Supersets are an effective Training technique that allow you to up the intensity, while injecting some variety into your workouts. To take the concept of supersets up a notch further, try incorporating front to back training into your program – you won’t regret it.

Front to back training simply involves super-setting exercises that are exact opposites (for example, bench presses with bent over rows, bicep curls with Triceps extensions). With this form of training you rest slightly between sets. The focus of the intensity goes more on the second exercise, as well.

Here are 4 good reasons why you should consider incorporating front to back training in your workouts:

1. They make you stronger

The advantage of training opposing Muscle groups back to back is that you’ll be stronger in the second exercise. Research has found that a muscle will be stronger if preceded immediately by a contraction of it’s antagonist, or opposing muscle groups. For example, when you do a superset of bench presses and seated cable rows, in that order, you’ll be stronger on the row, and vice versa. The same holds true when training biceps and triceps together, and quads and hamstrings.

This happens because normally the muscle you’re working is limited by it’s antagonist. When you bench press using straight sets, for example, the back muscles inhibit the contraction of the pecs to a certain degree. Doing a set of rows just before benching lessens this effect. This allows your pecs to contract more forcefully. As a result, you’ll be able to train with more weight. And as a result of that, you’ll get stronger – and bigger!

2. They work more muscle

While working a muscle group during any exercise, numerous other muscles are involved to complete the movement. These include the primary and secondary movers, stabilisers and antagonists. The primary and secondary muscle groups contract and produce the force required to move the weight. The stabiliser muscles stabilise the joints through a full range of motion. The antagonists aid the primary and secondary muscle groups by contracting to control the movement; they also prevent injury from movements that go beyond a normal range of motion.

With the bench press, the primary muscles are the pectoralis major and the anterior deltoids. The secondary muscles are the triceps, serratus anterior and pec minor. The stabilisers are the rhomboids, trapezius and rotator cuff. The antagonists are the latissimus dorsi and biceps. When training front to back, you’d do a rowing exercise after benching, with the above muscles more or less switching roles – the lats and rhomboids would be the prime movers, and the pecs and anterior delts would be the antagonists. That’s at least a dozen different muscles working in multiple capacities. This optimizes the number of muscles recruited and utilised, increasing the total amount of muscular contractions performed and resulting in a greater amount of weight lifted.

3. They speed up recovery

When you train by doing straight sets, you do a set, rest a minute or so, then do another set of the same exercise. Let’s say you’re working your triceps. While you sit there and rest, blood flow to your triceps decreases, and so does the recovery process, making the muscles significantly weaker for the next set. Instead, alternate every set of triceps with a set of biceps. When you’re repping out on curls, your triceps are still contracting, which increases blood flow to them and aids in recovery, making you stronger for your subsequent sets.

You’ll also recover faster post workout. Training a muscle’s antagonist serves the same basic purpose of cardio following a lifting session – it helps your body remove lactic acid, waste products and damaged tissue residing in muscle tissue as a result of exercise. You’ll be less sore the next two days and ready to train those muscle groups a day or two earlier.

4. They save time

Back to front training saves you time in the gym. Though you won’t be performing true supersets, where you have absolutely no rest between sets, your rest periods will be shorter than if you did straight sets of a single exercise. By performing back to back sets of these modified supersets you will be able to get through your workout between 30 and 45 minutes.

How To Do It

Perform front to back training by splitting your training into three days per week. On day one, work chest, back and shoulders. Day two focuses on biceps and triceps and on day three you’ll hit quads, hamstrings and calves. Abs and lower back can be added to any workout. The same muscle groups don’t always pair together. For instance, back is paired with chest for the bench press and cable row, but it’s coupled with shoulders later on when you’re doing overhead presses with lat pull-downs. Remember, the primary focus with this system is not muscle groups, but rather with opposite movements that are mirror images. Yet biceps and triceps will always be paired, as they both primarily act at the elbow joint.

Legs are worked a bit differently. Since it’s difficult to find the exact opposite of a multi-joint lower-body exercise, lunges are to be done by themselves as straight sets. Pair the hanging leg raises with a dumbbell between your feet with either squats, hack squats or leg presses. Perform the hanging leg raise on a vertical bench or from a chinning bar, just as you would when training abs. The difference here is that you’ll raise your knees only to parallel, no farther, so as not to bring your abs much into play. This will work the quads at the hip and your hamstrings at the knee, while squats do the opposite, and work the glutes and hams at the hip and quads at the knee.

The Workout

For each superset, unless indicated do 3 sets. Do 5-6 reps on the first exercise and 8-10 on the second.

Day One: Chest / Back / Shoulders

Bench Press / Cable Row
Incline Press / Bent Over Row
Pec Dec Flyes / Reverse Pec Dec Flyes
Overhead press / Lat Pull-down
Cable front Raise / Straight Arm Pull-down

Day Two: Biceps / Triceps (plus Abs and Lower back)

Triceps Dips / Incline Curl
Cable Press-down / Standing Barbell Curl
Skull Crusher / Preacher Curl
Back Extension / Crunch (12-15 reps)
Superman / Reverse Crunch (12- 5 reps)

Day Three: Quads / Hamstrings / Calves

Hanging Leg Raise / Squat
Lunges
Leg Extension / Lying Leg Curl
Toe Raise / Seated Calf Raise (12 -15 reps)