Supersets alternate back and forth between two exercises with no rest in between the exercises. There are many different kinds of supersets and whether you choose to complete a superset that works antagonistic muscles (such as biceps + triceps), upper and lower body muscles or the same muscle two different ways, supersets are a great way to keep yourself moving in the gym and challenge yourself at the same time. (If you’re new to the concept of supersets or just want to learn more, check out this article. Lots of great info!)
Last week we completed an upper body superset workout at Burn Boot Camp that was totally killer. It was a Same Part Superset, meaning our supersets included two exercises that worked the same muscle. By the end of each five-minute segment, my muscles were toast.
Killer Upper Body Superset Workout
The focus during this workout is not speed. It’s all about maintaining good form since it can be easy to sacrifice form when you’re on the fourth consecutive minute of working your triceps. Even though supersets usually forgo rest between exercises, the BBC trainers encouraged us to listen to our bodies and take a short breather if we really needed it. (I had to take a few seconds rest during the triceps superset. It really is a beast!)
I LOVED this workout and left the gym with Jello arms and a serious sense of accomplishment. (It actually reminded me of the way my arms often feel after a BodyPump class which makes sense since BodyPump is all about muscular endurance.) It’s a workout I’m planning to keep on hand for days when I cannot make it out of the house and am looking for an upper body workout I can do while Chase naps that will seriously challenge me. The workout is only 25 minutes, but it’s an intense 25-minutes!
Below you will find picture demos of the exercises:
Superset One
Superset Two
Superset Three
Superset Four
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Superset Five
- Supermans (Hold for 3 sec. at the top!)
Big thanks to Burn Boot Camp for the awesome workout and for letting me share it on the blog with you guys!
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Supermans are the worst for me! I love to hate them.
I feel the same! While I am doing it I hate them, but the feeling afterward is well worth it.
Looks like a great workout. I’ll have to give it a try this weekend. I always find Supermans so tough!
I love the idea of super setting the workouts !! They’re my favorite Arm workouts (mainly because commandos aren’t included 😉 ) will definitely give this one a try ! Thanks for sharing!
I love working my arms. It is the part of my body that people see the most, so even though running is my true passion, I always make time for some free weights. I think that the upper body is the most under worked and neglected part for women and it shouldn’t be! Girls with killer biceps and shoulders rock!
strength training arms is my fav, too!
This is such a great one, Julie! I love supersets but never thought to do them timed. I can see how it’ll hurt! I’m excited to try it 🙂
Oh man! I’m def trying this out tomorrow or Thursday! (My arms are toast from yoga yesterday to do this workout today!) I really am learning to love Tricep push-ups since I finally found out how to do them correctly & can feel the burn 😉 I also wanted to let you know as a “reader” I really really appreciate/enjoy when you put the demo of the exercises in your post! It saves me a lot of time “you tubing” the exercise Incase I’m unsure of the move! These days a lot of the same exercises have different labels/names!
I can never seem to come up with ideas when it comes to working my arms so I always love when you post a good arm workout 🙂
I learned that tricep push-up should be at 90 degrees angle, like the chaturanga push-up, the girl seems to be to low on the ground, it’s bad for the shoulders that way, I think. It
Girlfriend. We have to talk. That tricep superset. WHAT?! I can hardly do 5 tricep push-ups… woof! But stoked to try this out at home over the weekend. Like you mentioned – it’s the perfect at-home workout where dumbbells are all I’ve got!
Thanks for passing along. 🙂
I’ve actually never tried a superset workout before! This looks great and I will definitely try it out!
Rare guy here….I feel out of place 🙂
First off–long time reader and congrats on that beautiful baby. Such a sweet smile.
Second–you always have fun and varied workout routines you post–but the pics always show women (your target audience, I presume). Do you think these would be appropriate for us rare males? I am mid to late 40s and need to improve my core and also want to keep some definition in my arms if possible. Never a real muscular person, but decent shape and the older I get, the more I have to work at it.
Thanks so much, and keep blogging. Your anonymous fans like it a lot.
that sounds like an amazing workout!! I can not wait to try it!
Thank you!
I’m loving the at home workouts and anything that has to do with working out the upper body is a win-win for me! I’ll be going home the next 3 weekends so I’ll need to gather a handful of at home workouts to do during my visits!
Arms are definitely my weakest area, so I am always looking for good upper body workouts to improve them. Thanks for the motivation!
Okay, first off – the model in the bicep hammer curl photo – I WANT HER ARMS!!! Oh, those delts!!
Now that my VCR player (yes, don’t laugh – I still have a VCR player!!) in the basement has crapped out and can no longer workout to my Firm videos, I need to go a capella. I really want to concentrate on my upper body because when it’s toned and sculpted it looks fabulous. Yes, I want thinner thighs, but that’s what a good pair of jeans are for an who’ll notice when you’re buff and ripped up top.
Printing this out and going to try in tomorrow night’s workout
Hi Julie! I love your blog. I see that you are doing some serious workouts. I was a mom 4 months ago and I am also going to the gym, with some restrictions. I know that impact is bad for us at first, depending on the person, during the first months your body is not ready for that (abs wall, joints,etc). Also for brestfeeding moms very intense workouts are not recommemdable (you can test that by trying to sing during the workout, if you can then you’re good). This is because our bodies will produce stress hormone that passes on to the baby through the milk. Maybe you know all this already. If so, what were your modifications?
What weight would you recommend for a workout like this? I typically lift pretty heavy at the gym, but these continuous type of workouts tend to throw me for a loop. If you would use say, 20 lbs for curls if you were doing 3 sets of 10, should you use 10 lbs here? More? Less?