In weightlifting, “supersets” involve completing one exercise or variation and then immediately performing another, in an effort to further tax muscles that are shared between the exercises. So, for example, you might superset incline benchpress with cable flys, so that you tax your upper pecs and deltoids and then immediately perform an exercise that also targets the pecs but lessens the influence of deltoids, so that you can “burn out” your chest. I have tried supersets in the past, but get little out of them and haven’t bothered in years. (In general, I think people overemphasize intensity in the weight room relative to consistency and volume, but anything I might say in that regard would be pure bro science.) However, I
Hmm. What follows is blatant whataboutery but . . . what about cardio instead? And when I say cardio I actually mean mountain biking. Anyone in South West London looking to hit the trails give me a shout!
I look at lifting weights the same way I do running or bike riding. If I am not being chased by a bear or Bobcat, I live in the country, why run? If I need to go somewhere, no bicycle, drive the car; and if I lift weight, it's either a fork with a cut of steak or a Warsteiner Dunkel.
I've read lots of articles/books on weightlifting, and have watched hours of videos, but not one of them has ever explained what's the best workout so I can get strong enough to cry in front of other men!
Thanks for sharing this part of your life, and I hope the shoulder improves. I have to nurse my shoulders as well, esp. since I'm a carpenter and need them to make a living. Also getting over a torn meniscus in the knee. I'm 58. It's clarified the years long voice in the back of my head that my exercising now needs to focus on the question "what do I want my body to be able to do" rather than what numbers I can hit or how I look. My first thing in the morning routine involves 15-20 min. of warming up my body, esp. shoulders, hips, etc. no matter what my day holds.
Why don't gyms have chairs to sit on in-between sets? I understand that there's an aesthetic involved in hanging off the equipment even when you're not using it but only using it when you're using it would solve so many problems.
I just want to say that perhaps the thing I value the most about your blog is its breadth of topics. Foreign policy, Modest Mouse, and weightlifting in one week (plus Elden Ring on Twitch) is not something I feel I could find on any other blog I read regularly, and I appreciate the hell out of that.
I don’t lift weights, at least not voluntarily. (I’m a 76 year old woman. I ride horses.) But from the experience of my younger friends and my descendants, I urge you to be VERY CAREFUL with that shoulder. Unlike hips and knees, shoulders are very intricate, fussy joints, and there is no quick fix if they get bunged up. And carpel tunnel, don’t even get me started. There are a lot more ways to get more injured, but only one cure: rest.
I use my apartment building's (rather large) gym so I almost never encounter this problem. And I am a fan of supersets. Then, the other night, I ran into this exact problem! Exacerbated by her having a ten minutes long discussion with a friend and then stopping to take a phone call. This piece lands VERY differently now!
If you'd like to use this blog to do investigative journalism, you could solve the mystery of how half the small plates always migrate to one single station.
I think most people use supersets just to save time, for example, cable curls and lat raises so that the biceps can recover while the lateral head of the deltoid is working. Taxing the same muscle in different ways on shorter rest is probably a niche use of this strategy
FWIW, you see a bit of these kinds of bench press/ deadlift supersets in the CrossFitish strength community, mostly in pursuit of full-body high volume strength and metabolic conditioning dual training. The extent to which it works is not really for me to say, but there's some long standing titans of the industry who have advocated for it. Bobby Maximus comes to mind.
Also, I looked everywhere, including the linked post from December, but can't find WAMOW anywhere. Any help?
I finally have a good enough gym set up at my house where I'll never need to go to a commercial gym again if I don't want to. In the past I'd always programmed non competing super sets with antagonistic muscle groups. This was in an attempt to be efficient. Now that I have my own place, I've finally embraced a sort of lift and chill RPE style of training with 5 min+ breaks on the days I need them. I've given up on supersets and just focused on quality. This is the first time in my life that my upper body looks stronger than my lower body. It's done wonders for my bench. Also allows me to read between sets and not feel pretentious.
That brings me to point #2. I'm not a powerlifter. I'm from that generation of people who got into lifting just as starting strength 2nd or 3rd edition came out. It's taken me a long time to get over my initial biases instilled by Rippetoe. I don't actually care how heavy my squat or deadlift is past a point. My deadlift naturally sits at about 440 lbs after years of training. I can push it higher with focus but it doesn't improve my quality of life. It's actually fun doing bicep curls and benching from different angles. I hit front squats 1x week, deadlift 1x a week and that's fine with some open trapbar lunges and unilateral open trap deadlifts. I don't psyche myself up and I deload regularly when things stop being fun. I keep an AMRAP final set sort of like Wendler or Greyskull do and that's fun.
Was going to say that I finally invested in a cheapish cambered Swiss bar for my benching and its saved my shoulder. I don't think I'll ever bench much more than 250ish again, but I'm Ok with that. Have always preferred weighted dips as my strength movement.
