Supersets give you the most bang for the buck. They give you more muscle in less time, and don’t bore you from how long it takes to actually do the exercises.

If you’re into body building at all, you’ll know the basics of what a Superset is. It’s when you switch between different exercises with a little rest between them, instead of doing all your sets for one exercise before going to the next one on the list.

Now let’s figure out a superset to build bigger muscles.

There are 2 kinds of muscle fibers. The smaller ones are “slow-twitch” fibers wich are mostly used for endurance. The bigger ” fast-twitch ” fibers are mostly used when strenght is required. But both of these can get bigger, so if you want the biggest muscles possible, you’ll have to work both. Here’s what you’ll do:

- Do 10 reps of one exercise
– Do 20 reps of a different exercise for the same muscle without rest.
– Rest 1 min.
– Repeat 2-3 times.

Here’s how one would go about using supersets to build strength and power. But you have to know some things first. Strenght and power, aren’t the same thing. Strenght is the amount of weight you can move, at any speed. Power, is your ability to move an inanimate object. Or the speed at wich you can lift a certain amount of weight, if you will. Both are important, especially if you play sports. Here’s how you train for strength/power.

- Do 5 reps of a heavy-duty strenght exercise
– Doe 10 reps of a power exercise ( something where you can move your body as fast as possible with a lighter weight. )

You can also use supersets for fat-loss purposes of course. Supersets help this even more than normal body building because it requires much more energy, spending all those extra calories. Here’s the plan:

- Do 10 reps of one exercise for your lower body
– Without resting, do 10 reps of upper body exercise.
– Make sure both exercises target the largest muscle groups possible.
– Rest 60 secs.
– Repeat 4 times.

With supersets, you’ll be in and out of the gym before you know it and more pumped up than ever.

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In one of my recent articles, I spoke about the fact that you must alter your training variables that make up your workouts if you want to continuously get good results, whether it is losing weight, building muscle, or toning up.

While changing your training variables is an integral part of the success of your training program, your workouts shouldn’t be drastically different every single time. If you are all over the place on each workout and never try to repeat and improve on specific exercises for specific set and rep schemes with specific rest intervals, then your body has no basis to improve on its current condition. The best way to structure your workouts to get the best results is to be consistent and try to continually improve on a specific training method for a specific time period. A time period of 4-8 weeks usually works best as your body will adapt to the specific training method and progress will slow after this amount of time.

At this point, it is time to change around some of your training variables as I described in the "exercise variables" article, and then stay consistent with your new training program for another 4-8 weeks. To refresh, some of these variables are the numbers of sets and reps of exercises, the order of exercises (sequence), exercise grouping (super-setting, circuit training, tri-sets, etc.), exercise type (multi-joint or single joint, free-weight or machine based), the number of exercises per workout, the amount of resistance, the time under tension, the base of stability (standing, seated, on stability ball, one-legged, etc.), the volume of work (sets x reps x distance moved), rest periods between sets, repetition speed, range of motion, exercise angle (inclined, flat, declined, bent over, upright, etc), training duration per workout, training frequency per week, etc.

For example, let’s say you are training with a program where you are doing 10 sets of 3 reps for 6 different exercises grouped together in pairs (done as supersets) with 30 seconds rest between each superset and no rest between the 2 exercises within the superset. If you are smart, I’m sure you are tracking your progress with a notepad (weights used, sets, and reps) to see how you are progressing over time. Let’s say that after about 6 weeks, you find that you are no longer improving with that program. Well, now it is time to change up your variables, and start a new program.

This time you choose a classic 5 sets of 5 reps routine, but you group your exercises in tri-sets (three exercises performed back to back to back, and then repeated for the number of sets). This time you decide to perform the exercises in the tri-set with no rest between them, and then recover for 2 minutes in between each tri-set to fully recoup your strength levels.

There you have it…a couple examples of how to incorporate both consistency and variability into your training programs to maximize your results. