Supersets and Exercise Pairings

I went to visit a client at their gym on the weekend. She was training her bench press, and was really pushing her limits with a 5x5 protocol, so although her first set wasn't an all out effort, by the last few sets, she was definitely seeing stars as she was grinding them out!

I'm there with her, spotting her, and coaching her through her workout, and a guy walks over and introduces himself as a "certified" trainer and proceeds to suggest that her workout would be more efficient if she were to superset a set of bent-over rows in between each set of bench press.

The funniest thing... is that I saw this guy coming from the other side of the gym, and I knew exactly what was going to happen... and I was right.

So first, before I say whether he had a good suggestion, I seriously doubt he could bench press 5x5x125 which is what my client was doing. This guy barely had any facial hair let alone any muscle on his frame.

That said, I can't be upset with him, as I used to do that all the time. Yep.. I was the annoying kid who had to teach everyone everything I learned the moment I learned it.

It all comes down to perspective. When you're young, when you learn something, you think the world should know it, and that they probably don't already know it.

So did he have a good suggestion?

It really depends on the goals of the training session. If "Jill" was doing 5x5x125 and her 1RM was 155, making her 5x5x125 at 80% 1RM, as was the case, then I would say no. But if Jill's 1RM was 175, then she's training at around 70%, which means her 5x5x125 would not be too taxing.

In other words, if the weights you're going to be lifting are going to be close to your limits for a given repetition range, you don't want to superset other exercises in as it will interfere with your ability to give 100% effort to the exercise you're trying to focus on.

High CNS involvement multi-joint-compound movements take way more out of you than other less demanding exercises, so pairing them up isn't always a good idea.

The main key is to decide what your main purpose is for the exercise. If you want your bench to go up.. then you don't want to be supersetting it with another exercise. But if your goal is just general strength and overall conditioning, and getting more weight on that bar Goddamnit.. is NOT the end all be all for you, then you can superset with another exercise.

Good Exercise Pairings

Vertical Push + Vertical Pull

ex: Military Press + Wide Grip Pull-ups

Horizontal Push + Horizontal Pull

ex: Bench Press + Inverted Rows

Vertical Push + Horizontal Pull

ex: 1-DB Push Press + Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows

Horizontal Push + Vertical Pull

ex: Dips + Chin-Ups

For lower body work, since both squats and deadlifts work both quads and hamstrings it would rarely be advised to superset quad/ham. Instead, and only if maximum strength is not your goal, you could superset another non-competing exercise.

Quad Dominant + (Biceps, shoulders)

Squat + DB Curls or dumbbell shoulder press

Hip Dominant + (Chest, shoulders, triceps)

Deadlifts + Pushups, Military Press, DB Tricep Extensions

There are many options, but these are just some.

Always bear in mind your goals, and construct your program with pairings that are suitable if any.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section below.

Low Back Pain Solution

Is this YOU at any point of your day?

Any solution for low back pain must of course fit the cause of the pain, of which there are many. But a common cause of low back pain is excessive lumbar flexion when bending forward. There are cases where some people have tremendous lumbar flexion without problems, but just because they can, doesn't mean you can or should even try.

Don't Try This

Just Because Some Other Twat Can Do It!

When you have to bend over for whatever reason, you should be trying to get as much movement at your hips, otherwise you your lumbar spine usually takes up the slack.

This is tough for many simply because the mechanics of flexing at the hip are unfamiliar. An excellent exercise to help develop good posterior chain strength and good hip flexion/extension mechanics is the 45 degree back extension.

The 45 degree back extension is also good for those who are not strong enough to do normal flat back extensions.

Key Technique Points:

1. Maintain neutral arch throughout movement.

2. Brace abdominals firmly throughout.

3. Pull into top position with glutes, not lower back.

4. Avoid lumbar flexion on descent.

5. Mental focus should be on maintaining rigid torso through abdominal bracing and moving only at the hips.

Progressions for 45 Degree Back Extensions

1. Add external resistance using dumbbells, barbell across shoulders, or plates at your chest.

2. Use accommodating resistance such as bands or chains.

3. Use one leg only. (this provides additional benefit due to additional torque from rotational forces which must be resisted - this is an advanced technique)

4. Reduce rest between sets.

VIDEO: 45 Degree Back Extensions

Other Considerations:

If your hamstrings are too tight or too short, your range of motion may be very short forcing you to round your back to make much of a descent. If this is the case, resist the urge to go deep, and only do the range of motion possible with the neural lumbar arch. And of course, a good deal of hamstring stretching is on order as well.

