Circuit Training With Supersets For A Fit Fast Workout Routine

If you are interested in saving time in the gym, increasing exercise intensity, and making your workout routine more efficient and more effective, then the choice of circuit training with supersets is the way to go. This is an excellent method to add variety to your training, to shock your system into further growth, or to speed up weight loss and strength gains. First, lets establish some definitions.




Circuit Training is simply a series of exercises in sequence with a short recovery period, or no recovery period between each exercise. You only need three exercises to have a circuit. Typically there about seven but I ave performed circuits with as many as eleven different exercises. You can perform circuits with dumbells, kettlebells, resistance bands, a suspension trainer, bodyweight or any combination of these devices.



A superset is simply two exercises perfomed in sequence with little to no recovery period in between. Sometimes a super set consists of exercises that involve opposing muscles such as biceps and triceps. An example would be bicep curls and tricep pushdowns. First you would perform a set of curls, followed by a set of pushdowns. After completing the pushdowns, you would go right back to the curls. You may want to rest for 30 seconds between supersets, or you may want to put 30 seconds of a cardio exercise like step ups, jumping jacks, or burpees in between. You might want to have no rest. The variations are endless. If you are a novice exerciser or you have just started to get back in shape you will probably need some recovery time between sets. As your fitness level improves, you can shorten your recovery time.



Another approach is to perform supersets on the same body part. For example, you could do pull ups followed by inverted rows in order to really work the lats. The best way to trai the same area is to perform a compound exercise first immediately followed by a isolation exercise such as pull ups followed by dumbbell curls.



Here's a superset circuit for biceps that you can try:



Pull ups to failure

reverse dumbell curls to failure

20 step ups

(repeat sequence 3 times)



Alternating dumbell curls to failure

Concentration curls to failure

30 jumping jacks

(repeat sequence 3 times)



As you can see, this workout can easily be modified to fit your fitness level. For example, you may want to repeat the sequence more times, add weight or perform a specified number of repetitions for each exercise.



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Clint Grimes, is a retired US Navy commander. He is certified by the California Interscholastic Federation and is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the boys soccer teams at El Toro High School in Lake Forest, CA.



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