Super Set Showdown: Myths, Missteps, and Making it Work

Welcome back to the Daily Dumbbell, The fitness newsletter that DMs Carnivore MD every morning asking for a time and place to fight. We’ll let you know if it ever goes down.

Until then we’ll keep hitting you with facts and entertaining stories about the fitness industry. Today we have a sick Whoop Wednesday and a feature on the Do’s and Don’ts of Supersets.

Let’s dive in!

Whoop Wednesday:

Welcome back to Whoop Wednesday! Everyone’s favorite guinea pig experiment with our Caffeinator in Chief; Colin.

Each Wednesday we’ll share the data gleaned from the tracker and see if we can suss out any interesting insights.

Metrics:

Metric of The Week: Recovery

I was sick over the weekend and still felt like shit on Monday. I woke up on Tuesday feeling a lot better. Still a little under the weather, but good enough to try a workout maybe? Two nights of 100% sleep had me feeling spry. But when I checked my recovery… 57%. Fuck.

And today? 40%. Damn.

I love the strain wave graphic above. The more recovered you are the more strain your body can handle. The lower strain scores would be a little higher but I cut my Saturday workout short and skipped Sunday.

Also pretty proud of the sleep consistency even though I need to get slightly more sleep each night. Baby steps.

Insights:

• When I’m recovered my HRV is in the mid 30s. If it’s in the 20s i’m either beat up or sick. The score is helpful and has so far aligned with how I’m feeling.

• It’s hard to get 100% sleep score. I was going to bed between 8:30 and 9pm all weekend and its the first time I’ve hit 100%.

• The strain score has caught up to my level of fitness. In the beginning it would tell me I reached optimal strain halfway through each workout. Now I have to push myself pretty hard to get past that.

Wednesday Wellness:
Super Set Showdown

In the pursuit of fitness gains and time efficiency, many have turned to supersets - pairing two exercises back-to-back with little to no rest in between.

They've been touted as a way to maximize muscle growth and save time. But somewhere along the line, the art of supersets has been misunderstood, leading to some questionable gym practices. Let's play the game of 'Do This, Not That' to bust some myths and steer you towards effective superset workouts.

1. Think Exercise Pairing, Not Complex Movements

Don't: Merge two exercises that require significantly different weights. A common culprit is the bicep curl into shoulder press. You're doing yourself a disservice if you're pressing the same weight you're curling. Your shoulders can handle more, and you're selling them short!

Do: Pair exercises that work complementary muscle groups and can be done with similar weights. A great superset example is bench press followed by bent over rows. Both exercises can be performed with comparable weight, and you're hitting antagonistic muscle groups - the chest and the back.

2. Keep Quality, Not Just Quantity

Don't: Sacrifice form for the sake of doing two exercises together. If your form is breaking down because you're tired from the first exercise, it's not a productive superset. Think Squat Thrusters.

Do: Choose exercises that you can perform with perfect form, even when fatigued. You want the second exercise to still provide a stimulus without risking injury.

3. Respect Rest, Don't Neglect It

Don't: Rush into the next set without adequate rest. Remember, the idea of supersets is to make your workouts more efficient, not to turn them into a race.

Do: Take a short rest after each superset. This allows for a better quality workout and ensures you have enough energy to maintain proper form.

Put It Into Practice:

Antagonist Sets:

• Bench Press & Lat Pulldown

• Incline Dumbbell Press & Chest Supported Rows

We love to pair opposing movements (a push and a pull) in opposite planes (horizontal & vertical). Also barbell moves with DB moves. In this way you have the least amount of overlap in muscle groups from one move to the next.

Agonist Supersets 

• Tricep Pushdowns & Banded Tricep Burnout

• Bicep Curl Drop Sets

These are really popular in bodybuilding circles because of bro science. They pump the muscle up like nothing else. Which, just like getting really sweaty in a bootcamp class, doesn’t equal progress.

If you want to do these, focus on isolation exercises (one muscle group at a time) and use them as a burnout at the end of your workout.

Tri-Sets/Circuits

• Leg/Push/Pull

• 3 different muscle groups

Ending your workout with a Bicep Curl, Tricep Extension, and a Lateral Raise for an upper body day. Or a Step Up, Single Leg Hip Thrust, And Ab exercise for leg day.

Alternatively you could build a full body workout this way. Where you’ll do Squats, DB Incline Press, & DB Bent Rows one after another. Rest 2 minutes and repeat 3-4 times. This is an effective way to train, but again will sacrifice at least a little bit of strength.

Last Word:

Supersets, when done correctly, can be a powerful tool in your workout arsenal. But let's leave the flashy, goofy shit out of it.

Hope you enjoyed today’s newsletter! Have a fantastic hump day and don’t forget to come back and join us tomorrow for our feature on Vo2 Max!