Learn the Simple Secrets of Supersets for More Muscle Now

By: Gregg Gillies

There are quite a number of effective muscle building techniques
and weight lifting tips you can use in your lifting programs. By
putting together a plan and implementing these muscle ideas in
an effective manner, you can create a variety of weight training
routines that will help you to gain muscle mass as quickly as
your genetics allow.

One of the best weightlifting tips you can use is a variation of
the superset technique. If you're not familiar with supersets,
here's a quick rundown.

A superset is when you perform two exercises back to back with
no rest in between the exercises. There are a number of
different versions of the superset. One is called
pre-exhaustion. This is when you perform two exercises for the
same muscle. The first exercise is an isolation movement, such
as flyes for the pecs. Then you perform a compound movement for
the same muscle. In this case you would use the bench press.

By performing a superset in this manner, you pre-fatigue the
muscle you are working (in this case the pecs) and then hit it
hard with a compound movement that allows other muscles that are
still fresh to help the pecs (in this case the delts and
triceps) work even harder. This manner of superset is designed
to help overcome weaker muscles in an exercise so you can work
the main muscle group harder. In this example, a lot of times
the weaker triceps will give out on the bench press before the
stronger pecs are effectively trained.

Another variation of this muscle building technique is
post-exhaustion, where you perform the exercises the way I
described above but in reverse. So using this weightlifting tip,
you would peform the bench press and then go to the flyes. This
version allows you to use heavier weights on the main exercise,
in this case the bench press, and then use the isolation
exercise to up the intensity and further work the muscle. I've
always preferred this verisio to the typical pre-exhaustion
method. Call it ego, but I would rather drop the weight on use
on flyes than I would on my bench press.

Another variation would be to take a brief 30 second rest
between the two exercises. This gives you a lot of the positives
of the muscle building superset but helps to minimize the main
negatives, which is stopping the set short from aerobic
exhaustion before working the muscles efficiently, and the fact
that you need to reduce the weights on the second exercise.

A very effective muscle building alternative to the mass
training techniques above is performing supersets of
antagonistic muscle groups, such as back and chest, biceps and
triceps, quadriceps and hamstrings, etc. In the case of the
chest and back you could superset bench presses with bent over
rows.

While these are all effective muscle building techniques, one
that you may find even better is the following. When utilizing
antagonistic supersets, consider taking your typical rest
between sets. So instead of supersetting with no rest between
sets, you go back and forth with rest, like you would with
straight sets.

Let's say your typical weight training workout for back and
chest consists of 5 sets of the bench press followed by 5 sets
of bent over rows. Now, if you were using supersets, you'd
perform one set for the chest and then do one set for the back
with no rest, then rest for 2 - 3 minutes and repeat this five
times.

Instead of utilizing the superset technique in this manner, you
would do one set of the bench press, take your normal rest, then
do a set of bent over rows, take your normal rest, and repeat
until finished. In other words, you would stagger your sets. You
wouldn't really be doing a typical superset so much as switching
back and forth between bench presses and bent over rows with a
normal rest period.

What's the advantage of this mass training tactic? For one, you
won't get winded as you might in a more traditional superset,
especially when performing big, compound exercises for body
parts like the chest and back. You'll also be able to use
heavier weights and you'll concentrate better because you won't
have the tendency to rush as you might in a typical superset.

You can also adjust your training to your goals. You can change
the amount of time you rest between sets to focus more on
strength and power or pure muscle building and mass gains.

These muscle building techniques have a unique advantage when
performing the antagonistic muscle group version. Whenever you
work a muscle group, it's antagonist works to some degree as
well. For example, when you work the biceps with barbell or
dumbbell curls, you're also working the triceps, especially when
you resist the weight on the way down. Think about it. Lowering
the weight on a barbell curl is effectively the same motion as a
reverse grip tricep pressdown.

When you do a bent over row, it's like the negative of a bench
press. When you do the negative on the bench press, it's like
the positive part of the rep on the bent over row.

That bit of work helps the antagonist muscle recover faster.
Consider how you recover faster from a run by walking as opposed
to dropping to the ground and lying still.

By using these antagonist supersets, you'll also find yourself
stronger on each exercise, because of the extended rest. Using
the example above, you'll get a lot more rest between sets of
bent over rows when using this version of the superset than you
do when you do straight sets.

These superset weight lifting tips are awesome for gaining
muscle mass and strength. You can use these superset variations
in any weigh trainng split.

Try these superset muscle building techniques for six to eight
weeks and watch your muscle mass and your strength shoot
forward. After six to eight weeks of hard training, you'll want
to back off a bit and then switch to a completely different
weight training routine.

About the author:
Gregg Gillies is the founder of Build Lean Muscle.com
His articles have appeared in Ironman Magazine. He has written
two books and is a regular contributor to Body Talk Magazine.
Grab a copy of his free ebook Fast Mass! at Build
Muscle