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Hi,

I wanted to know what your opinions are on Supersets. That is one exercise followed by another without any breaks. The exercises are normally for antagonistic muscles but sometimes they can be for the same muscles.

Some examples would be: biceps curls, tricep extensions..another example but with the same muscle would be incline db bench press - incline db fly.

I have worked out in the past for a few months intermittently but for the last last two months i have been quite consistent. And in those months, I have been supersetting all my exercises. I have seen significant difference as i have gained weight (musce mass .. i hope) and i am doing more weights. But since I am supersetting, the weights are lower than what i would be doing normally...

anyways.. what do u guys think about this..

Hi. Well, supersets mean that you do 2 to 3 or more exercises done back to back. Then you get into the Giant set thing. Rest periods don't really matter. You do them as you can. For example, if you are working for endurance, or stength/endurance, then fine, do them with no rest. Otherwise, put rest breaks in there.
You can put 2-3 moves in for the same movement in there, or you could put put 2 moves in for antagonist moves in (push vs pull) Doesn't matter.
My favorite is antagonist moves, i.e. rows and BP. As to rest between sets and constant, well, thats up to you. I like to use it like this.
A1 BP sets 3X10 rest 0-30 sec
A2 Rows sets 3X10 rest 0-30 sec
This means do a set of BP, rest 30 sec, then rows, and repeat for 3 sets each.
This would be done when emphasizing fitness. Now on ther other hand, supersets could be done emphasizing strength, in the 5-8 rep range. The same example could be used, but like this, 1 set BP, 5-8 reps, rest 2 minutes, Row, 5-8 reps, rest 2 minutes, repeat for 3-4 sets. I love working opposites, but thats me, and the methos isn't written into stone, so try these and other variations out.
Tim

There are two benefits that I am aware of when working anagonists in supersets.

1. It's a time saver.

2. You recover faster. Take Tim's example above with BPs and Rows. If you did 3 sets of BPs followed by 3 sets of rows you wouldn't recover as fast as when alternating between rows and BPs.


I have no experience with supersetting exercises that emphasize the same muscle group. I believe there is a place for this kind of supersetting in an advanced bodybuilders program. I am not there yet. Someone correct me if I am wrong.

Hey George,

Could you elaborate on why you recover faster?

If you mean you get more rest, then I understand but I do not really see how working an antagonist group helps recovery of the other directly.

Hi Ryan. I'll take this one. George probably has had the same experience. I always have great recovery with supersets, in fact, the weights tend to go up after the sets, for me, anyway. Let's disect this. Llet's take a come antagonist superset, push and pull. Okay, lets say I'm working quickly, keeping rest breaks short, say 30-45 sec, reps in the 10-12 (kind of arbitrarily_ in 10-12RM load. If I stayed with one exercise, personally, I would have a hard time keeping up with those weights. However, doing A, rest break, then B rest break, repeat, well, my body is still working at a quick clip, but the pushing muscles, and the pulling muscles get twice the rest time. Thats the only way I can explain it. I've noticed over the year, that doing it this way, I actually don't even get "cooking" until after the 3rd set, and my weights go up.
Now this may only be me, but it's my personal favorite.
Tim

okay,

That was my "you get more rest" thought. I was just thinking George was saying there was some kind of inherent benefit to the muscle's recovery ability if you did pro/antagonist supersets.

Ryan,

When I knew next to nothing abuot weight training, I read that you can superset antagonists in a superset and recover faster. So I traied it and it worked.

To me it is not clear if the improved performance comes only from longer breaks or perhaps there is some other factor invlolved. I have read suggestions that increasing the neural activation of the antagonist muscle may reduce the inhibition it may be causing in the firing of the primary muscle.

I am gald you brought this up. I am going to research this further.

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