Strength Techniques and Strategies Supersets and Pyramids to Build Strength and Muscle How to Structure Your Strength Workouts By Paul Rogers Paul Rogers Paul Rogers is a personal trainer with experience in a wide range of sports, including track, triathlon, marathon, hockey, tennis, and baseball. Learn about our editorial process Updated on November 03, 2020 Fact checked Verywell Fit content is rigorously reviewed by a team of qualified and experienced fact checkers. Fact checkers review articles for factual accuracy, relevance, and timeliness. We rely on the most current and reputable sources, which are cited in the text and listed at the bottom of each article. Content is fact checked after it has been edited and before publication. Learn more. by Emily Swaim Fact checked by Emily Swaim LinkedIn Emily is a board-certified science editor who has worked with top digital publishing brands like Voices for Biodiversity, Study.com, GoodTherapy, Vox, and Verywell. Learn about our editorial process Print Massimo Merlini/Getty Images Table of Contents View All Table of Contents Supersets Variations Pyramid Training Your resistance training goals might be to build strength, muscle, athletic achievement, or weight loss. If you've been working out regularly and you're ready to progress, techniques like supersets and pyramid training could be for you. Just note that they can get tough. Bodybuilders may be the main audience for these techniques, but you will develop strength and muscle with hard work. So if that's your goal, it's a smart approach. Supersets are sets of weight training exercises done sequentially with no rest in between. The absence of rest essentially defines supersets. Pyramids involve starting low and finishing high, or starting high and finishing low, with an increased or decreased weight loading. Supersets There's nothing too definitive about supersets when it comes to detailed instruction and the results you can expect. Too few measured studies are available. Bodybuilders tend to swear by supersetting for muscle growth. For weight loss, the extra work and intensity in a superset workout is known to increase energy expenditure during the session and also after the session as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). Supersets also increase lactate production compared to traditional sets, a sign the muscles are working very hard. These conditions tick the boxes for muscle growth—metabolic overload and lactate production. Be sure to warm up with light aerobic exercise and mild stretching for 10 to 15 minutes. Variations of Supersets There are two primary variations of supersets. First, you can superset one exercise that hits the same muscle group (agonist)—say, bicep curls and hammer curls. Or you can superset the agonist muscle group exercise with an exercise that targets an opposing muscle group (antagonist). For example, you could try alternating chest and back exercises. You can add variety by juggling with compound and isolation exercises and light and heavy sets first and second. Or you can alternate between upper and lower body exercises. Agonist and Antagonist Sets Agonist sets mean you hit the same muscle group or groups with both exercise sets. And of course, there is no rest between supersets, so you will work very hard, sometimes to near anaerobic exhaustion. An example of this is working through dumbbell arm curls followed by cable arm curls. The other type of basic superset, the antagonist set, hits opposing muscle groups. An example is leg extensions for the quads and leg curls for the hamstrings. When you use this type of superset, you do not get the same degree of stress to a single muscle group as you would with agonist sets. Antagonist sets are good for workout variety, energy expenditure, and saving time. Pre-Exhaust and Post-Exhaust Sets You can do supersets two ways—pre-exhaustion or post-exhaustion. A pre-exhaust set involves doing an isolation exercise targeting one muscle, exhausting it before the next workout, which should be a compound exercise that activates multiple muscles. An example is 10 leg extensions (targeting the quadriceps) followed by 10 squats (targeting the whole leg), with no rest in between.Doing a post-exhaust set is the reverse option, doing a compound exercise before an isolation exercise. An example is 10 pull-ups (targeting the whole arm) followed by 10 bicep curls (targeting the bicep), with no rest between sets. You can mix up isolation exercises with compound exercises, or the superset can contain two isolation or two compound exercises. Be warned, though, that doing two compound exercises for a superset is difficult. Use a spotter when you can. Pyramid Training Pyramid training is a stepped approach to sets and repetitions. A "pyramid" means big at the bottom and narrow at the top. A "reverse pyramid" means big at the top and narrow at the bottom. In other words, you start heavy and gradually decrease the weights or reps, or you start light and gradually increase the weight or reps. You can also include both in an extended set. Supersets and pyramids are called overload systems. If you create metabolic stress in muscle tissue, it will grow bigger. However, this type of training does not hit the sweet spot for strength increases. Strength requires neuromuscular activation, which responds best to heavy loads, low reps, and sufficient rest between sets. That's what will make you stronger. Overload training is best done only two to three times a week (once a week for beginners) and never in daily succession. Stressed muscles need time to heal and strengthen. A Word From Verywell Pyramid and superset training can build strength and endurance, but it's important to warm up and cool down to avoid soreness and injury. Warming up with a few minutes of cardio and cooling down with light stretching, calisthenics, modest aerobics, or foam rolling can help minimize soreness. As always, be sure to listen to your body during physical activity and stop any exercise if you feel pain. How to Use a Foam Roller 5 Sources Verywell Fit uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy. Kelleher A, Hackney KJ, Fairchild TJ, Keslacy S, Ploutz-Snyder LL. The Metabolic Costs of Reciprocal Supersets Vs. Traditional Resistance Exercise in Young Recreationally Active Adults. J Strength Cond Res. 2010;24(4):1043-1051. doi:10.1519/JSC.0b013e3181d3e993 De Freitas MC, Gerosa-Neto J, Zanchi NE, Lira FS, Rossi FE. Role of metabolic stress for enhancing muscle adaptations: Practical applications. World J Methodol. 2017;7(2):46-54. doi:10.5662/wjm.v7.i2.46 Weakley J, Till K, Read DB. The Effects of Superset Configuration on Kinetic, Kinematic, and Perceived Exertion in the Barbell Bench Press. J Strength Cond Res. 2020;34(1):65-72. doi:10.1519/JSC.0000000000002179 Fink J, Schoenfeld BJ, Sakamaki-Sunaga M, Nakazato K. Physiological Responses to Agonist–Antagonist Superset Resistance Training. J Sci Sport Exerc. 2020. doi:10.1007/s42978-020-00092-z American College of Sports Medicine. A Road Map to Effective Muscle Recovery. 2019. By Paul Rogers Paul Rogers is a personal trainer with experience in a wide range of sports, including track, triathlon, marathon, hockey, tennis, and baseball. See Our Editorial Process Meet Our Review Board Share Feedback Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! What is your feedback? Other Helpful Report an Error Submit