As a 38 year old with two kids, lifting has become much more important and less important at the same time. The process and space keeps me more or less functioning mentally, and I've come to terms with the fact that I'll never be svelte again but I can still be strong enough to feel good about my capabilities.
Totally agree about the social aspect. ONE PIECE OF EQUIPMENT AT A TIME in the shared gym.
Finally, a hot topic on which we can all agree.
Hmm. What follows is blatant whataboutery but . . . what about cardio instead? And when I say cardio I actually mean mountain biking. Anyone in South West London looking to hit the trails give me a shout!
I look at lifting weights the same way I do running or bike riding. If I am not being chased by a bear or Bobcat, I live in the country, why run? If I need to go somewhere, no bicycle, drive the car; and if I lift weight, it's either a fork with a cut of steak or a Warsteiner Dunkel.
Otherwise, what's the point?
I've read lots of articles/books on weightlifting, and have watched hours of videos, but not one of them has ever explained what's the best workout so I can get strong enough to cry in front of other men!
Thanks for sharing this part of your life, and I hope the shoulder improves. I have to nurse my shoulders as well, esp. since I'm a carpenter and need them to make a living. Also getting over a torn meniscus in the knee. I'm 58. It's clarified the years long voice in the back of my head that my exercising now needs to focus on the question "what do I want my body to be able to do" rather than what numbers I can hit or how I look. My first thing in the morning routine involves 15-20 min. of warming up my body, esp. shoulders, hips, etc. no matter what my day holds.
Why don't gyms have chairs to sit on in-between sets? I understand that there's an aesthetic involved in hanging off the equipment even when you're not using it but only using it when you're using it would solve so many problems.
I just want to say that perhaps the thing I value the most about your blog is its breadth of topics. Foreign policy, Modest Mouse, and weightlifting in one week (plus Elden Ring on Twitch) is not something I feel I could find on any other blog I read regularly, and I appreciate the hell out of that.
Yeah, but you were still right last week
I don’t lift weights, at least not voluntarily. (I’m a 76 year old woman. I ride horses.) But from the experience of my younger friends and my descendants, I urge you to be VERY CAREFUL with that shoulder. Unlike hips and knees, shoulders are very intricate, fussy joints, and there is no quick fix if they get bunged up. And carpel tunnel, don’t even get me started. There are a lot more ways to get more injured, but only one cure: rest.
Is this my favorite substack or what. NEVER boring.
I use my apartment building's (rather large) gym so I almost never encounter this problem. And I am a fan of supersets. Then, the other night, I ran into this exact problem! Exacerbated by her having a ten minutes long discussion with a friend and then stopping to take a phone call. This piece lands VERY differently now!
If you'd like to use this blog to do investigative journalism, you could solve the mystery of how half the small plates always migrate to one single station.
I think most people use supersets just to save time, for example, cable curls and lat raises so that the biceps can recover while the lateral head of the deltoid is working. Taxing the same muscle in different ways on shorter rest is probably a niche use of this strategy
FWIW, you see a bit of these kinds of bench press/ deadlift supersets in the CrossFitish strength community, mostly in pursuit of full-body high volume strength and metabolic conditioning dual training. The extent to which it works is not really for me to say, but there's some long standing titans of the industry who have advocated for it. Bobby Maximus comes to mind.
Also, I looked everywhere, including the linked post from December, but can't find WAMOW anywhere. Any help?
I finally have a good enough gym set up at my house where I'll never need to go to a commercial gym again if I don't want to. In the past I'd always programmed non competing super sets with antagonistic muscle groups. This was in an attempt to be efficient. Now that I have my own place, I've finally embraced a sort of lift and chill RPE style of training with 5 min+ breaks on the days I need them. I've given up on supersets and just focused on quality. This is the first time in my life that my upper body looks stronger than my lower body. It's done wonders for my bench. Also allows me to read between sets and not feel pretentious.
That brings me to point #2. I'm not a powerlifter. I'm from that generation of people who got into lifting just as starting strength 2nd or 3rd edition came out. It's taken me a long time to get over my initial biases instilled by Rippetoe. I don't actually care how heavy my squat or deadlift is past a point. My deadlift naturally sits at about 440 lbs after years of training. I can push it higher with focus but it doesn't improve my quality of life. It's actually fun doing bicep curls and benching from different angles. I hit front squats 1x week, deadlift 1x a week and that's fine with some open trapbar lunges and unilateral open trap deadlifts. I don't psyche myself up and I deload regularly when things stop being fun. I keep an AMRAP final set sort of like Wendler or Greyskull do and that's fun.
Was going to say that I finally invested in a cheapish cambered Swiss bar for my benching and its saved my shoulder. I don't think I'll ever bench much more than 250ish again, but I'm Ok with that. Have always preferred weighted dips as my strength movement.
As a 38 year old with two kids, lifting has become much more important and less important at the same time. The process and space keeps me more or less functioning mentally, and I've come to terms with the fact that I'll never be svelte again but I can still be strong enough to feel good about my capabilities.