Supersets - the benefits and harms of supersets, training programs

What is a superset?

A superset is two exercises aimed at antagonist muscles, performed without a break. Sometimes a superset is called a super series of exercises. Please note that we are talking specifically about the load exerted on the antagonist muscles. These muscles produce the opposite actions. For example, the biceps and triceps muscles. The biceps helps to bend the arm at the elbow, and the triceps extends it. If the chest muscles push the arms, the latissimus dorsi muscles pull them. There are many such examples in the human body. Almost all movements of our body involve antagonist muscles.

Types of supersets.

A simple superset. Consists of 2 exercises for antagonist muscles.
Triset. 3 different exercises for the same muscle group that use antagonist muscles. Exercises are performed without pauses.
Giant sets. 4 or more 4 exercises to work one muscle group, using antagonist muscles
Jump sets. A training session for two muscle groups that uses antagonist muscles. Typically, jump sets involve 5-6 sets of exercises. For example, 3 sets are performed on 1 group, and then immediately 3 more on another. This could be 3 supersets for the chest muscles and 3 supersets for the back muscles.

Many people confuse a superset and a complex set, but they have a fundamental difference. A complex set is two exercises aimed at 1 muscle group. In essence, this is a basic and “finishing” exercise. When an athlete trains to failure. An example of a complex superset would be a barbell curl followed by dumbbell bicep curls without a break.

Supersets can be used both for fat burning training and for building muscle mass. Due to their high energy consumption, supersets are suitable for burning large amounts of energy reserves, and by working to failure with weights, supersets help pump up muscles to the maximum.

Useful tips for patients

To increase the effectiveness of training aimed at working out the shoulder girdle, non-professional athletes should keep in mind the following recommendations from experienced fitness instructors when organizing their training.

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to work out the front delta beam, arm swings with dumbbells are best suited (it will be possible to provide the middle and rear beams with a secondary load by changing the position of the little fingers of the hands holding the weights - the little fingers should be directed upward);
one of the most traumatic exercises on the shoulders is considered to be lifting a barbell with straight arms in front of you (during the exercise, it is not recommended to lift the weight above shoulder level and lower it to hip level);
by changing the position in the Smith machine (sit sideways on the supporting surface), you can double the load on each of the upper limbs involved in the exercise;
for deep study of the middle delta beam, it is recommended to include a crossover with alternating arm swings in the set of exercises (the body should maintain its original position while remaining motionless during this exercise);
alternately moving your arms back will most effectively pump up the rear deltoids;
To increase the relief of the posterior beam, pulling a weight to the forehead is also suitable (during the exercise, you must point the elbow joint upward);
Give the muscles time to recover, stopping for 1-2 minutes between sets.

In order to avoid getting the opposite effect, in which not only there is no result of training, but also the condition of the muscles of the shoulder girdle worsens, exercises for the upper body should be performed no more than once every 2-3 days. Otherwise, the athlete will notice a thinning of muscle mass, which will subsequently provoke the appearance of sagging skin in areas of sharp loss of volume.

In the gym, shoulder exercises are performed not only by people who are far from knowledge of physiology and understanding of the training process itself, but also by professional athletes. The vast majority of them have their own peculiarities in the method of working out the shoulder girdle, identified during many years of practice.

Some fitness trainers are confident that the most effective exercise in the gym for pumping up shoulders is the bench press and its various variations. By following the technique of performing these exercises, you can transform your upper body in 2 weeks of daily training in emergency mode.

Despite the absence of intervals between classes, muscles accustomed to constant training do not decrease in volume, but, on the contrary, become more prominent and resilient. Despite the body’s tendency to increase muscle mass, during periods of preparation it is necessary to support the body with appropriate nutrition, introducing protein drinks, gainer and amino acids into the diet.

Other trainers believe that you can speed up the process of transforming the shoulder girdle by taking a course of special massage. You should schedule a visit to the massage therapist on the same day as the training. The massage should include not only kneading movements, but also active rubbing and tapping.

Thanks to such techniques, not only is the acceleration of lymph and blood flow achieved, but also the stagnation of lactic acid, which can provoke pain in the upper extremities when they are tense during the post-training period, is eliminated.

Often the problem area, despite the regular use of hands in one’s daily life (holding a child in one’s arms for a long time), was the shoulder girdle.

Having failed in home workouts, you can turn to professional fitness trainers to create an individual complex designed for training in the gym. Strength training in a specially equipped place will help you achieve the desired results within 2 months of regular work on your body.

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Examples of supersets.

