Normally, the muscles targeted by supersets are agonist-antagonist pairs, or muscles that work in opposition to one another, such as the biceps and triceps. In simplest terms, it is when you’re doing two exercises that target opposing muscles groups. If you're looking to build muscle fast, then supersets can help you maximise your time in the gym. The most significant advantage of an unrelated superset is that there is no loss of strength in going from one exercise to the other. Supersets is the pairing of two exercises that are performed back-to-back with minimal to no rest in-between them. There is also an unrelated superset. ), do each for 8 to 12 reps and three times through, and you’ve got a solid resistance workout in about a half-hour. Supersets are one of the most popular techniques for a number of reasons. Supersets are the use of two successive exercises, targeting opposing body parts, performed in an alternating fashion. The agonist superset will target one zone and get it burning. Superset allows you to build muscle and endurance, and cut your workout time in half. The reason is you are causing muscle damage using compound movements with supersets, using an isolated movement working in the 5-7 rep range to target the larger fast twitch fibres. Let’s straighten it out! Supersets are a way of upping the intensity by completing two exercises back-to-back without any rest. and several potential benefits of supersets in terms of saving time and enhancing growth, it’s key that you first learn how to do supersets for the best results. In its simplest terms, a superset involves two exercises done together with no rest in between (you do rest after the second one, however). For more information please read our, Enjoy The Wonderful Taste Of Chef’s Cut Real Jerky With No Sugar. Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest adventures, workouts, destinations, and more. You can also try a post-fatiguing exercise. It can save you time in the gym, spur new muscle growth and improve your fitness. When you shorten the rest period between sets, it will increase intensity by performing more work in less time. But when you consistently compress your spine, it can cause a long-term problem or even fatigue some of those spinal stabilizers. A common way to use supersets is for the same muscle group. You can format supersets—usually a set of just two exercises—in a few different ways, O’Donnell says. In other words, supersets increase the intensity of the workout while reducing the time it takes to execute the training routine. For instance, you combine lunges and biceps curls. One the one hand supersets eliminate breaks between the sets which saves time but on the other hand it also boosts fat burning due to your metabolism being in full swing. Joe Weider was the founder of bodybuilding as we know it today. Here's a recap of my top tips: Only use supersets sparingly: Doing them too often will distract you from your top priority, which is progressive overload. What does mean in practice? Instead, focus on a non-compressive exercise such as triceps dips, pull-ups, glute ridges, or any suspension exercises. In other words, by using your rest periods to do more work, the two exercises in effect serve as active recovery for each other, providing that extra level of both pump and fatigue that trigger the physiological processes that encourage muscle growth. Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window), VR Fitness Is a Serious Workout, Seriously, This At-Home Lower Ab Workout Will Crush Your Core, Drink A Fairlife Protein Shake To Improve The New You This New Year, The 5 Best Workout Floor Mats For The Home, The 5 Best Deadlift Suits Suits For The Active Man, The 5 Best Inversion Tables For Men With Back Pain, The 5 Best Variable Progressive Resistance Bands To Build Muscle At Home, We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Men's Journal and its partners. Put, say, three or four supersets together using multijoint exercises (like squats, bench presses, rows, overhead presses, etc. If you want to improve your personal record (PR), you should try an activation-based compound set. Ask yourself what would you like toachieve? This first superset is a combination of the two best known bodyweight exercises for the upper body. In other words, anything where your arms are fixed in place, but your feet are free to move. Supersets help keep you accountable to building a balanced body, because you might superset, say, a chest exercise and a back exercise. The first grave mistake during practicing superset is pairing core with other exercises. A superset is a combination of two or three moves where the exercises are done back to back with no rest in between. This is especially accurate when it comes to big movements that require a lot of stability through your pillar (your shoulders, hips, and core integrating together). Click to the next page to find out what a superset is. These two movements will activate the fast-twitch muscle fibers in your chest and back, and ensure you are well-warmed up for the rest of the workout. This gives you the confidence to evenly distribute the training volume to these muscle