Supersets, circuits and how opposites attract!
In today’s article I’m going to introduce you to some of my favorite exercises and also explain the benefits of these exercises and why you should be including them in your workouts regardless of your fitness goal, whether your goal is weight/ fat loss, muscle gain or increased cardiovascular capacity.
Supersets: The superset is a very simple concept. Basically you just do two exercises one after another with no rest in between.
There are several different kinds of supersets, but the one I want to talk about today is the antagonistic supersets. An antagonistic superset is when you work a muscle then work an opposite muscle. E.g. pushups followed by chin-ups.
The advantages of training like this are as follows:
Saves time: There’s no need to be in the gym all day. By working opposite muscles one after another you will effectively be doing twice the work in half the time!
Increased intensity: You can have an even harder workout using this type of training because you are immediately working an opposite muscle group instead of resting, causing your heart rate to stay elevated.
Burn more fat: When we are working a muscle, our heart rate becomes elevated because it has to move oxygen and blood to the working muscle. When we immediately work an opposite muscle our heart rate is elevated even higher as our heart then has to push that oxygen and blood from the muscle you just worked into the opposite muscle that you are now working, causing your heart rate to go into the anaerobic training zone (sprint zone). The simple equation this creates….. The higher your heart rate, the more calories you’re burning. The more calories you burn, the more weight/fat loss you achieve.
Stimulate muscle growth: supersets increase lactic acid production. The body responds to the lactic acid production by increasing growth hormone levels in the body.
Growth hormone is a powerful fat loss and muscle building hormone.
Tri-sets: A tri-set is the same as a superset but you are doing three exercises working opposite muscles in a row with no rest instead of two. E.g. pushups then chin-ups and then squats!
Training this way has the same benefits as doing supersets, although those benefits are enhanced. Training this way will give you a more intense workout than doing standard supersets. Your heart and lungs will be working even harder and you will also improve your cardiovascular capacity.
Circuit training: Circuit training is a total body workout that involves performing a series of different exercises in one training session one after another with no rest in between.
The most effective way to structure your circuit is to once again work different or opposite muscles immediately after each other. E.g. pushups, chin-ups, squats, ab crunch etc.
Ideally you want to put 8-10 exercises into your circuit.
The benefits of circuit training are the same as listed above for supersets and tri-sets. They save time, increase training intensity and burn more fat!
In addition to these benefits, you can enhance the cardiovascular and muscular endurance components of your workout by adding cardiovascular exercises into your resistance circuits. You could add exercises such as skipping rope, stationary bike, rower, treadmill, step ups etc. to create the ultimate complete full body time efficient workout.
So now that you are armed with this new found training knowledge, I look forward to hearing about all the great workouts that you will come up with on your own.
Good Luck!