If you have any questions or comments about this post, I'd love to hear about it in the comments section!

And as always.. please "LIKE" my video on the YouTube page! Helps with ratings!

Ginger Kills Cancer

So then they invented this...

"Hey mom, yes I'm feeling much better!  I had cancer, but the Doctor made me drink 12L of Ginger-ale and I'm cured!"

Obviously this isn't exactly the case, but pay attention because it is important for your health!

For many, ginger is just a spice used in Thai food or eaten with Sushi.  It has such a strong, distinct taste that it's difficult to add ginger in any significant quantity to most dishes without it becoming the focus flavour of the dish.  

Can you imagine everything tasting like gingerbread?  Yuck!  Sure gingerbread is great, but for me it's a little too intense to think of having it outside of Thai or Sushi.

That said, you don't have to be a rocket scientist to know that there's something in ginger that's good for us.  It almost tastes like "natural" medicine.

Thankfully this is not mere conjecture.  It's actually backed up by science.  It has long been known to have strong anti-bacterial, anti-viral properties, and anti-inflammatory properties. (2)

But there is also substantial research pointing to the ability of certain substances in ginger to kill cancer cells. (1,3,4,5)

Dr J. Rebecca Liu of the University of Michigan medical school found that ginger kills ovarian cancer cells in lab studies.  Results were presented to the American Association for Cancer Research annual meeting.

Now before you get your pants tied in a knot and run down to the health food store to buy ginger pills, as I've shown you before, it doesn't quite work that way.  You can't harness the power of certain compounds found in foods and put them into pills and get the same benefits as you would if you ate the intact food in it's natural state.

So the big problem is how do you get enough ginger in your diet when it has such a strong and often unwanted flavour.

(Hint: It's not by drinking Ginger-Ale!)

Solution:

Of course you'll think I'm crazy, but this is great!  Trust me!

When you make your morning shake, add some fresh chopped organic ginger (skin and all) into the blender before you blend it all up.  Believe me, that super strong ginger taste turns into a very likeable hint of ginger that you are sure to enjoy.

As an aside, if you think you don't have time for a morning shake it doesn't take long to get it ready.  Check it out: http://tiny.cc/zdxsx (now just imagine me adding some ginger too!)

When we were in Australia in March, staying with some friends, they had a juicer and made us some fresh juice.  I watched as it was being made and I shuddered watching how much ginger was going into the juice.  But knowing how good it is for you, I downed the glass as fast as possible to get it over, expecting my eyes and throat to be burning afterward.  But it never happened.  I was amazed at how the expected sharp pungent bite was much more mellow and tolerable.

The moment we arrived back home I started adding it to my shakes every morning.  Haven't missed a morning yet!

Hope you like it as much as I do!

Supporting Research

1. Katiyar SK, Agarwal R, Mukhtar H. Inhibition of tumor promotion in SENCAR
mouse skin by ethanol extract of Zingiber officinale rhizome. Cancer Res. 1996
Mar 1;56(5):1023-30.

2. Mascolo N, Jain R, Jain SC, Capasso F. Ethnopharmacologic investigation of
ginger (Zingiber officinale). J Ethnopharmacol. 1989 Nov;27(1-2):129-40. 

3. Park KK, Chun KS, Lee JM, Lee SS, Surh YJ. Inhibitory effects of [6]-gingerol,
a major pungent principle of ginger, on phorbol ester-induced inflammation,
epidermal ornithine decarboxylase activity and skin tumor promotion in ICR mice.
Cancer Lett. 1998 Jul 17;129(2):139-44. Erratum in: Cancer Lett 1998 Sep
25;131(2):231.

4. Surh YJ, Lee E, Lee JM. Chemoprotective properties of some pungent ingredients
present in red pepper and ginger. Mutat Res. 1998 Jun 18;402(1-2):259-67.

5. Murakami A, Tanaka T, Lee JY, Surh YJ, Kim HW, Kawabata K, Nakamura Y,
Jiwajinda S, Ohigashi H. Zerumbone, a sesquiterpene in subtropical ginger,
suppresses skin tumor initiation and promotion stages in ICR mice. Int J Cancer.
2004 Jul 1;110(4):481-90.