even though exact numbers aren’t given, the researchers noticed that rest-pause training seemed to help people get a bit stronger than regular training, just not by a lot.
If you do your workouts with either drop sets, rest-pause, or regular sets — but do the same total amount of work — your muscles grow about the same size in your thighs.
The lower part of your thigh doesn't get noticeably thicker no matter which kind of weight training you do, if you're already trained and train for 8 weeks.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.