Your Complete Guide To Supersets And How To Use Them

If you want to learn how to get more done in your workouts in less time, this article is for you.

We probably all know that one guy at the gym who takes an hour to do one exercise. His workout just seems to take forever.

He lumbers from one machine to the next, dragging his gallon jug with him.

Okay, that’s not really fair, I use a gallon jug sometimes..

Anyway.

Maybe if you’re a professional bodybuilder training for a show, that might make sense.

However, if you’re like me and you have a life outside the gym, there’s a better way to get results.

In this article, you’ll learn how to use supersets to get your workouts done quicker and more efficiently.

Let’s get into it!

What is a superset?

A superset is where you pair exercises together that use different muscle groups without resting until you’ve completed both exercises.

Here’s an example:

1A) Dumbbell bench press

3 sets of 10 reps

1B) Dumbbell single arm row 

3 sets of 8 reps each arm

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

A dumbbell bench press primarily works your chest, shoulder, and tricep muscles. 

The single arm dumbbell row mainly works your lats, biceps and upper back muscles.

By pairing both exercises together, you can save time. While your chest, shoulder and tricep muscles are resting, you can work your lats, biceps and upper back muscles.

It’s important to rest long enough between exercises to see the best results. For most exercises, you’re going to want to rest 2-3 minutes between sets. The reason for this is you want to be able to recover enough to push the next set hard enough. If you only take 30 seconds between sets, the amount of weight you are able to lift is going to drop off a lot.

Let’s look at how a strength training program using straight sets might look:

1) Dumbbell bench press 

3 sets of 10 reps

*Rest 2 minutes between sets 

2) Dumbbell single arm row 

3 sets of 8 reps each arm

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

Now, you’re going to be taking 12 minutes of rest between both exercises. In the superset example, you’d only be taking 6 minutes of rest!

You’re doing the exact same amount of sets, but by performing the exercises back to back, you’re cutting the amount of rest you’re taking in half!

The reason you can get away with cutting back on the rest is because you’re pairing exercises together that work opposing muscle groups.

Why you should use supersets

The main benefit to incorporating supersets in your workouts is to save you time.

Many of my clients are busy with work and family. They don’t have time to spend hours and hours at the gym trying to build muscle and get stronger.

They also aren’t professional bodybuilders, so they don’t need to train like one!

The good news is by incorporating supersets, you can still get great results.

You’re checking the box of resting enough between sets using the same muscle group, so you’ll still get stronger and build muscle while training.

By pairing exercises together, you’re also going to keep your heart rate up for more of the workout. While the goal of strength training is NOT to burn as many calories as possible, it’s still a nice benefit of supersets.

How to use supersets

While training with supersets is a great way to save time, you shouldn’t be pairing every exercise together.

“Why not? I thought you said supersets are good?!?”

They are good, but you don’t want to overdo them.

When you superset exercises together, you won’t be able to lift as much weight as if you performed the exercises by themselves.

Even though you’re working different muscle groups, you’re still going to be tired from the set you just did.

Sometimes, this tradeoff is worth it. After all, we’re not training to step on the Mr. Olympia stage.

To get the best of both worlds, I like to program a the first 1-2 exercises by themselves. Then I’ll follow the rest of the workout up with supersets to save time.

Here’s an example of an upper body workout using supersets and straight sets:

1) Barbell bench press 

4 sets of 6 reps

*Rest 3 minutes between sets 

2) Dumbbell single arm row

3 sets of 6-8 reps each arm

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

3A) Neutral grip chin-ups 

3 sets of 6-10 reps

3B) TRX push-ups 

3 sets of 6-10 reps

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

4A) Dumbbell hammer curls 

3 sets of 10-12 reps

4B) Dumbbell incline tricep extension

3 sets of 10-12 reps

4C) Dumbbell lateral raises 

3 sets of 10-12 reps

*Rest 1 minute between sets

It’s also important to consider which exercises you pair together.

When setting up your strength training workouts like this, you get the maximal strength and muscle building benefit of performing the first two exercises with complete rest, and the time saving benefit of pairing the exercises in the rest of the workout together.

