Supersetting BBM Programs

Training Q&A [Moderated]
1

I’ve done your General Strength and Powerbuilding I programs and am currently working my way through Hypertrophy I. I’m old, a little chunky and have never been very quick anyway. I usually find myself taking the full 5 minutes of recovery time between lifts. So when the sets ramp up on your programs, I"m usually taking 90-120 minutes to finish everything. What’s your opinion of me supersetting the 2nd and 3rd exercises to save time? I have no ambitions of doing a meet or anything like that. Just want to be stronger and in better shape so I can keep up with the grandkids when they start coming along in a couple years.

2

Go for it! I do this in my own training all the time.

3

How much does supersetting inhibit strength/hypertrophy gains compared to resting between sets? What about circuit training, like this:

DB Bench
DB Row
Leg Press
Leg Curl
Lateral Raise
Abs

Rest 2 - 3min after each round. Any downsides to training like this?

4

We don’t know an exact answer, but supersets seem to reduce maximum strength improvements significantly. Hypertrophy doesn’t seem to be affected. The circuit you laid out would be fine for health and meeting the exercise guidelines.

2 Likes
5

Can you provide some further info on “supersets seem to reduce maximum strength improvements significantly”?

Is this only true if you superset similar muscle grouping?
For example, does it affect your bench gains if you do calf raises or frog pumps during your rest periods?
What about supersetting antagonistic muscle groups? E.g. Bench with row or curls with tricep extensions.

If you had to choose a way to reduce total workout time, would it be preferable (WRT strength) to cut rest time or superset something?

6

Supersets seem to reduce strength performance and adaptations in both agonist and antagonist muscle groups.

I would cut rest time rather than superset if I was interested in strength adaptations primarily. You could do it the other way too, of course. I think adjusting the program to fit the individual’s available resources should occur first before recommending supersets or reduced rest times.