Drop sets explained: what 6x60x50x40 means

If you have ever read someone else’s training notes, you may have seen a line like 6x60x50x40 and wondered whether it was a typo. It is not. It is a drop set, written the way many lifters write it on paper or in a notes app, and it packs three sets’ worth of work into one line.

This post covers what the line means, what drop sets do and do not do according to the research, and how to fit them into a normal week.

Reading the line

The shorthand is always reps first, then weights:

• 6x60 is 6 reps at 60 kg.
• Each extra x and number is a drop: the next weight, straight after, with no real rest.
• So 6x60x50x40 is 6 reps at 60 kg, then down to 50 kg, then down to 40 kg.

When the reps change on each drop, write each part in full and join them with an arrow: 6x60->8x50->10x40 is 6 at 60, then 8 at 50, then 10 at 40. That is what usually happens in practice, since a lighter weight after a hard set tends to allow a few more reps.

Add up the work and you see why a drop set feels like more than one set. At 6 reps on every drop, 6x60x50x40 is 360 + 300 + 240 = 900 kg of volume. A single 6x60 is 360 kg.

What a drop set is, precisely

In the research, a drop set means taking a set to muscle failure (or close to it) at one load, then reducing the load and immediately continuing, usually to failure again. A 2023 systematic review uses exactly that definition.

Two parts of it matter in the gym:

1. Immediately. The point is that the muscle does not recover between drops. Walking to another rack and waiting for it to free up turns a drop set into three short sets.
2. Close to failure. A drop from an easy set is just a lighter set. The drop exists because the first weight has run out.

What the research says

Two reviews are worth knowing.

The 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis by Sødal and colleagues found six studies with 142 participants in total. Both drop set groups and traditional set groups gained muscle, with no significant difference between them. The authors also noted that some of the drop set protocols took half to one third of the time of the traditional training.

A 2026 meta-analysis by Havers and colleagues pooled 12 studies with 274 participants and looked at both long-term results and how sessions felt. Over the long term, it found no significant differences between drop sets and traditional sets for muscle growth, strength or muscular endurance. In the session itself, drop sets came with higher ratings of perceived exertion and higher blood lactate. The authors suggest keeping those higher demands, and the recovery they may need, in mind when planning.

Put plainly: drop sets are not a secret growth trick. They are a way to get similar results in less time, and they feel harder while you do them.

How far to drop

Both drops in the example are 10 kg:

• 60 to 50 kg is about 17 percent lighter.
• 50 to 40 kg is 20 percent lighter.

That is a common, practical size: big enough that you get several more reps, small enough that the set still counts as hard work. There is no single correct percentage in the research, so choose drops the equipment makes easy. On a pin-loaded machine, that is two or three plates on the stack. With dumbbells, it is the next pair down or two pairs down.

Two or three drops is where most people stop. Past that, the weights get light enough that each drop adds little.

Where drop sets fit

Because they are fast and hard, drop sets suit a few situations:

• Short on time. Replacing three sets of an isolation exercise with one drop set can save several minutes, which is what the time comparison in the 2023 review is about.
• The last set of an exercise. Do your normal sets, then turn the final one into a drop set.
• Machines, cables and dumbbells. Changing a pin or picking up lighter dumbbells takes seconds. Stripping plates off a loaded barbell on your own takes longer, and a heavy barbell lift is a poor place to be that tired.

And a few where they fit badly:

• Every set, every session. Given the higher perceived effort in the 2026 review, a week full of drop sets is a week that is hard to recover from.
• Anything that hurts. Pushing close to failure on an exercise that causes pain is a reason to stop and ask a doctor or physiotherapist, not to add a drop.

How it shows up in your log

A drop set should be one line in your log, not three separate sets. Written as 6x60x50x40, the set keeps its identity: you can see next week that the drop set at 60 kg started with 6 reps, and try for 7.

Progressing a drop set works like any other set. Add a rep to the first part, or start the chain 2.5 kg heavier, and keep the drops the same size. If the first weight goes up and the reps on the drops fall away, the drops were probably too small.

Questions

Log a drop set in one line

In Liftorra you type 6x60x50x40 on the keypad and it is logged as one drop set; when you type a single set like that, each drop gets the same reps as the first part. Use 6x60->8x50->10x40 when the reps differ. The set shorthand covers every format, and the app is free with no ads: open Liftorra.

Sources

• Sødal LK, Kristiansen E, Larsen S, van den Tillaar R. Effects of drop sets on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sports Medicine Open, 2023.
• Havers T, Micke F, Geisler S, Held S. Acute and chronic effects of drop-set training: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Sports Medicine Open, 2026.

How this post was made. Every claim links to its source. Drafts may be written with AI help; each one is checked against the linked studies and reviewed by the person who runs Liftorra before it is published. Spotted a mistake? Write to hello@liftorra.com.