Fitness
Body Doubled
Shave minutes and add muscle with our new superset solutions
Supersets are the extra-value meals of exercise: more of what you want, at a lower cost. They can give you more muscle in less time, with less energy expenditure and even less boredom.
You probably know the basic idea behind supersets: You alternate between sets of different exercises with little rest in between, rather than knock out all your sets of one exercise before moving on to the next.
Here's a quick example of why supersets are, for lack of a better word, super. Say you want to do four sets each of bench presses and seated cable rows, 10 repetitions per set, with two minutes' rest between sets. Let's assume each repetition takes six seconds, so a complete set takes 60 seconds. With straight sets, it takes 24 minutes.
Now, let's superset these two exercises and take 90 seconds' rest after each exercise. So you'll do a set of bench presses, rest 90 seconds, do a set of rows, rest 90 seconds, and repeat.
This time, you complete the same program in 20 minutes, which is nice. But the key difference is that you take a full four minutes to recover between one set of bench presses and the next, and between sets of rows. This means you can use more weight for these exercises and, as a result, get more total work done in less time.
With some creativity, you can use supersets to build more muscle, burn fat, and get stronger. So strap on your cape and get ready to supersize your workouts.
Supersets for bigger muscles
Your muscles have two types of fibers. The smaller, slow-twitch fibers are used primarily for endurance activities, and the bigger, fast-twitch fibers mostly come into play when you need to move a heavy object, or move a light object fast. But all the fibers-big and small, fast and slow-have the potential to get larger. So it makes sense to work them all if you want the biggest muscles possible.
The plan: Do 10 repetitions of one exercise, then 20 repetitions of a different exercise for the same muscle group, without rest. Then rest 60 seconds and repeat. Two or three of the following supersets is plenty.
Example 1: Builds chest, triceps, front shoulders
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
(10 repetitions) Set an incline bench to about 30 degrees. Hold the weights just above the top of your chest, then push them straight up.
Pushup
(20 repetitions) Get on the floor with your back straight, your body weight resting on your palms and toes. Lower yourself to the floor, then push back up.
Example 2: Builds lats, biceps
Close-grip Chinup
(10 repetitions) Grab a chinup bar with an underhand grip, your hands 6-12 inches apart. Hang at arm's length, then pull your chin up over the bar, pause, and lower yourself.
Wide-grip Lat Pulldown
(20 repetitions) Grab the bar with the widest possible overhand grip. Pull the bar down to your chest, pause, then return to the starting position.
» Fitness archive
Men's Health Philippines - July 2005 Issue
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