These Supersets Will Take Your Strength Training To The Next Level

You can pair almost any exercise together to build muscle, lose fat or bring up body part that’s lagging behind.

Furthermore, you’ll do more work in less time and hit the showers early while everyone else is busy taking their Instagram selfies.

If supersets are NOT a part of your regular routine, you’re truly missing out. And you don’t want to miss out, do you?

Here is the lowdown on supersets and why they should be a part of your training.

Advantages of supersets

• Increase the efficiency of your training because you’re reducing the rest intervals between exercises. Having your equipment ready before you start works even better. 
• Having reduced rest periods will increase the intensity of your training by performing more work in less time. More intensity leads to better results.
• Increased hypertrophy because the shorter rest periods between exercises and back to back contractions in supersets can help promote an additional stimulus for muscle growth.
• Increased fat loss because of the reasons above when you use in combination with a caloric deficit.

However, supersets are not great for every goal.

Disadvantages of supersets

• The increase in intensity can lead to a drop off in exercise performance and technique. This may lead to injury.
• It’s difficult to juggle different weights for different exercises. Monopolizing the equipment in a busy gym may lead you to be the unpopular person who hoards the dumbbells.
• Supersets are great for hypertrophy and fat loss,  but they’re not the most ideal way to build strength. You cannot go as heavy and the limited rest between exercises compromises your recovery.
• They’ can be difficult for beginners who are unfamiliar with complex movements.  

6 superset types with training examples

The types of supersets you use depend on your current goals, whether it be fat loss, hypertrophy or bringing up a lagging body part.

And it also depends on whether you’re a beginner or advanced trainee, and on how much time you have to train or how much pain you’re willing to stand.

Here are 6 superset types that you can use now to take your training to the next level.  You’ll be thanking me later. Or not.

Post and Pre-Exhaustion Supersets

These take muscle discomfort to a new level. However, I did warn you.

With post exhaustion, you combine a compound exercise with an isolation exercise afterward to exhaust all the muscle fibers in a certain muscle group. This way you get the greatest strength benefits from the compound movement.

Pre-exhaustion is doing one set of isolation, singe-joint movement prior to doing a compound exercise.   This produces a higher level of muscle fatigue and damage to the targeted muscle group.

Both are great for bringing up a lagging body part. However, make sure the compound move trains the muscle you’re going to isolate. For example, biceps curl before (or after) a chin up. 

Post Exhaustion superset examples

Quads

1A. Squat variation 6-12 reps

1B.  Leg extensions 12-20 reps

Hamstrings

1A.  Hip hinge variation

1B. Stability ball hamstring curl 12-15 reps

Biceps

1A. Chin up variation 6-12 reps

1B. Zottaman curl 10-15 reps

Triceps

1A.  Diamond push-ups 8-15 reps

1B. Overhead triceps extensions 12-20 reps

Pre-Exhaustion supersets examples

Biceps

1A.  Barbell biceps curl 8-15 reps

1B.  Supinated Lat Pulldown 8-12 reps 

Hamstrings/Glutes

1A. Seated Leg curl 8-15 reps

1B. Barbell Hip thrust 6-12 reps

Triceps

1A. Triceps pushdown 8-15 reps

1B. Single-arm floor press 6-12 reps

Shoulders

1A. Dumbbell front raise 8-15 reps

1B. Dumbbell seated overhead press 6-12 reps

Compound supersets

 A compound set trains the same muscle group, where you can hit the group from different angles to achieve a lot of muscular damage and stress.

This is a time-efficient way to train for hypertrophy of a muscle group if you can stand the pain. And for this reason, these should be at the start of your training when you have the most energy.

However, this is an advanced method because heavier weights are used in both exercises on the same body part which can lead to muscular fatigue, a drop in performance and technique. So, enter at your own risk.

For example,

Chest

1A. Barbell bench variation 6- 8 reps

1B. Single-arm floor press 8-12 reps

Shoulders

1A. Military press 6- 8 reps

1B. Bent over reverse fly 8-12 reps

Back

1A.  Seated row 8-12 reps

1B. Single-arm lat pulldown 12 -15 reps

Legs- squat focus

1A. Barbell Front squat 4-8 reps

1B. Dumbbell jump squats (use 10-25% of your body weight) 3-6 reps

Legs- Hinge focus

1A. Romanian deadlift 8-12 reps

1B. Barbell hip extensions 6-8 reps

Isolation supersets

You can save time because you’re working on a smaller muscle group in the (almost) same amount of time as one exercise and all the focus is on the one muscle group, helping you feel the burn and achieving a great muscle pump. 

These are great for bring up a lagging body part or a weaker muscle that could be hindering your performance in a compound exercise. For example, weaker triceps hindering lockout in the bench press.

These are best done at the end of your training because you’ll want to save your energy for the larger compound movements.  

Biceps

1A. Incline biceps curl 12-25 reps

1B.  Concentration curl 12-25 reps

Shoulders

1A.   Dumbbell Lateral raise variation 12- 15 reps

1B.  Band pull apart (high reps) 25 reps

Triceps

1A. Triceps (rope) pulldown 12-25 reps

1B.  Skull crushers 8-12 reps

Glutes

1A.  Single leg hip extensions 12-15 reps

1B. Lateral band walk 12- 15 reps on each side

Lower/upper body supersets

This is the least taxing of all the techniques listed so far because you’re working on two completely unrelated muscle groups. These are great for full rest and recovery of a muscle group and for full-body workouts when time is an issue.

They’re best used for full-body workouts or full body splits, which is ideal for beginner trainees. However, if strength is your goal, give these supersets a wide berth.  

However, they’re great for fat loss because alternating blood flow between your upper and lower body makes the heart and lungs work harder, helping you burn more calories.

Note- There are lots of examples here. This is only a few suggestions.

For example,

1A. Squat variation 8-12 reps

1B. Barbell bench press 8-12 reps

1A. Barbell squat variation 6-12 reps

1B. Chin-ups 6-12 reps

1A.  Barbell hip thrust 6- 8 reps

1B. Floor press 6- 8 reps

1A.  Barbell push press 6-12 reps

1B.  Chin-ups 6-12 reps

Strength/mobility supersets

When you do a mobility exercise after a strength exercise, it can help improve your lifting technique and aid in recovery between sets.  For example, a lack of ankle dorsiflexion in the squat can hinder squat depth and cause knees to excessively go over the toes.

Strength/mobility supersets are great for lifters who don’t really like to warm up or are short on time.  

For example,

1A.  Deadlift variation 3-6 reps

1B. Hip flexor mobilization 8 reps

1A. Shoulder press variation 8-12 reps

1B.  Forearm wall slides 8 reps

1A. Barbell squat variation 3-6 reps

1B. Rocking ankle mobilization 8 reps

1A.  Barbell bench press 3-6 reps

1B.  Thoracic extensions 8 reps

Wrapping up

Supersets are a time-efficient way to train and are used in many ways. Whether it’s fat loss, hypertrophy, improving your mobility or general health, there is a type of superset to match your goal. And when your pair exercises wisely, you’ll reach your goals so much faster. 

And then you can take your selfie for Instagram.