Superset – Simple Intensity Booster

Have your workouts got a bit boring lately?  Struggling with reaching adequate intensity? No wonder you feel lethargic if you have stopped seeing progress. Fancy a bit of oomph in your workouts? Let’s cover a few ways you can use supersets to leap over training roadblocks.

Supersetting is certainly a very effective way to boost training intensity. Supersets are simply two sets of different exercises performed one after another without resting in between. Virtually anybody can benefit from such workout boosters, especially to shock complacent muscles. Also when weight loss and fat burning is the primary goal, supersets come very handy to push up your heart rate during the workout and increase your post-exercise oxygen consumption hence boosting your metabolism during your well-deserved rest time.

- Antagonistic

Follow an exercise for one muscle or muscle group with one for its antagonist e.g. narrow-grip bench press + barbell curl; incline dumbbell press + incline dumbbell row; leg curl + leg extension.

- Pre-exhaust

Isolation exercise directly before doing a compound exercise for the same bodypart e.g. incline dumbbell flye + incline barbell press; leg extension + leg press; rear lateral raise + face pull.

- Compound

There’s no reason you can’t superset basic compound lifts like squat, deadlift, bench press, military press, dips. Occasionally combining basic lifts is a brutal way of training, as it thoroughly taxes your energy reserves, but that’s precisely why it’s an effective method to push your workouts to the next level.

- Synergism

To focus on a specific goal, you can superset two bodyparts that may or may not be antagonistic. For example, you can emphasise your outer limbs by alternating a set of forearms with one for calves, or you can superset chest with triceps for a “pushing “ workout, or back and shoulders for a width workout.

-Extension

Also sometimes called post-exhaust. In this effective and convenient way to superset, you follow one exercise with another for the same bodypart. It even makes sense using the same weight, provided that you’re stronger in the second exercise.  For example, do a set of dumbbell flyes and, when you reach failure, start doing dumbbell bench presses, thus extending your initial set beyond its point of failure. Or you could add another exercise and turn it into a triset, as demonstrated here in one of my “Deadly Intensity” videos.

How much and how often you should use supersets in your training routine – this largely depends on your lifting experience and the goals you’re training for. Without adequate lifting experience excessive use of supersets may lead to overtraining, especially when nutritional requirements aren’t met. It’s all about gradual progression when moving towards your fitness goals.