groups. Usually agonist supersetting is a combination of a compound movement with an isolation movement. There are three (main) ways to categorize “circuits” of two exercises: the compound set, the superset, and the upper/lower (or unrelated superset). Supersets will allow you to build up muscles that are opposing each other but use different exercises for the main muscle group. We'll be going over the definition and examples of supersets in today's video set theory lesson! Simply put, a superset combines two exercises performed back to back with no rest time in between. At its most basic definition, a superset is when you do two exercises back to back with little to no rest between them, explains Bruce Kelly, MS, CSCS, owner of Fitness Together in Media, PA. A superset is when two or more exercises hitting different muscle groups are performed in a row without rest between them. Now although there’s endless superset workouts you can do (superset workouts for chest, arms, legs, etc.) What are supersets? While performing this type, you do the two exercises while using entirely different muscles groups. And for building overall muscle mass and … A superset is a strength training variation, combining two or more exercises performed consecutively with minimal rest in between. What Is a Superset and Why Should I Do It? For instance, if you’re going to superset a dumbbell bench press and a kettlebell row, do the row first; it’ll activate all those stabilizing muscles around your shoulders and boost stability and enhance performance for the press. The main reason why exercise enthusiasts choose a superset is its effectiveness. While the larger muscles of the biceps and triceps are on opposing sides of the arm, the two muscle groups still have to work together. First all you have to design it intelligently. Supersets are a simple and effective weight-training technique. This is assuming the cardiovascular component doesn’t interfere with your performance. They stimulate muscle growth by extremely increasing training intensity. Compound Supersets This is an advanced method because heavier weights are being used in both exercises on the same body part, which can lead to … For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube! If you want to perform effective exercises, you should learn the different types of supersets and how they can help you compose a complex workout. While defining a superset, it is worth to mention about the difference between a set and a superset. This is a bit demanding because you have to pick exercises that actually work different parts of the muscle. Pairing two compound movements could be too intense the same way that pairing two isolation movements could lack the intensity provided by a combination of compound and isolation. An example would be pull-ups followed by barbell rows with an underhand grip. If you choose two movements targeting the same area, you’re training won’t be effective. What Are “Supersets” When Weight Training for the Same Muscle Group? For example, it’s common to superset biceps and triceps exercises, alternating between curls and rope push-downs. 1 Superset = 2 Exercises What are some benefits of using supersets? Even though supersets are quite popular in the workout world, there’s still a lot of confusion about what they are and how to do them right. Supersets can be a great way to cut down on your time spent to achieve this volume by reducing the amount of time spent resting. While performing a superset, you overtrain the muscle groups that work as antagonists. Another benefit: “ Supersets are a good protocol for hypertrophy as they help create the biological and hormonal environment necessary for muscle building,” says Kelly. It also allows you to stimulate the target muscle fully. Here’s another example. Typically, the two exercises work different muscle groups or movement patterns, though not always. When you superset two super-compressive exercises together (like a weighted squat or lunge), that’s where trouble can begin, including back pain or injuries. Supersets are often incorporated in workouts to both save time and potentially enhance muscle growth. Supersets are a great way to maximise your time in the gym. Keep in mind that if you’re using supersets to maximize your gains, better to save the core work for the end of the workout or another day. One example of a superset for the same muscle group is to do dumbbell flyes and follow this exercise with a bench press. And you can still do a total body workout this way, too. Then put the exercises correctly and boost performance. For example, you perform a push-up and a dumbbell bench press. Supersets also allow you to increase the intensity of your workout by overloading a muscle. A conventional set is known as a straight-set and combining 3 or more sets together is called a circuit. A post-exhaustion superset is a serious workout for intermediate and advanced trainers, it should not be attempted by someone who has been training less than a year. Supersets make the most sense for accessory lifts—i.e., the exercises you perform after the "big lifts"—moves like Lat Pull-Downs, Rows, Tricep Pushdowns, Glute-Ham Raises, etc.