Eric specializes in helping athletes and online clients achieve optimal performance in the gym and on the playing field. Some people actually think this technique blunder is the correct form. Here's what you need to do. CrossFit has a total too. If we’re not using them as much in stabilization for the front squat, we might as well use them for actually generating movement. It also brings the lifter closer to the ground, so hip mobility deficits can’t interfere with getting down to the bar without a rounded back. What are straight sets and supersets… Position your thumbs around the handle, palms flat against the inner plate. The idea is pretty simple: you’re making your training more efficient. I structure programs this way because I want people to rest between sides on these movements. This plan has your workout laid out for you – no matter the goal. This is probably where we’ve come to recognize the value of supersets more than anywhere else. To the naked eye (and stomach), this would just seem like torture, but whether he recognized it or not, Tony was on to something. Once you move on to your bench press, your pecs will fail earlier than usual, thereby hitting more muscle fibers (but limiting performance). Tip: Use 5 Types of Supersets | T Nation. Smart move. Powerlifting Training Strength Training Workouts Training Tips Training Exercises Fitness Exercises Gain Muscle Fitness Tracker Metabolism Fun … Let’s look at what this works out to over the course of five sets, assuming a two-minute rest between sets and a set duration of thirty seconds: Effectively, you’ve doubled your training density while only investing 33% more time. Recently, it was Tony Gentilcore’s turn to write up the monthly program, and our first superset on a Thursday lift was as follows: A1) Bench Press Clusters: 4 x (4×2) — 10s A2) Farmer’s Walk: 4x80yds, going as far as you can on the last set. So, rather than doing a set of bench presses and then standing around for two minutes before the next set, you superset the bench presses with a variation of rows or a flexibility exercise, for instance. All Rights Reserved. All you’ll need are a bench, a lat pulldown or seated calf raise, a pair of balls, and a good stomach. Time is our most precious commodity. Supersets for Super Results | T Nation. Supersets; Alternating Sets; Supersets and alternating sets are quite similar. So, training is more dense. We use the giant cambered bar a lot. Time under tension. For variation, you can squat to various depths, from pins or a box, or against bands/chains. Check it out. Here’s what you need to know… • When you discover the weak point in your deadlift – and everyone has one – you need to get creative. Saved by T NATION. This will help you "feel" a target muscle. For instance, you can do an upper-body antagonist superset on Monday and another on Thursday, while doing a lower body antagonist superset on Tuesday and another on Friday. Supersets can help you gain more muscle in less time, but only if you know how to pair the perfect exercises. Do a set of presses, and instead of just waiting 2-3 minutes to go back to another set of presses, we go to a pull in the middle of the rest period. by Dave Dellanave T-Nation . The logical next question is, of course, what kind of “pushes” and “pulls?” It’s a pretty easy division to make, via four categories: 2. From my perspective, effective lower body pairings are safe, but sufficiently compound and functional enough to activate enough muscle mass and have some functional carryover to the real world. Unlike agonist supersets, antagonist supersets can be performed more closely together in your training routine. You can easily turn a pre-stimulating superset into a pre-fatiguing superset simply by changing your approach. Each cluster consists of 4 sets of 2 reps with 10 seconds rest between sets. Do 45-degree back extensions before hip thrusts to improve glute recruitment. I get quite a few questions about how to plug single-leg exercises into supersets. The answer, as the overwhelming majority of T NATION readers knows, is that A1 and A2 indicates a superset. A1) Deadlift variation A2) Heavy panting! This book, which had a bit more “mass market” flavor than the overwhelming majority of my work, was being sold online and in bookstores from Idaho to Thailand, and many of the people buying it were Average Joes who didn’t know how to interpret the programs I’d written. Let's fix it. So which […] One of the best intensity building techniques you can do in your workout program is the superset. And it delivers, every time. Here's the alternative that's just as good. Grab the dumbbells with both hands and get your body into a strong, athletic stance with the hips slightly hinged back and the torso leaning forward just a bit. Max. But are they really the best tests of athleticism? So, I guess it would technically be treated like a triset (or quad-set, if one of these drills is performed on each side). Eric Cressey is an elite-level performance specialist with training facilities located in the Boston area and Jupiter, FL. Build a crushing grip and big nasty forearms with this unique exercise. The idea is that by putting these “mini-rests” between sets of 2, you can use a heavier weight for your sets than if you’d just done eight straight reps. With that in mind, one substitute we’ve used is pairing reverse lunges with a front squat grip with any of the vertical pulling variations, and just extended the rest time a bit. Check out this new science. There are also a couple of distinct variations of agonist supersets: If you've ever struggled to feel your chest on a bench press or your lats on a pull-up, pre-fatigue agonists can be the perfect remedy to improve muscle fiber recruitment and the mind-muscle connection. All told, you might wind up doing 32 reps with as much as 85% of your 1-rep max. An antagonist superset is a pairing of exercises with opposite movement patterns. We know supersets work; in fact, it might be one of the few things that the overwhelming majority of strength coaches and personal trainers agree on! Saved from t-nation.com. I realized I was in Fantasyland, though, when my second book, Maximum Strength, was published in June of 2008. Pair our lower-body work with some kind of core stability or mobility drill of supersets | t Nation depress! 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