A really popular way of training is through what’s called supersets. This is where we take two exercises and perform them back-to-back without any rest in-between.
They can be a really great addition to add to your training program, and I’m going to give you three reasons why.
Increased Muscle Activation
Because we’re performing two exercises back-to-back without rest, we’re increasing the level of fatigue and activation in our muscles.
This increased level of stress and fatigue can cause our muscles to contract more forcefully, and lead to greater muscle growth over time.
And since we’re completing two exercises for the price of one, we’ll be accumulating more volume across multiple muscle groups, and more volume accumulated over time is the formula for increased muscle growth.
Time Efficiency
Supersets reduce the amount of time you need to spend resting between sets, which can help you get more done in less time. This makes your workouts more time-efficient and allows you to get a more intense and effective workout in a reduced period of time.
And with all the extra free training time you’ll accumulate over the course of your training week, you can use this time to add more sets or exercises to your workouts, effectively increasing your volume across multiple muscle groups, which will lead to increased muscle growth.
And by using supersets, where we’re working a muscle group while the opposite is resting, we can keep our workouts at the same level of intensity and not being worried about fatigue.
For instance, if I’m performing my pull-ups in-between my sets of bench press, it will have little effect on our bench press performance, because they both involve opposite muscle groups.
Increased Endurance
Supersets can be challenging for new lifters, because we are going to be performing double the work before taking our rest period.
But for seasoned athletes, this can serve as a great benefit because we’ll be at an increased heart rate for an increased period of time.
Now obviously when we’re strength training, endurance isn’t the first thing on our mind, but it can be a cool side effect.
Because we’re spending all this extra time and intensity at an elevated heart rate, it’ll improve the body’s ability to deliver oxygen and nutrients to our muscles during training.
And because supersets can add a higher level of intensity to our training, it can also be a challenge on our mental endurance, meaning we’ll be better at pushing through discomfort and completing our workout.
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