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What's a depletion workout and how can it help me?

Depletion workout (drop-set training) involves consecutively reducing the amount of weights used, so that one can continue to complete more reps for a particular exercise. For example, after doing 12 reps of dumbbell curls with a pair of 18.1kg weights, put them down and pick up a pair 15.9kg dumbbells. With those, do as many reps as you can.

After that, put them down and, again, perform as many reps as you possibly can with a pair of 11.3kg dumbbells. You may continue as many times as you like, but the common number is two to three drop sets per exercise. Another way is to use drop set training at the last set of every exercise. Depletion workout allows you to push your muscles beyond their limits. This leads to an elevated response of growth hormones, such as IGF-1. To avoid over training any muscle group, do not use this form of training for more than four weeks. The trick is to keep the rest in between the drops to a minimum, and allow the muscles to rest for four days before training them again.