Brandon DaCruz | Nutritionist & Online Physique Coach

SAME GAINS. 36% LESS TIME. HERE’S HOW TO STRUCTURE SUPERSETS PROPERLY.
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A superset group finished their sessions 36% faster than a traditional set group and built the same amount of muscle.

Supersets have been framed as an intensity technique for decades. The stronger argument is that they’re a time-efficiency technique, and that’s how I use them with clients who need to maintain training volume while spending less time in the gym. But not all supersets are equal. There are three types.

Agonist-paired supersets train the same or overlapping musculature back-to-back, like chest press into chest fly. They save time, but Weakley et al. (2020) showed same-muscle pairings create the greatest performance costs. You’re saving time by accepting more local fatigue and potentially less stimulus per set.

Antagonist-paired supersets pair opposing muscles, like bench press into row. This is the most beneficial configuration because you’re overlapping recovery periods rather than removing recovery. You rest the muscle without resting the body. Robbins et al. (2010) found antagonist pairings produced greater total volume load per unit of time than traditional sets, and Maia et al. (2014) found knee flexion before extension could actually improve subsequent extension performance.

Peripheral supersets pair muscles that don’t overlap but aren’t antagonists, like squat into biceps curl. These work, but you have to separate local fatigue from systemic fatigue. No anatomical overlap doesn’t automatically make a good pairing.

Burke et al. (2024) compared traditional training to supersets in 43 trained men and women over eight weeks. Similar changes in muscle thickness, strength, power, endurance, and body composition. The superset group finished 36% faster.

You’re not getting more gains in the same time. You’re getting similar gains in substantially less time.

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