Weekly Infographics #17: Supersets + Train Easy on Pull-UPS?

A newsletter dedicated to summarizing interesting strength/hypertrophy related research.

1) Agonist-Antagonist Supersets Increase Volume Load?

This interesting study by Paz et al. found that super setting the bench press with seated row resulted in increased performance on both exercises in comparison to performing these exercises with a traditional set structure.

Therefore, it seems at the very least, agonist-antagonist supersets may be an effective way to save time without compromising adaptations. Whether the increased volume load observed for the superset condition translates into greater strength or muscle gain is currently known. As far as I know, there aren’t any studies replicating this design in a long-term study.

Now, I should mention that in part, the increased volume load could be because the superset condition resulted in a slightly longer rest period between the same exercises. Subjects started their 2 min rest only once they fully completed a superset. Therefore, between sets of the bench press, not only would they have rested 2 minutes, but the duration of the seated row set was also added on top of this.

Nevertheless, I’m skeptical this small amount of extra rest could explain all of the volume load increases. There is other research demonstrating that performing a leg curl immediately before a leg extension improved leg extension repetition performance compared to performing only one set of the leg extension alone. Therefore, there could be something about agonist-antagonist supersets that enhance performance.

Overall, hopefully studies, particularly long-term studies, come out in this topic area in the future.

2) Train Easier on Pull-UPS?

Interestingly, this study found training further away from failure with pull-ups produced greater strength and endurance gains.