Supersets for arms (biceps + triceps):

Bending your arms on a block in a standing position.
Bench press with a narrow grip from a lying position.
Curling arms with dumbbells from a sitting position.
Extension of arms on a block from a standing position.
Lifting dumbbells with supination + French press.
Reverse grip pull-ups and dips.

Supersets for the pectoral muscles:

Bench press in a lying position, dumbbell raises from a lying position upside down.

Supersets for legs:

For the quadriceps – leg press, leg extension in the simulator.
For calves: standing calf raises, sitting calf raises.
Leg press, deadlift.
Barbell rows on straight legs, leg curls in the simulator.

Abs superset:

Bend over the block from a standing position, lifting bent legs from a lying position.
Hyperextension, lifting the body on a Roman chair.

Superset training. What, how and why?

Supersets for arms are a great way to complicate your life and plunge headlong into the realm of pain, but they give you a chance to move the volume of your biceps and triceps from a dead point.
Anyone who pumps their arms as usual, and they grow steadily, may not even remember about the super series. But if the usual manner of return does not give, then training with supersets is what the doctor prescribed. This method of gaining mass cannot be called simple and easy, but science says, and handy stars confirm it - super series for arms work! True, not for everyone, but only for those who know the rules for compiling them and strictly follow them. How to compile them correctly and, in general, how to use volumetric training will be discussed in my article. Read the most interesting things about training and sports nutrition on my telegram channel https://t.me/bestbodyblog On the topic: Do-it-yourself street gymnastics complex

What is a superset and why is it needed?

A superset, super series or complex set is two exercises combined into one mini-complex and performed one after another without a break. Muscles that are accustomed to performing exercises intermittently perceive the disappearance of rest between approaches as a real shock, because they have never worked so hard.

In order to cope with such a load, the body has to tap into dormant reserves and activate new muscle fibers that were previously slacking off from work. And as a result, the muscles are simply forced to become stronger, bigger and more resilient. There are other ways to shock muscles, but supersets are the easiest way to do this. Conventionally, they can be divided into two main groups:

Series for one muscle group
Series for different muscle groups

Doing a superset for one muscle group is quite difficult, and the principle of creating a mini-cycle for different groups is even more difficult, since antagonist muscles are selected for this. They are so called because they perform exactly the opposite actions (the biceps flexes the arm, and the triceps extends). These muscles include:

Triceps and biceps
Latissimus dorsi and pectoral muscles
Quadriceps and hamstrings
Abs and back extensors

Professionals prefer to pump biceps and triceps together

Note: although the abdominal muscles and extensors are antagonists, it is not recommended to pump them together, because all exercises for them directly or indirectly load the lower back muscles. Therefore, joint pumping of the abdominal and extensor muscles can result in injury to this part of the back.

But super series for other muscles (even for the buttocks) can and should even be combined into groups of exercises performed without rest. The author of this technique is unknown, but training with supersets has gained wide popularity due to their inclusion in Joe Weider’s training principles.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, for example, loved doing chest-back supersets. Tom Platz loved to use mini-complexes for legs, and supersets for arms (especially for triceps) are regularly used by the mighty Johnny Jackson.

Arm training with supersets from Johnny Jackson

The benefits of supersets

The main benefit of a superset and, as a consequence, its effectiveness is to increase the number of fibers of nearby muscle groups involved in the work. For example, when we pump the triceps, and then move on to biceps exercises without rest, the triceps does not rest, as you might think, but continues to work. But only in passive mode.

We cannot completely isolate (exclude from work) certain muscles during exercises for the arms, therefore, while pumping the biceps, the triceps still contracts. True, this is not a simple contraction, but active rest, while we are pumping one muscle group, the second is recovering at an accelerated pace. And by the time a new set of exercises begins, the resting muscle manages to increase its strength potential to its previous level.

In simple terms, when performing super series for the arms, the muscles, working together, recover and grow faster than if they are pumped individually. Therefore, supersets can be found in most training programs aimed at hypertrophy of arm muscles.

You can pump up your arms faster with the help of super series

The benefits of supersets are enormous, but in addition to the fact that they can be called one of the ways to gain weight, they also have other advantages:

Strong pumping. More blood is pumped into the muscles, and the delivery of nutrients is accelerated. The capillary network grows, venousness increases.
Increased endurance. Working without rest leads to improved oxygen supply to muscles, which ultimately develops their strength endurance.
Improving muscle shape . Since the muscles (with the correct preparation of the mini-cycle) are loaded on both sides of the attachment at once, this improves their appearance and gives them the correct shape.
Increasing the amount of work completed . Superset training is an opportunity to do more in less time. The volume of work performed increases - muscle mass grows faster. Volume training has long been adopted by professionals and is not going to give it up.
Saving time . It happens that you need to pump up your hands, but there is sorely not enough time. Supersets, as a way to gain mass, solve this problem. Thanks to them, you can train your biceps and triceps in 20 minutes and quite hard.

