Sometimes your muscles need a little nudge, especially if they’re stubborn and are refusing to shape up. Shoulders are notorious hard-gainers, but this drop-set program could be the key to getting them to move in the right direction.

A drop set is an extended set in which you do more repetitions by lowering the weight several times during the course of the set in order to maintain tension on the muscle and encourage growth. For example, if you were doing a dumbbell lateral raise, you might start with 12 pounds in each hand. You’d do as many reps as you could with that 12-pound weight, then you’d put them down and pick up a lighter set, say 10 pounds, and again do as many reps as you could. Once you failed with the 10’s then you’d move down once more to the 8’s, and once you achieved failure with the 8’s that set would be over.