# Supersets & negatives



## Sicwun88 (Feb 12, 2020)

I'm a firm believer in supersetting.
I usually train alone, sometimes on a tight schedule.
It allows me to get in & out of the gym,& get a nice workout.  

Also I do negatives, usually every other week, mostly w chest, which usually has me sore the following day.

Just looking to hear some opinions from others on this????


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## CJ (Feb 12, 2020)

They are great for saving time. I like to alternate antagonist muscle groups for this, with at most a 1:00 rest between. Usually it's just however long the walk is to the other piece of equipment.

I try to keep the eccentric portion of my reps a bit slower than the concentric. Not ridiculously slow, but 100% under control with tension being kept on the muscle. 

Also really like holding the isometric contractions for a solid second, especially on back exercises. Holding the stretch on chest exercises is good too. I feel like this helps tremendously.


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## Gabriel (Feb 12, 2020)

Supers all the time....negs not so much anymore..


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## Jin (Feb 12, 2020)

Negatives are the best way to work around/with injuries. 

Also. Just a great technique altogether.


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## Gabriel (Feb 12, 2020)

Your right ...just trying to get out before 5pm............Freaking jungle in there..Drop sets are my fav


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## dk8594 (Feb 12, 2020)

*Supersets &amp; negatives*

It may just be terminology, but in my mind a negative is when you hit positive failure, have a partner help you lift the weight back up, and then lower it. In the absence of that, I just call it controlling the weight.

Tough to do without a partner for chest unless you are on one of those machines with the foot pedal.


Side note: anyone remember the cybernetics 60 day kit that came with a program that required you to go to negative failure? I swear they made they program so hard that that is was impossible to comply with so you wouldn’t call BS on their supplements. 30 lbs in 60 days my a$$!


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## German89 (Feb 12, 2020)

Jin said:


> Negatives are the best way to work around/with injuries.
> 
> Also. Just a great technique altogether.


I have to agree

For me it's my shoulder and knee.  I can't get go as heavy so, I am left with playing with TUT and Tempo of the movement with muscle mind connection.  Always good workouts.


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## German89 (Feb 12, 2020)

dk8594 said:


> It may just be terminology, but in my mind a negative is when you hit positive failure, have a partner help you lift the weight back up, and then lower it. In the absence of that, I just call it controlling the weight.
> 
> Tough to do without a partner for chest unless you are on one of those machines with the foot pedal.
> 
> ...



cybernetics? WWWHAtt?  I must be following the wrong I.G pages.


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## Gabriel (Feb 12, 2020)

Yeah,DK..that's how Joe Piescipo got so huge..!!


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## dk8594 (Feb 12, 2020)

Gabriel said:


> Yeah,DK..that's how Joe Piescipo got so huge..!!



Yeah. I knew he was on something


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## dk8594 (Feb 12, 2020)

German89 said:


> cybernetics? WWWHAtt?  I must be following the wrong I.G pages.



Auto correct: meant cybergenics. One of the first “kits” of supplements. Not on IG. This is back from the 90’s!


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## jbev (Feb 12, 2020)

I like both. i find that constant variation is most powerful because the body cant adapt it just grows


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## German89 (Feb 12, 2020)

dk8594 said:


> Auto correct: meant cybergenics. One of the first “kits” of supplements. Not on IG. This is back from the 90’s!



Ohhh Richard Simmons kinda deal ahahhah


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## CJ (Feb 12, 2020)

dk8594 said:


> Auto correct: meant cybergenics. One of the first “kits” of supplements. Not on IG. This is back from the 90’s!



Cousin bought it. Stuff made you pee neon green.


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## transcend2007 (Feb 12, 2020)

Good post man ..  thanks for the reminder of ways to mix it up ... last 3 months of 2019 I was mostly a gym no show ..  first 6 weeks of this year just getting back in the flow ... my main thing is get to gym 5 times per week ... your post is reminding me showing up is 80% ... but not forget how important it is make the most of every workout (the other 20%) ... like Jin and German (plus just being as old as fvck) ... I have old injuries but they are not excuses ... I still need to bust my arse ... if not with heavy weights ... through solid strategies ...


