What Is a Superset? Back-to-Back Sets for Saving Time and Making Gains

It’s time we talked about one of the most popular advanced training techniques in the gym toolkit: the superset.

If you’ve seen someone speed-walking back and forth between the bench press and the pull-up bar, or there is a machine that looks empty, but with a sweaty towel resting on it like a flag, you’ve likely witnessed a superset in the wild.

Here is the breakdown of what they are, why we do them, and how to use them in your workouts.

So, What Is a Superset?

If we break it down to the basics, a superset is when you do two exercises back-to-back with no rest (or as little rest as possible) in between.

Normally, you do a set, doomscroll for two minutes, and then do another set. When you’re supersetting, you do Exercise A, immediately do Exercise B, and then you take a breather.

You could say that it is a way to increase the density of your workout; either doing more work in the same amount of time or doing the same amount of work in drastically less time.

Supersetting is particularly popular with bodybuilders, with more than 60% reporting doing it regularly.¹

And despite supersets being an advanced technique, beginners often find them more fun than regular sets, even though they require more effort and discomfort.²

The Three Different Flavors of Supersets

Not all supersets are created equal. Depending on which muscle groups you train together, you can pair different exercises and get a different stimulus.

First, I’m going to go through the three big, primary types: antagonist, agonist, and upper/lower supersets.

Antagonist Superset

The classic is the antagonist superset.

You pair opposing muscles, like biceps with triceps or chest with back. Antagonist supersets were the favorite of the Austrian Oak, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who used to superset his way through the workouts of his Arnold split like this.

You keep your performance high, because while your chest is working, your back is resting, and vice versa. There is also some evidence suggesting that training like this can actually increase your power output.³

Plus, you get out of the gym way faster, and the all-encompassing pump you get when you train this way is awesome. It’s by far my favorite type of superset, and I utilize it quite often, especially when I train arms.

Agonist Superset

Then there’s the agonist superset, sometimes called a same-muscle superset or a compound set.

Now you pair two exercises for the same muscle group, like a set of bench presses going straight into push-ups, for example.

It’s a popular superset with bodybuilders because it drives a lot of blood into the muscle (pump) and accumulates time under tension and metabolic stress.

Unlike with antagonist supersets, you won’t be able to lift as heavy on the second exercise because fatigue piles up quickly.

Upper/Lower Superset

The third of the big three is the upper/lower (or lower/upper) superset, where you alternate between upper- and lower-body exercises, like pull-ups into lunges.

You spread the work across distant muscle groups so that you’re not bottlenecked by local fatigue. Instead, the limiting factor becomes breathing, circulation, and general misery rather than any single muscle.

Upper/lower supersets flirt with conditioning and can give you a good cardiovascular workout if you pair big muscle groups. They’re popular in athletic or general fitness training, not so much for bodybuilding.

Variations of the Big Three Supersets

There are also a number of superset subcategories. Here we find types of supersets that fall under one or more of the above big three.

Compound Superset

Not to be confused with a compound set (any agonist superset), the compound superset means both exercises are compound (multi-joint) exercises, like squats into overhead presses or bench presses into rows.

A compound superset can be either of the big three. For example, a squat followed by the overhead press is a lower/upper superset, and the bench press followed by the barbell row is an antagonist superset.

Compound supersets tax not just your muscles but your entire cardiovascular system (and willpower). It’s a very time-effective way to train many muscles in a short amount of time, but it requires strong focus to maintain good technique even when you get tired.

Isolation Superset

The isolation superset pairs two single-joint exercises. It can be any of the big three, like biceps curls + triceps pushdowns (antagonist), biceps curls + concentration curls (agonist), lateral raises + calf raises (upper/lower).

Isolation supersets work well for getting a good pump and are much less physically and mentally challenging than most other supersets.

Pre-Exhaustion Superset

A pre-exhaustion superset is when you start with an isolation exercise to fatigue a muscle, then immediately do a compound exercise that uses that muscle. A classic example would be leg extensions before squats. Pre-exhaustion supersets are always agonist supersets.

The idea is to make sure you fully exhaust the target muscle. For example, when you squat, your lower back or glutes might give out before your quads are fully toasted. By hitting your quads with leg extensions first, you make them the weak link so that when you move to the squat, your fresh glutes and lower back can push the now-fatigued quads to absolute failure.

Pre-exhaustion is an old-school but still very popular bodybuilding technique, but research does not support it being better than traditional sets for strength or muscle growth.⁴

A real benefit, however, is if you’re really strong, as it allows you to use lower (and safer) weights in compound exercises and still stress the muscle just as much.

Post-Exhaustion Superset

Flip that order, and you get the post-exhaustion superset, another type of agonist superset. Here, you do the compound lift first, then isolate the same muscle with a single-joint exercise.

Bench presses into chest flyes is a common example. You keep your strength work intact while still wringing the muscle dry afterward. It’s a good way to completely fatigue a muscle and go beyond failure, and you get a tremendous pump.

Unrelated Superset

Finally, the oddball: unrelated supersets, also called peripheral supersets (or, as I like to think about them, chaos supersets).

You pair two exercises that don’t compete at all or don’t belong together, like calf raises with lateral raises, curls into planks, or, if you want to go wild, deadlifts into bench presses.

These exist mostly to save time and are common in circuit-style programs. You also see them in busy gyms during rush hour, with lifters doing every exercise with a certain piece of equipment while they still have their hands on it.

Are Supersets Effective?

Short answer: yes. Supersets are effective, but like most advanced training techniques, they’re powerful in the right context and mediocre in the wrong one.

