Opposing Muscle Supersets to reduce time in the gym

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hi everyone,

this is my first post so I hope I’m not asking something that has already been answered. I’d like to ask if supersets can be used effectively to reduce time at the gym. What I currently try to do is, instead of 5 minutes break between each set, I do 2-3 minutes but I alternate between two exercises, e.g Squat and OH Press. It seems to be very effective at saving time but I’m not sure if it’s detrimental to progress. Would you recommend supersets or just cutting down my breaks to 3 minutes but keep one exercise at a time?

After following multiple templates I created my own program and it currently looks like this: (All compound lifts at rpe 8-9 - Isolation lifts last set to failure)

Monday:

  • Squat 3-4 x 5 & OH Press 4 - 5 x 4
  • Pull Ups 3-4 x 7 & Dumbell Bench Press 3-4 x 8
  • RDL 3-4 x 8 & Lu Raises 3-4 x 10-15

Tuesday:

  • Zone 2 Cardio 80 minutes & Abs 10 minutes

Wednesday:

  • Squat 3-4 x 7 & OH Press 4-5 x 6
  • Pendley Rows 3-4 x 10 & Inc. Db Press 3-4 x 12
  • Hip Thrusts & Dips 3-4 x 10

Thursday:

  • Zone 2 Cardio 80 minutes and Pull Ups 15 minutes AMRAP

Friday:

  • Deadlift 4-5 x 4 & Leg Raises AMRAP
  • Split Squats 4-5 10 & Planks
  • Leg Extensions & Hamstring Curls 3-4 x 12

Saturday:

  • OH Press 3-4 x 5 & Dumbell Rows 3-4 x 12
  • Lateral Pull Downs & Db. Bench Press 3-4 x 10
  • Cable Lateral Raises & Curls 3-4 x 10-15

Sunday:

  • Zone 2 Cardio 80 minutes & Abs 10 minutes

Looking forward to your comments guys

2

Hey Stef,

I don’t think you’re likely to maximize strength gain this way, but it’ll probably be fine for improving strength, muscle size, and so on. I don’t think the majority of your compound exercise sets should be at RPE 8 and RPE 9, but that may be more a function of the superset setup. I’ve done blocks of supersets before where I pair two antagonistic movements together, then rest 3 min after the superset. It was fine, but I wouldn’t use this setup for maximum strength gain. For that, I’d do each exercise on its own with 3-4 min rest periods.

-Jordan

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3

Hi Jordan, thanks for the response, I’ll keep that in mind then. If I understand the answer correctly, it’s best to do less volume but keep each exercise separate, rather than more volume using supersets, at least for strength

4

I wouldn’t agree with that generalization, as volume is very important. However, I don’t think supersetting compound exercises that you’re interested in for maximum strength work well.

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