Stuck for time? I was the other day and had to cram a chest and back workout into under 30mins. I didn’t want to drop any exercises, because I would not be training as hard. So how did I fit it all in? I used opposing muscle supersets.
For those of you who don’t know what a superset is, it’s one set completed straight after another, with no rest in between. A good superset example would be bench press/flat bench flys. Where you would bang out a set on the bench the as soon as the weight is on the rack pick up the dumbbells and bust out a set of flys. An opposing muscle group superset is a superset using opposing muscle groups. This was perfect for my chest/back workout as these muscle groups are opposing. Nitro Strength best supplement for growth muscle.Here are some other opposing muscle groups:
Opposing muscle groups:
- Quads/hamstrings
- Chest/back
- Triceps/biceps
- Abdominals/lower back
Why opposing supersetting works:
If you’re stuck for time there is no other way that you can get an effective workout in. If you dropped your rest times, you wouldn’t be ale to lift as much weight. If you supersetted the same muscle group you would become fatigued quickly. And finally, if you dropped exercises or sets out of your workout you wouldn’t stress the muscle as much as your regular workout.
Obviously a completely supersetted workout is going to be a lot harder than usual, but at the end of the day you’re stuck for time and want to do the most you can with the time you have.
My workout supersetted:
Here’s my original workout:
- Flat bench
- Incline bench
- Weighted dips
- Flat bench flys
- Pullups
- Close grip pull downs
- Cable rows
- Reverse flys
And here’s my opposing muscle superset workout:
- Flat bench/Pullup superset
- Incline bench/Close grip pulldowns superset
- Rows/Dips superset
- Flat bench flys/Reverse flys superset
I completed that workout in just under 30 mins, there’s not much more you can do in that time! And you can apply the same technique to other workouts and muscle groups.
NB: I’m sure some of you are thinking “hey, I can do this all the time and workout in 30mins or less!”. While this is the best way to get a full workout into 30 mins, it’s not the best way to build muscle. The first exercise in the superset gets most of your energy, and while you are using different muscles, the energy still comes from the same place. Not enough energy, you won’t push as much weight.