Anyone who has done super sets at the gym knows they suck. Period. In case you are not familiar with super sets, they are when you do two separate exercises in a row with no break. For example, you would do 10 repetitions on the bench press and immediately drop to the floor and do a max set of push ups.
Luckily, super sets work just as much as they suck so they are worth the pain. The closer you push your muscles to failure, the more results you will enjoy. Because your muscles are already tired after the first workout, the second workout hurts that much more. In my experiences, I prefer to do the heavier of the two workouts first, and the workout requiring less weight afterward. If you tire your muscles out with the lighter lift first, you will need to take too much weight off of the other one. You will lose the benefit of the heavy weight.
If you have never done super sets before you will hurt a lot but you will gain a lot too. However, you cannot exclusively use super sets in your workouts. Just like anything when it comes to weight training, you need variation in your workouts. I usually use 1 or 2 super sets each workout. Because of the fact that super sets tire you out so much, I like to do them at the end of the workout. Sometimes I will mix it up and do a super set for my first exercise to make the rest of the workout much harder. I also like to do between 8-12 reps for both workouts because too many reps will keep you from doing enough weight to get any real gains in and if you do too little weight , you won’t get the proper muscle fatigue.
Here are some suggestions for each muscle group:
Chest – Any workout and push ups. Dumbbell press and dumbbell fly’s.
Back – Pull down and push downs.
Shoulders – Any combination of trap exercises. Upright rows and front raises.
Legs – Leg press and calves. Leg extensions and leg curls.
Arms – Super set any two workouts for bi’s or tri’s.
If you’re really feeling brave you can take on giant sets which are 3 or more workouts without a break. Not fun.
Super sets sound pretty intense. I know whenever I'm finished with a 10 reps of any lifting, I feel like I am going to die. So I can only imagine how bad doing two exercises back to back exercises can be. How long have you been doing super sets?
ReplyDeleteI really have not been doing supersets for a very long time. I started integrating them into my workouts a year ago but I just recently started using them much more frequently. It has helped my endurance significantly as well as strength because it forces my muscles to work when they already are on the brink of failure.
ReplyDeleteHey USMC,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I really enjoyed your post. I think your post has a lot of useful information in it. I, myself, am trying to get back into a more regular routine. When lifting, I started doing heavy sets first, and then move to light. Your experiences on the super sets do sound painful, but I think I will start incorporating them into my routine. In addition, I also find your examples useful. Thanks for the post and info.
I'm glad to hear that my posts have helped you. It sounds like you already have an idea of what you're doing due to the fact that you know to do heavy sets and light sets separately. I'm positive that incorporating super sets into your workout will give you results in no time.
ReplyDelete