Supersize Me! The art of the superset

Last Updated on Friday, 16 April 2010 15:06 Wednesday, 14 April 2010 11:50

Everyone wants to get big fast. The big killer about bodybuilding is it takes so damn long! Why can't we start now, go through a week of pain and have our Adonis like sculpted bod thereafter? Kinda like plastic surgery. You know, go in, get some plastic stuffed into our boobs and come out bigger than Pammy? Wouldn't that be better than the drudgery of working out every other day for the rest of our lives?

But until the plastic bodybuilding surgery routine is perfected we have to work with what we have. That means cold iron weights. Machines. Some cables. And our own muscle fibres. You can hear the clang of weights already, can't you?

Supersets are a great addition to any workout plan to target and maximise a workout. You might be lagging in one department (legs/chest/shoulders etc) or really want to grow one area faster. Supersets can give you that added growth boost, even breaking through a growth plateau you've been stuck on for months.

What are supersets? Supersets involved doing two exercises, one after the other without taking a break inbetween. Thats it!

Why do supersets work? Asides from increase the intensity and workload on the same muscle group, supersets increase the production of lactic acid. The body responds by producing growth hormone which increases muscle growth.

So why isn't everyone doing supersets?

Its not because everyone is dumb. Supersets involve using a lighter weight than what you might use in a normal straight set. Because you are hitting the muscle extra hard, you will not be able to lift your full 'straight' weight.

So the muscle does not develop as much strength as it might with straight sets. So supersets might be great as a sculpting or muscle growth exercise but they are not optimal for strength or power workouts. Use them as temporary exercises to shake things up. You might have reached a plateau and supersets will allow you shock your muscles past that plateau. Or you might be short on time - supersets are a great way to save on gym time.

There are various kinds of supersets. The two most common supersets are the same muscle group supersets and the reverse muscle group supersets.

Same muscle group supersets.

An example of a superset targeting the same muscle group would be sets of incline bench presses and then decline bench presses. The chest muscles are hit from different angles without giving the muscle group time to rest inbetween.

The idea of using supersets on the same muscle group is to force a complete workout when the muscles are in a fatigued state already. Going back to our bench press example, an incline bench press works out our pectoralis major but focuses on the upper chest. Other lesser muscles used in the incline bench press are our biceps brachii, triceps and deltoids. If we move straight onto a decline bench press we use our pectoralis major as well, but our focus has moved to the lower muscles of that group. So our superset has ensure we've hit that muscle group all over.

You can do this type of supersetting for every muscle group. Eg:

Thighs:

• Squats

• Leg extensions

Shoulders

• Lateral Raises

• Shoulder Press

Reverse Muscle Group

The second type of superset targets different muscle groups. They are known as Antagonistic (or reverse) supersets. For example, doing barbell curls for our biceps and overhead extensions for our triceps could be a superset.

Reverse mucle supersets have been shown to boost muscle development in the second set of muscles worked. Technically the shoulders do not have a reverse muscle group. For the calves you can workout the tibialis anterior with a reverse calf press.

Compound Supersets

Get ready to sweat. Compound supersets are tough because they involve big compound movements that require a lot of strength and effort. Squats followed by the bench press are both compound exercises. Sticking them together gives you a compound superset.

Isolation Supersets

Isolation supersets are the opposite of compound supersets. Instead of targeting vast muscle groups we isolate one muscle group and hit that hard - twice with isolation exercises. So for our biceps we might do barbell curls followed by hammer curls or cable crossovers.

Pre-exhaust Supersets

It starts getting complicated now. Pre-exhaust supersets mean working out a muscle in isolation first and then hitting it again with a compound exercise to wretch every last drop of effort from the muscle. So for instance we might first work out biceps with barbell curls. And then proceed to chin ups.

Giant Supersets

We better be fit if you start doing giant supersets! Giant supersets involved stacking three or more sets together. So a giant superset could include incline, flat and decline bench press. Bring the pain mofo!