Muscle Growth (Hypertrophy)

For building muscle, supersets are generally as effective as regular, straight sets. Not more effective, despite potentially more metabolic stress, but not less effective either.^{5 6}

That’s probably the best possible outcome.

If you enjoy supersets and/or want to save time, you can superset your heart out without worrying about hampering muscle growth.

And if you don’t enjoy them, you can stay well away without losing out on gains.

Strength

For strength, supersets also work well, but for maximal strength gains and for very heavy loads (>90% of your 1RM), traditional sets have the edge.^{5 6 7}

Being able to train really heavy, especially in compound lifts, depends on freshness, coordination, and full recovery between sets. You’re not getting those things fully if you superset.

In addition, a 2025 review suggested that “supersets are not appropriate for heavy, bilateral, compound lifts—such as squats, deadlifts, and Olympic movements—due to safety and fatigue concerns”.⁶

If your training goal is strength and you want to use supersets (perhaps to save time), consider resting a little between sets instead of rushing from one exercise to the next with no rest.

Calorie Burn

One commonly claimed benefit of supersetting is that you burn more calories doing so.

However, that is not the case. There is no difference in energy expenditure either during or after a superset workout compared to a workout where you rest between sets.⁸

I get where the notion comes from—you can feel more fatigued, and your heart is racing, but heart rate does not, in and of itself, determine how many calories you burn.

Instead, the amount of work your muscles do is the big factor. And as long as you compare the same number of sets, calorie burn does not increase by resting less. Your workout just takes less time.

And speaking of time:

Time-Efficiency

This is the big benefit. Supersets save a ton of time. You get the same amount of work done significantly faster. Or, if you have a set workout time, you can do much more work in that time.

A recent review found that using supersets reduced training by, on average, 37% compared to traditional sets.⁵

Of course, that number can vary a lot depending on things like the exercises you superset (big compounds will take longer, from everything from setup to execution) to whether you try to minimize rest times as much as possible or allow yourself 30–60 seconds to recover (it’s still a superset).

Regardless, you can expect to cut your training sessions by roughly one-third if you implement supersets. Usually without sacrificing training quality.

Example Superset Workouts

Before closing this one out, let me give you two great examples of beginner superset workouts you can try in your own training.

We’re doing one arm (biceps + triceps) superset workout and one chest + back session today.

Both these workouts are free in our workout log app, StrengthLog. When you follow them in the app, you can easily keep track of the weights you use and how many reps you do, so you know what to beat next time.

Beginner Biceps and Triceps Superset Workout

This is a simple but very effective arm workout where you use both free weights and cable machines.

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Barbell Curl + Barbell Lying Triceps Extension	2	6
Barbell Preacher Curl + Barbell Standing Triceps Extension	2	10
Cable Curl + Triceps Pushdown	2	15

Do two supersets of each combo, resting only as long as you need to move between exercises in a superset, then rest ~2 minutes between supersets.

Beginner Chest and Back Superset Workout

This is an excellent workout for your entire chest and back that also trains the rest of your upper body (your shoulders and arms are involved when you press and push for chest and back).

Exercise	Sets	Reps
Bench Press + Barbell Row	2	8–10
Incline Dumbbell Press + Lat Pulldown	2	10
Cable Chest Fly + Seated Cable Row	2	10–12
Dumbbell Pullover	2	10

Again, rest as little as you can between superset exercises, then rest up between supersets.

In the StrengthLog app, you’ll also find more challenging superset workouts for intermediates and advanced lifters that require a premium subscription to follow in-app.

Follow These Workouts in StrengthLog

These are three of the many free workouts in our workout tracker, StrengthLog.

StrengthLog remembers what weights you used in your last session, and automatically loads them into your next one.

That makes it super easy to keep track of your weights and reps and make sure you’re on the fast road to progress.

Download it and start tracking your gains today!

StrengthLog is free to use, and so are these beginner superset workouts.

Final Rep

Supersets are perhaps the best way to get your workouts done in less time. They are perfect for advanced lifters, but still work great for beginners.

They don’t necessarily supercharge your gains, but they are just as effective as good old straight sets, keep the humdrum away, and save a lot of time.

The best thing is that you decide if and what you want to superset: start by adding one or two to your existing routine rather than overhauling the whole thing.

Why not give them a go next time you’re in the gym?

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Last reviewed: 2026-02-10

References

1. J Strength Cond Res. 2013 Jun;27(6):1609-17. Training practices and ergogenic aids used by male bodybuilders.
2. Front Sports Act Living. 2025 Jan 17:7:1536747. A comparison of acute affective responses, physiological measures and training volume between superset and traditional resistance training in untrained adults.
3. J Strength Cond Res. 2005 Feb;19(1):202-5. Acute effect on power output of alternating an agonist and antagonist muscle exercise during complex training.
4. Sport Sciences for Health, Volume 21, Pages 495–504, (2025). Equated volume load: similar improvements in muscle strength, endurance, and hypertrophy for traditional, pre-exhaustion, and drop sets in resistance training.
5. Sports Med. 2025 Apr;55(4):953-975. Superset Versus Traditional Resistance Training Prescriptions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Exploring Acute and Chronic Effects on Mechanical, Metabolic, and Perceptual Variables.
6. J Strength Cond Res. 2025 Nov 1;39(11):1216-1234. The Acute and Chronic Effects of Superset Resistance Training Versus Traditional Resistance Training-A Narrative Review.
7. J Strength Cond Res. 2024 Aug 1;38(8):1372-1378. Efficacy of Supersets Versus Traditional Sets in Whole-Body Multiple-Joint Resistance Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
8. J Exerc Sci Fit. 2016 Dec;14(2):41-46. Supersets do not change energy expenditure during strength training sessions in physically active individuals.