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## brock8282 (Feb 12, 2020)

im not a fan of super setting an entire workout, during the "meat and potatoes" portion of my workout where im working with heavy compound movements, I want to be well rested between sets so I can be as focused as possible on the coming set and move as heavy as weight as possible. I just don't think you can do that with super sets. Too much cardiovascular and brain fatigue. 

towards the end where im doing more pump work, super sets can be a great tool though.

if I want to make a workout shorter, ill do a lot less volume but add techniques like rest pause, and drop sets, kinda like dc training.


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## Gabriel (Feb 12, 2020)

The older we get the smarter we have to train................Getting injuried knocks you right out box...can kill a cycle faster than a burrito with extra guac..!!


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## Gabriel (Feb 12, 2020)

CJ275 said:


> Cousin bought it. Stuff made you pee neon green.


That means it's working...


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## tinymk (Feb 12, 2020)

I do quite a bit of super sets and drop sets as the workout is moving along.  I don’t do negatives. Just not for me and the way I train. To each their own I guess


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## Gabriel (Feb 12, 2020)

I kinda forgot about drops.......got to get them back in..Leg press drops are killer


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## BigSwolePump (Feb 12, 2020)

dk8594 said:


> Auto correct: meant cybergenics. One of the first “kits” of supplements. Not on IG. This is back from the 90’s!


Bought that shit back in the day. Was expensive as hell. I dont remember it being good enough to buy it again.


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## BigSwolePump (Feb 12, 2020)

Good to see some training threads pop up. Been having alot of not so exercise/fitness related threads popping up lately.


I don't use negatives anymore but did on bench years ago. As far as supersets, I don't do them often but I am big on drop sets where I start off heavy to failure then drop the weight and keep going several times until I can't physically do another rep. I usually do this on my last set of an exercise.


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## Gabriel (Feb 12, 2020)

I remember doing drops on leg press.........a good 2 or 3 sets of warm up and IT'S on...start around 6-700lbs and have a bud drop...rounding out about 25-35 reps each set...could barely walk out of the gym after 3 sets.....but I was 31 back then....the days of being young..!!


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## German89 (Feb 12, 2020)

I like adding a drop set in on my second exercise. 

and my last exercise is always light, til failure. 20, 30 reps. 3 sets.  Usually shoulders.  Just blast them away. 

Flexing and holding a flex helps.  Squeeze and Hold.


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## Seeker (Feb 12, 2020)

Both options are good forms of adding challenge to your workouts. As stated by Brock, not a fan super setting a whole workout. Negatives were something me and a couple guys would get together once every few months to train together on. A week worth of training just negatives. If you say you're performing negatives solo, then you're doing it wrong .proper negative training will tear your ass up and get you over a plateau


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## Raider (Feb 12, 2020)

Weather you like them or not, I think it’s good to mix things up. When I was competing I used to do heavy negs. I felt the big weights helped me. These days I typically train faster and a bit lighter due to injuries and time, so I love supers, drops and working efficiently. Mind you I’m old, lol! Nice thread.


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## Gadawg (Feb 12, 2020)

Drop sets are the soul of my routine and have been for years.


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## Sicwun88 (Feb 14, 2020)

dk8594 said:


> It may just be terminology, but in my mind a negative is when you hit positive failure, have a partner help you lift the weight back up, and then lower it. In the absence of that, I just call it controlling the weight.
> 
> Tough to do without a partner for chest unless you are on one of those machines with the foot pedal.
> 
> ...



Like I said I normally workout alone,
Yet when I do negitves, it's usually every other week, when someone I know at the gym is there to lift it back up for me, since the main reason for doing negitves is

To control the weight going down,
As slow as i can!


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## Will1981 (Feb 15, 2020)

I like super sets and circuits. Especially with arms, shoulders and abs with minimal or no rest between sets. (For instance 10x10 EZ-bar skull-crushers S/S with standing EZ-bar curls with no rest)


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## Boytoy (Feb 16, 2020)

dk8594 said:


> It may just be terminology, but in my mind a negative is when you hit positive failure, have a partner help you lift the weight back up, and then lower it. In the absence of that, I just call it controlling the weight.
> 
> Tough to do without a partner for chest unless you are on one of those machines with the foot pedal.
> 
> ...



Not sure about that one but the P90X program was tough but worked.  Went from 250 to 215 in 30 days.  Was a fat **** when started it though.


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