What works =/= what’s optimal… I always ask myself “Is this optimal for the outcomes I want” … if not then I change it.
I do like chest / back together. 2 exercises / 2 sets each
1 Like
I did Back/Chest on Mondays during all of my 40’s. But it was 5 back exercises and 3 chest exercises. A full old school level of sets
1 Like
I do enjoy thought-provoking disagreement.
As always, I think we kill ourselves with absolutes.
For instance, of course fascia stretches. It’s a tissue. Just get fat and see that your viscera didn’t explode from your abdomen like an Aliens cut scene. Your point is likely that cell-swelling training methods produce an insignificant and transient stretch, which may be fair, but it is a slightly different argument.
Similarly, I just can’t get onboard with the false dichotomy of volume vs intensity. We say things like, only failure matters, but of course we wouldn’t advocate just throwing double your max on the bar, proving you’re unable to lift it, and calling it good. Nor does a volume proponent typically advise a trainee to never progress and to just mindlessly pump thousands of repetitions. Both variables must be important, and a program must account for both.
I think “optimal” is maybe the silliest word we throw around, because we don’t typically ask “for what?” Optimal can change by the day. If my goals are pure hypertrophy, I’m killing it, feel healthy, sleeping, etc., optimal may be a 2-hour session with plenty of rest times and sets to failure. If I feel awful, I’m in a hotel gym, CV health is a concern, and I’ve got 45 minutes before I leave for the airport, today’s optimal is likely fast-paced supersets that keeps my heart rate above 110 for the session.
4 Likes
Now we’re getting somewhere! Forget the theoretical, what’s everyone Actually doing.
2 Likes
This thread is exactly why every other forum thinks this forum is a fuckin joke.
1 Like
The only potential benefit to doing a Superset would be better form due to activated assistor muscles - which does not apply to the way you are using Supersets.
You would be better served by not using supersets in this manner and instead separating the exercises entirely.
1 Like
Expound more. Seems like an exchange of opinions. Plus some suggestions.
1 Like
I usually doing a chest pressing movement superset with a fly movement
1 Like
As opposed to Reddit forums of liberal nut jobs going full meltdown mode… This is a good forum with some solid people and ideas, and we typically are respectful of each other.
2 Likes
At least it’s a funny joke.
You couldn’t write it any better than how this played out.
3 Likes
This was the long held approach to supersets prior to the pre-exhaustion style. I felt a much better feel the traditional superset method.
Also, I really liked the arm pump of supersetting biceps and triceps. I did those occasionally to change things up a little.
3 Likes
I don’t actually do a ton of super setting mostly because it irritates me to try to plan out how to hold down equipment. I do like super setting bis and tris same as several of you gents.
This is silly. Either you speak the absolute truth or we’re a joke and all the cool kids say so? I know you are far more mature than that and certainly capable of handling being challenged.
3 Likes
Holy cow, that sounds like an absolutely terrible existence. How do you manage?
1 Like
Low volume / high intensity, of course
Thats ONE decision, and even then that’s not arriving at optimal. To be ALWAYS thinking about if you are optimal: I would crack
Quest for the Grail
You should do what you enjoy and continues to work. Based on the gym and not what you read on the Interwebz.
Supersets save time. They train muscles efficiently. They work very well - until they don’t. I think they are worth doing for some of your training. They can sometimes be hard to do in the busy commercial gym where I train if they use different equipment.
Are they better than clusters? Dunno. Best to mix things up in my experience. Whoever talked about false absolutes was on to something. Volume is good. Intensity is good. Use moderate weights and heavy weights. Use compound lifts that work more muscle and give yourself a stupid challenge once in a while to keep things interesting.
4 Likes
Staggered super-sets are great for training density…normally, when I do SS’s in just about any other way it’s mostly just used as a finisher.