But to say that supersets for arms (or other muscle groups) are suitable for absolutely everyone would be wrong. Like any other method of complicating the training process, it will give the greatest return to a trained person, but not to a beginner.

Note : even pumping your arms in this way is quite difficult, and a superset for the legs is a real test for the whole body, especially for the central nervous system. Therefore, the help of a training partner with this style of work will be very helpful.

When training with supersets, support will be very helpful

Volumetric arm training is an excellent way to overcome plateaus and get out of stagnation, but even in this case, its use should be dosed. The best option is to pump your arms with supersets once every 3-4 weeks. The rest of the time, the style of performing exercises is classic strength.

How to create a superset?

In principle, you can pack any exercise that you can think of into a complex set. Performing them without the usual pauses will definitely “shake up” the body and, ideally, will restart the stuck flywheel of gaining muscle mass. But if you create a superset not just anyhow, but thoughtfully, the growth of muscle volume will be almost guaranteed. To do this you need to follow only three rules:

On the topic: Reduction of arms with dumbbells lying down

RULE 1 | It will not be possible to pump both muscle groups in one mini-complex with the same intensity. The main load will go to the muscles trained first, especially if it is the triceps. It is stronger than the biceps and one and a half times larger, almost all resources will be spent on “bombing” it, and crumbs will be left for the biceps. Therefore, if the goal is to pump up your biceps, you need to train them first.

It’s worth pumping up biceps in supersets first

RULE 2 | You need to start a superset for the arms with the exercise that is technically most complex and has the heaviest weight of the barbell, and the second one can go easier and simpler. Therefore, the first must be a multi-joint exercise, and the second an isolating exercise. This approach will increase the overall effectiveness of the ligament while reducing the risk of injury. Of course, you can combine exercises performed exclusively on simulators into groups, but their task is not to gain weight, but to “finish off” the muscles and fill them with blood.

RULE 3 | If a super series for the arms is performed on one muscle group, the exercises must be selected so that they have a different nature of load. That is, one should be stretching (for example, bending the arms while sitting on an inclined bench or French press), and the second should be compressive (lifting dumbbells while standing with supination or extending the arms downwards on a block). This way you can pump up the muscles along the entire length and improve their shape. When exercises are done from different positions, one lying down, the other sitting or standing, this also changes the load vector.

And two more features of training with supersets that are worth considering, especially during the period of mass gain:

Doing exercise without rest causes increased calorie consumption, so before such an activity you should take an extra portion of carbohydrates (for example, a couple of bananas or a handful of dates).
super series heavily load the central nervous system, and in order not to “deflate” ahead of schedule, the nervous system needs to be stimulated before training. This can be done with a pre-workout supplement or simply by drinking a cup or two of black coffee.

There are many options for complexes for pumping up biceps and triceps, but the following 12 supersets for arms are among the most effective, since they are compiled taking into account all the necessary rules

Supersets biceps triceps

Close-grip barbell press + standing biceps curl
Standing dumbbell curls + lying French dumbbell press
Dips + Scott Bench Curls
Seated dumbbell curls + reverse push-ups

Incline Dumbbell Curl

Note: Biceps triceps supersets are best performed with varying numbers of reps for each exercise. In the first 7-9, in the second – 12-15. This will activate different types of muscle fibers and accelerate their growth.

Supersets for biceps

Standing biceps curl + lying spider curls
Simultaneous double-arm curls with dumbbells while sitting on an inclined bench + alternating dumbbell raises with supination while standing
Raising two dumbbells on a Scott bench + standing hammer curls with dumbbells
Arm curls on the upper block while lying down + bending of the arms on the lower block while standing

Spider curls with barbell for biceps

Note: all mini-complexes, and especially supersets for biceps, must be arranged so that moving between exercises takes as little time as possible (up to 10 seconds). Otherwise, the return from such a technique is sharply reduced.

Triceps supersets

Close-grip barbell bench press + seated overhead dumbbell extensions
Dips on narrow bars + French bench press
Reverse push-ups from the bench + extensions of the arms downwards on the block
Extension with a dumbbell with one hand from behind the head + straightening the arm with a dumbbell while standing at an angle

Bent-over dumbbell extensions

Note: when performing supersets for triceps, you need to take into account that the triceps brachii muscle is very durable, so if for the biceps only two mini-complexes, performed 3-4 approaches each, are enough, then for the triceps the volume of load can be safely increased to three complexes of 4 approaches each everyone.

