How to Gain Muscle with Supersets
January 23rd, 2012 | posted by Kimberly
“I’m not seeing results anymore.”
The reason why you reach a plateau is because your workout consist of the same old stuff!
Your body needs new stress loads which slightly tears the muscles. During rest time, your muscles rebuild and become even stronger (sorta like a scab growing on the muscle). Now your muscles are able to handle new stresses– which keeps the muscle growth/recovery cycle going.
What is a superset?
A superset is 2 or more exercises done back to back; that target opposing muscle groups. For example, back row and chest press.
What are some of the benefits of supersets?
- Helps you bust through plateaus
- Reduces workout boredom
- Increase muscle size & definition
- Save time in the gym
- More muscle = more fat burning!
The reason being, these workouts are intense with little breaks preventing you from lifting as heavy. Doing heavier sets with normal rest periods create a natural strength gain.
How to do supersets
Supersets are more intense than your normal workouts, so you don’t want to do them everyday. This would lead to overtraining.
I typically do supersets twice a week. Here are some sample superset combos to incorporate into your workout routine:
- squats + deadlifts (hamstring and quads)
- squats + calf raises (quads and calfs)
- shoulder press + close grip push-ups (shoulders and triceps)
- bicep curls + overhead tricep press (bi’s and tri’s)
- good mornings + sit-ups (back and abs)
- push-ups + back rows (back and chest)
- Start out with 2-3 sets of 8-10 reps, 2 different exercises each muscle
- Do each exercise back to back without a break
- Take a 60-90 second break between sets
- As you advance–do up to 4 sets and 3 different exercises each muscle group
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