Usually, the first one or two exercises you do in your strength training program are going to be compound exercises.

A compound exercise is one that uses multiple muscle groups, instead of just one. An isolation exercise uses one muscle group.

For example, a barbell squat is a compound exercise that uses your quads, glutes, and hamstring muscles. 

A dumbbell bicep curl is an isolation exercise that uses your bicep muscles.

Compound exercises require more skill and coordination than isolation exercises. It usually makes sense to put these first in your workout, when you’re the most fresh. It also makes sense to use straight sets for compound exercises where you’ll be trying to lift heavy.

In the upper body example above, you’ll be trying to lift heavy with the barbell bench press and the dumbbell row. 

Even though chin-ups and push-ups are compound exercises, you won’t be using weight for them. They require less skill and coordination to do, so they make a better choice for a superset.

The dumbbell curls, lateral raises and skull crushers are all isolation exercises. You can pair them together to save time without taking away from one another.

If you’re doing full body workouts, you can also superset upper and lower body exercises together. 

Here’s an example of a full body workout using supersets and straight sets:

1) Barbell back squat 

4 sets of 6 reps

*Rest 3 minutes between sets 

2) Dumbbell single arm row 

3 sets of 6-8 reps each arm

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

3A) Dumbbell romanian deadlift 

3 sets of 8-10 reps

3B) Dumbbell bench press 

3 sets of 8-10 reps

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

4A) Hollow holds 

3 sets of 30 seconds

4B) Side planks 

3 sets of 15 seconds each side

*Rest 1m between sets

Another thing to consider when supersetting exercises is where things are in your gym. 

If the dumbbells are on one side of your gym and the cable station is all the way on the other side of the gym, it doesn’t make much sense to do a superset with dumbbells and cables. You won’t save any time if you’re walking all over the gym to do your supersets!

Keep your supersets simple and use the same equipment for both exercises. 

Compound sets

Sometimes confused with supersets, compound sets are when you pair exercises together that work the same muscle group without resting until both exercises are complete.

Here’s an example:

1A) Dumbbell spider curl 

3 sets of 10 reps

1B) Dumbbell incline curl 

3 sets of 6 reps

*Rest 2 minutes between sets

While supersets are primarily used to save time and make your training more efficient, compound sets are used to build muscle.

Compound sets are an advanced muscle building method, and you need to be careful about which exercises you pair together.

How To Use Compound Sets

Bodybuilders typically train with a combination of machines, cables and free weights. The reason they do this is to train their muscles at different lengths, in order to get the most out of their workouts.

Here’s what I mean..

In the example above, the spider curl trains your biceps in the shortened position. This means that when you start the movement, your biceps are already shortened because your arms are flexed in front of your body.

Once you’ve fatigued your biceps in this shortened position, you can flip around on the bench and work your biceps in the lengthened, or stretched position. By having your arms behind your body, your biceps are now stretched out.

The order that you do each movement is important. Your muscles are going to be weaker in the shortened position, which is why you want to do that movement first. You can then move into an exercise that works them in a stretched or neutral position.

Even though you aren’t a bodybuilder looking to step on stage, you can still borrow this technique to bring up lagging muscle groups that you want to grow.

Just like with supersets, you don’t want to overdo compound sets. Sprinkling a few in here or there is all you need.

It’s also a good idea to save compound sets for isolation movements. If you try to use compound sets on big compound exercises like squats and deadlifts, it’s going to be harder to progress on those exercises and you risk getting hurt. 

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Wrapping up

Training with supersets is a great way to make your workouts more efficient. 

You can get more work done in less time, which means you can focus on things outside of the gym that are important to you.

When using supersets, keep in mind that some exercises pair better than others.

To get the most out of your supersets, make sure you pair exercises that are close together in your gym. Pairing exercises together that both use dumbbells, or that both use cables is a good way to make sure you’re keeping things efficient.

Don’t confuse supersets with compound sets! If you’re going to pair exercises together that use the same muscle groups, use isolation exercises over compound exercises and use them sparingly.

If you need help putting together a workout plan that uses supersets and compound sets, you can apply for coaching to see if we’d be a good fit for each other.

If you have any questions, leave them below!