These are far from the only complex sets for arms that can be used effectively. Depending on your preferences, training experience, health status, priority for the development of a particular muscle group, you can compose exercises exclusively for yourself. For example, like in this story:

Examples of programs with supersets.

For gaining weight.

Supersets are performed in 4 approaches, according to the “pyramid” principle, that is, with a decrease in the number of repetitions in the exercise: 15-12-10-8. A rest of 3-4 minutes is allowed between supersets. Training should be carried out 3-4 times a week. The duration of the program is 2-3 weeks.

Day #1.

Warm up 5-7 minutes.
Squats with a barbell, leg curls in the simulator.
Romanian deadlift, forward lunges with kettlebells or dumbbells.
Wide deep squats, leg extensions in the simulator.
3 sets of 20 reps of crunches, crossover prayer exercise.

Day No. 2.

Warm up 5-7 minutes.
Bench press from a lying position, overhead pull-down in the simulator.
Barbell rows, dumbbell flyes on an incline bench.
Pullover with a dumbbell, dumbbell row to the waist in an inclined position.
Roman chair raises 3 sets of 20 reps.

Day #3.

Warm up 5-7 minutes.
Arnold press, reverse abductions in the butterfly exercise.
Close grip bench press, weighted arm curls.
Dips, bar raises on Scott bench.
Exercise "vacuum" for the abs. 3 sets of 8-10 seconds.

Key training tips

Triset

These exercises are your best muscle-builders, which is why you'll do them first. Take a heavier barbell and reduce the number of repetitions per set to 6; this will allow you to reach failure in a smaller range, which is beneficial for developing strength skills. Load up the barbell—or EZ bar if you prefer—and position yourself on a flat bench out of the way.

Standing bicep curls.

A shoulder-width grip is the most comfortable for most, and it works the long (outer) head of the biceps best. But if you want to really hit the short (inner) head, use a wide grip. In any case, perform the curls cleanly!

Standing bicep curls

French press with EZ bar.

When you're done with the curls, place the barbell on the end of the bench. In this movement, try to keep your shoulders perpendicular to the floor to isolate the triceps as much as possible. This is not a pullover!

Close grip bench press.

Now you can perform a multi-joint exercise and connect auxiliary muscle groups that will help tired triceps. Don't stop at a certain number of reps, work until failure.

Superset 1

Instead of doing an overhead French press on a low-back bench, drag the dumbbells to a Scott bench and do the exercise while sitting with your back to the wrist rest. The working weight should already be less than in the first exercise.

EZ barbell curl on a Scott bench.

Because the upper arm is positioned in front of the plane of the torso, you will notice that the exercise better targets the short head. Make sure your arms are parallel to each other on the bench. Don't lift your elbows off the stand. Use an EZ bar to reduce stress on your wrist joints.

EZ-barbell curl on a Scott bench

Seated overhead dumbbell French press.

Exercises in which the arm is placed above the head are good for working the ever-lagging long head of the triceps. That's why it's helpful to include at least one overhead movement into your triceps routine.

Superset 2

Attach rope handles to the crossover blocks. Use the lower block for biceps curls, the upper block for triceps presses. Again, to increase the pump, reduce the working weight a little more compared to the beginning of the workout.

Crossover biceps curls.

Use a neutral grip for this exercise to work your brachialis and increase your arm girth. This technique also works on the brachioradialis muscle, which is located in the upper part of the forearm near the elbow joint.

Triceps extensions on the upper block.

By keeping your elbows close to your sides and turning them into rigid levers, you can fully focus on the lateral head of your triceps.

Superset 3

At the end of the workout, your main goal is to finish with a deep burn and muscle pump. We're using the lightest weight possible here, so force yourself to do one or a couple of unplanned reps.

Perform both exercises with one hand to ensure extreme concentration on one single muscle. This selective focus will help improve the connection between your brain and muscles and provide a deeper pump. Since your muscles are already resting while you switch from one arm to the other, reduce the interval between supersets to 30 seconds.

Standing biceps curl on a lower block.

Perform these curls in the position that is most comfortable for you: facing, facing, or at any angle to the weight stack. Use your free hand for self-help to squeeze in a few extra reps if you want to intensify that sweet pain a little!

Standing biceps curl

Bent over triceps extensions in a crossover.

Instead of dumbbells, grab the rubber ball of the cable handle. Make sure your elbows remain stationary throughout each repetition. If you're constantly moving them up and down, you're turning a great single-joint movement into a multi-joint one, and you're depriving the triceps of their rightful right to a good workout.