Superset lifting or Super-setting… what is it? Super-setting means completing two exercises back to back with no rest between sets. Why super-set? The why is something you have to answer for yourself, but I will explain how and why I super-set and then you make your choice.
I am in no way a superstar athlete (I normally finish within the top 25% of the race, and that’s about as high as I can go) so this article isn’t meant for the extreme athlete, but just for someone who enjoys working out and getting stronger.
Why do I super-set? Like most people, I just don’t have the time to be in the gym for hours. I work 2 part-time jobs, own my own business, and coach high school football. Another reason I lift the way I do is because I want to get back into running “endurance” events (triathlons, half-marathons, etc.), and thus benching 350lbs or even 250lbs is not necessarily important to me unless I have the endurance to run for over an hour+ without being exhausted. I used to run them frequently and then injured my knee and haven’t run competitively in 18+ months.
How do I super-set? Currently, I go to the gym once every two days, and I work out every muscle group while I am there. So I bet when you go to the gym, you have or will notice people who spend about 10-15 minutes on one machine, either talking to a friend, or just relaxing. That’s not for me, I’m just too busy to waste valuable time sitting there. I’m not saying you have to be anti-social at all.
Here is my common routine: Each lift I try to do 3 times anywhere from 10-20 repetitions. I begin with a calf lift. Once I finish one set of that lift, I move directly to a squat machine for a set. Once I have alternated between the two lifts 3 times each, I move onto bench press. My only break between lifts is walking over to the next machine, no other stopping or sitting or resting. The next lift I do together is bench press and one-armed biceps curls. So I lay back on the bench, do my 10 repetitions of bench, then sit up and bicep curl a weight 10 times with each arm, then I lay back down and do it all over. Another common set of lifts I do together are close-grip bench, wide-grip bench, fore-arm curls, two-armed bicep curls, and tricep kickbacks.
This lift I can do all at one bench station. All I need is the 45lb bar (for close-grip, wide-grip and bicep curls). I need another lighter bar (about 30 lbs) for the forearm curls, and then a 25lb weight for the tricep kickbacks. I’m not lifting heavy weight because I am going for repetitions and for endurance. Obviously, if you are switching between 5 different lifts, the weight must be low. It’s enough weight to where you are tired at the end of each individual lift, but not to where you can’t go to the next lift.
So as you can see, I lift every muscle every 2 days, but if you only want to lift your chest and triceps one day, then just find two exercises that you can do at the same station and super-set them together. Same thing if you do your back and biceps together or whatever combination you may lift on the same day.
So you normally lift with a friend who doesn’t want to super-set? Well grab a bar or a free weight and while he does his lift, and instead of resting, just knock out a quick set of bicep curls or even push-ups. You will be surprised at how sore you body is the next day from lifting and how fast your muscles will become defined again. You don’t even have to super-set every day. You could super-set once a week at a low weight to work out all the soreness in your body.
During my lift, I can knock out 2 shoulder, 2 leg, 3 chest, 2 bicep, 1 forearm, 2 tricep, and 2 back lifts (3 sets of 10+ repetitions) and also run a mile and swim 200-400 meters all within ONE HOUR. Think about how many different lifts you can get done in one hour if you are super-setting and how much more time in your day you now have!