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health & fitness

Exercise Training Using Super Sets

by Paula Allia, PT, DHSc, MTC, OCS
here are several different methods to breaths and heart rate increase along with oxygen consumption. This
use when one wants to participate higher training density allows for a faster more productive workout
T in exercise training. No matter what which will overall improve fitness and cardiovascular responses to the
level, movement is necessary to work the muscles being used.
muscles and joints. Active motion incorporates Some super sets can be done where the muscles on the opposite
the contractions of skeletal muscles which pull sides of the joint are used for alternate sets. Reciprocal inhibition
on the bones and ultimately move and limber will assist in resting the opposite muscles that are being worked with
the joints by increasing blood circulation and the focus being on the active working set. Rest to the non working
warming the fluid around the joints in order to allow more fluid muscles allows for blood flow to carry away the waste products from
movement while decreasing stiffness from cold unexercised joints. the exercise.
Training can be done that focuses on certain muscles while The following are some examples of supersets:
exercising to fatigue then providing 2-3 minutes of recovery time • Chest press and prone or bend over flys
before repeating the same exercise. Up to 4-7 sets are typically done • Biceps curls and triceps extensions
using this method. The long pause in between is for recovery time. • Dips and pull ups
The one problem with this method is the time between sets. Typically • Knee extensions and hamstring curls
most people do not have extended amounts of time for training so • In summary, there is a lot of work performed by muscles in super
this would limit the amount of different exercises one can do in one sets while less time between sets is used. Maximal effort teaches the
session. body to work and improve performance with maximal effort. The
Many people actually train with trainers. The same method body will still feel muscle soreness and fatigue but the end result will
mentioned may be used but then there is time between sets that may be improved fitness being achieved with the time between exercises
feel wasted. An alternative is using super sets. significantly less. If you have limited time, consider these supersets to
One of the best methods to use is super-set training. This method boost your results. There is always time for at least one super set!
utilizes consecutive set exercises performed with the majority of Here’s to your strength and endurance!
muscles being used to be different than the first set done. Usually
this is done using only two specific exercises. By doing this, there is
a significant decrease in rest time between these two sets. These two
exercises are repeated for 3-4 sets. The muscles are thus challenged
and there is more work completed in a certain amount of time.
This means that there is an increase in training density. Increased

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