StansellFit

I’m a huge fan of supersets whenever possible because they sacrifice very little strength and muscle growth but save a good chunk of time when programmed well.

But there’s some nuance about how and when to use them, which I’ve hopefully provided here.

References:

Zhang X, Weakley J, Li H, Li Z, García-Ramos A. Superset Versus Traditional Resistance Training Prescriptions: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis Exploring Acute and Chronic Effects on Mechanical, Metabolic, and Perceptual Variables. Sports Med. 2025 Apr;55(4):953-975. doi: 10.1007/s40279-025-02176-8. Epub 2025 Feb 4. PMID: 39903375; PMCID: PMC12011898.

Robbins DW, Young WB, Behm DG, Payne WR. Effects of agonist-antagonist complex resistance training on upper body strength and power development. J Sports Sci. 2009 Dec;27(14):1617-25. doi: 10.1080/02640410903365677. PMID: 19967584.

Iversen VM, Eide VB, Unhjem BJ, Fimland MS. Efficacy of Supersets Versus Traditional Sets in Whole-Body Multiple-Joint Resistance Training: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Strength Cond Res. 2024 Aug 1;38(8):1372-1378. doi: 10.1519/JSC.0000000000004819. PMID: 39072654.

Burke, R., Hermann, T., Piñero, A., Mohan, A., Augustin, F., Sapuppo, M., Coleman, M., Wolf, M., Korakakis, P. A., Swinton, P. A., & Schoenfeld, B. J. (2026). Less time, same gains: Comparison of superset vs. traditional set training on muscular adaptations. Science & Sports, 41(1), 77–90.

One of the most common problems I see with regular gymgoers is difficulty figuring out how to progress exercises. They often get caught in an endless cycle of trying to increase by too much, getting injured, backing off, trying to do too much, get injured, and on and on.

Or they never increase or increase so infrequently that they’re wasting a ton of time and never seem to make any progress.

It’s hard to know what you’re gonna have on any given day, so “planning” to go up in weight can be precarious. Especially as you get more advanced. But for many, if there is NO system for increasing it simply won’t happen.

Something like a double progression system that I’ve detailed here allows enough flexibility to account for fluctuations in capacity while also giving you clear triggers for when to progress.

At the end of the day, as long as the elements of your program—reps, weight, range of motion, RPE, sets, etc—are increasing in some way over time, you’re on the right track. Exactly how you go about that has some wiggle room.

This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means.

Any more you might add or any you disagree with? Let me know!

Here’s a little more context about why my rep ranges cut off when they do when my primarily goal is muscle growth with SOME strength and muscular endurance.

Trying to build muscle with low rep sets (15 or so) often bring so much fatigue that it’s difficult to get close to failure.

So many of my sets are in the 5-12 range or so, but there are plenty of people that operate outside of that range for any number of reasons.

I rarely see fitness professionals talk about how to get in the right headspace for lifting, but I thought this conversation I had with a client might be illuminating for some.

Effort is a fundamental component of success in lifting. If you can’t call up the beast inside of you, you’ll be hard pressed to make long-term progress.

Some people may be propelled by the idea of saving loved ones through heroic deeds or fueled by extreme animus (I’m not one to judge as long as you direct it at the weight).

My approach is the opposite; I turn the thinking part of my brain off and go into 🦈 mode.

If I don’t do this, there is too much opportunity for stray thoughts to fragment my attention. Effort is HIGHLY correlated with your ability to stay locked in.

Find whatever way you can to get to that place and you’ll be crushing your sets in no time.

If you’ve followed me for any length of time you probably have seen me talk about load management for decreasing injury risk. It probably is the number 1 factor, but another often overlooked factor is general movement.

It’s not enough to move during the 2-3 hours a week of training sessions. Not only will that leave you short of hitting movement targets for general health, it can put you at greater risk for aches and pains during the workouts themselves.

Connective tissue is viscoelastic and regular movement keeps it fluid and more responsive. To sit on your butt all day everyday between sessions and then do a normal workout with heavy weights creates a larger discrepancy in workload than you’d see with regular activity.

Bottom line, don’t just do your workouts and call it a week, both for your general health and for your tissue readiness.

This is a (slightly) oversimplified explanation of how muscle growth and metabolism work, but the sentiment is true.

Strength training isn’t DIRECTLY increasing your weight. It’s possible it could be affecting your appetite, but it’s not putting calories in your mouth.

But if you’re serious about building strength and muscle, you might want to loosen the reigns a little on weight changes—unless you’re already markedly overweight.

Training tells your body to build muscle but your diet will ultimately decide how much weight you gain over the long-term.

You cannot always make incremental changes in the same environment with the same people who are used to the old version of you.

One of the hardest parts of lasting change is not just saying goodbye to the old you. It may mean removing people from your life.

We all want to believe our friends and family will be supportive when we want to improve our lives, but it doesn’t always pan out that way.

Because they are people and they may prioritize their own discomfort over your wellbeing.

Sometimes change requires a scary and seismic shift in who you are and who you surround yourself with.