Baby it's cold outside....

Yep, I'm still singing Christmas music. And baby, it IS cold outside!

The other day I said I was incorporating more supersets into my workouts.

What the heck is a superset? Let's go back a bit. You know what a rep is - it's the number of repetitions you perform an exercise. A set is how many cycles you will do those reps. (i.e. 12 reps of bicep curls for 3 sets means you will do 36 bicep curls total)

When you do a superset, you perform one exercise and immediately move on to the next exercise with no rest. (i.e. 12 bicep curls followed by 12 tricep kickbacks)

There are many reasons for working out in this manor. It is a good way to keep your workouts short and it will bump up the intensity of your workout, which means you  perform more work in less time.

There are 5 types of supersets:
1) Pre-exhaust - you perform an isolation movement first (i.e. leg extension), followed by a compound movement (i.e. squat).

And FYI - an isolation movement requires the use of only one muscle, whereas a compound movement uses multiple muscles. The leg extension will only use the quadricep and a squat will use the quads, glutes, hamstrings, abs, calves and lower back.

2) Post-exhaust - you would perform the compound movement first, then the isolation.

So what is the difference? When you've done all you can do with the quad on a leg extension, you can still work it further by squatting - because you are getting help from other muscle groups. (pre-exhaust)
When you start fresh with the compound move, you are able to lift more weight and when you are done, shred the fibers more with an isolation move. (post-exhaust)

Starting to make sense?

Another thing to keep in mind is whether to do same muscle group or antagonistic supersets. When you pair opposing muscle groups like biceps/triceps in the same superset, you are working one muscle group while the other is resting. This is good for developing muscle balance. When you superset with the same muscle group, you are really working the muscle hard by hitting it twice and getting a great pump, which is good for growth.

3) Compound supersets - for the crazy ;) These are very taxing on the nervous system and require lots of rest in between workouts.

4) Isolation supersets - these are for people who maybe just want to maintain their muscle by stimulating blood flow or for those looking to really define the muscle being worked.

5) Staggered supersets - you might be doing this and not even realize it. Say you are doing a squats. In between sets, instead of resting you would hit a completely unrelated muscle group and do a set of abs or calves. Then do the next set of squats, etc. This way, you are sneaking in some "extra" work, still while resting from the squat. It's called active rest.

So which type of superset should you choose? That depends on your goal.

There is SO MUCH information out there on how to workout that it's hard to know which is right for you. And if you are anything like me, you want to make sure you are doing what is appropriate for your goal because you don't want to be wasting your time doing things that aren't effective. But my problem is I over think everything. ESPECIALLY my workouts.

Really, I think that the basics should get you a healthy lean body. Getting what you desire out of your workouts really depends a lot on what you eat. Actually, what you eat is probably more important than how you train. I've read this again and again from real figure competitors who have the bodies that prove you have to be a clean eater if you're ever to see change. This I can attest to because I've been lifting weights for years, and in theory, should have a rock hard body to show for it. But I still carry that womanly layer of fat over my lower body because I could never stick consistently to a clean diet. It's very difficult and you have to be very committed for a long time. And if you aren't eating the right foods, you could be estrogen dominant and then it doesn't matter if you workout 4 hours a day, you still won't get the results you want.

Eliminating nasty stuff like artificial sweeteners, soda, and highly processed foods is not only good for your body aesthetically, but from a health standpoint as well. But you knew that already ;)