Great superset routine to finish your workout or to do separately as a quick workout.
Supersets are a great way to add difficulty to your workouts but to also save a significant portion of time.
Supersets work like this: you do a set of one exercise and after completing the set, you immediately move onto the next exercise without any rest. It's common to superset 2 exercises, but supersetting 3 is perfectly fine as well (like in this routine).
People often superset in 2 ways: by agonist-antagonist (opposite) pairing where for example the first exercise is the bicep curl (agonist muscle) and the other one is the tricep pushdown (antagonist muscle).
The second way is to chain similar exercises together such as different kinds of push ups to really burn out the chest, triceps and shoulders. This is how this routine is compiled.
This workout targets the entire body, because pushing, pulling, squatting and core are all covered. This kind of workout is great for size gains and muscular endurance. For strength gains you would need more rest time between exercises.
Nevertheless, a superset routine like this will be a great way to shock the muscles every now and then, or to finish your regular workout for added boost.
Complete Superset Routine
Superset Workout Routine |
|---|
A1-3: Sissy Squat 5 reps, Front Squat 8 reps, Shrimp Squat 5 reps |
B1-3: Pull Up 4-6 reps, Inverted Row 4-6 reps, Underhand Row 4-6 reps |
C1-3: Pike Push Up 7 reps, Head Push Up 7 reps, Push Up 7 reps |
D1-3: Sitting Knee Raise 8 reps, Sitting Leg Raise 8 reps, Hold and Twist 8 reps |
A1-3 means a superset with 3 squat exercises. You do all of the exercises with no rest between exercises.
2 rounds per superset with no rest between rounds.
Once you have completed A1-A3, you immediately move onto the B1-B3 superset.
A1: Sissy Squat
You can grab something for balance. Sissy squat will isolate your quads better than any other bodyweight leg exercise out there.
A2: Bodyweight Front Squat
Elevating your heels will allow you to stay very upright with just your bodyweight. This squat variation will target the quads, glutes and hamstrings.
A3: Shrimp Squat
You can find all the shrimp squat variations here. This exercise is also called the skater squat and it's a great way to target the quads, hip flexors and glutes.
B1: Pull Up
Pull up is the king of all upper body exercises. You will develop the biceps, forearms, lats and many other back muscles. Even your abs are worked heavily if you keep your core tight.
B2: Inverted Row
The best horizontal row exercise you can do with your bodyweight. Will primarily target the lats and posterior deltoids.
B3: Underhand Inverted Row
When you use the underhand grip, you will activate more biceps, but your back muscles are also hit in a different fashion because your arms are externally rotated.
C1: Pike Push Up
Pike push up will hit the triceps, traps, anterior deltoids and lateral deltoids. This is a great way to progress to a full handstand push up.
C2: Head Push Up
"This is bad form" - if you do push ups always like this, then it can be harmful. When done irregularly, the head push up can help or even cure many shoulder problems. This is because the exercise will improve your shoulder mobility and range of motion.
C3: Push Up
Push ups done right will produce great results. Focus on keeping the body tight to really target the chest, triceps and shoulders.
D1: Sitting Knee Raise
Sitting knee raise will hit the lower fibers of the abs. The hip flexors are also worked. By moving the upper body simultaneously with the legs, you will target more the abs.
D2: Sitting Leg Raise
Keeping your legs straight (keep them as straight as you can) will improve the mobility of your quads, but it will also increase the resistance of the exercise. In other words, sitting leg raise is a more intense variation of the sitting knee raise.
D3: Hold and Twist
Hold and twist is a very novel movement where you should focus on feeling the obliques. If you do it wrong, you barely feel anything, but done right, your obliques should burn. You need to twist from the hips by crunching with obliques.
Train hard, stay safe.
