In this article we are going to discuss shock sets. What are shock sets, and how are they beneficial to an exercise program? Let's take a look.

As we all know, the body is very adaptive. The body always wants to know what’s coming, and to maintain its state of normalcy, or homeostasis. This is why many times gym-goers will experience a plateau. The body is fighting hard to adapt to what you are doing, so in order to make a change or an adaptation, you need to shock the body into changing. This is where shock sets come in.

One of my favorite shock sets are called drop sets. For instance, let's say that you can bench press a hundred pounds on the machine bench press. After you do a hundred pounds and you can't go anymore, drop it down to 90 pounds and keep on going. Then drop it to 80 lb and keep on going. And so on and so forth. This is called a drop set and is a very good example of a shock set.

Another example of a shock set is what we call a superset. In a superset rather than doing the set and then taking a break, you are going to do two sets in a row without taking a break, or three sets in a row without taking a break and so on and so forth. By not giving your body a rest you’re continually breaking down those muscle fibers.


There are so many different shock sets and different methods you can utilize to break through a plateau. Maybe I will go into more in future entries. Just remember, the body is very adaptive and wants to maintain that state of normalcy. If you are experiencing a plateau, you need to go back to the drawing board and find a way to shock the body into changing. Hopefully this article will help you, give you some ideas to break through that plateau.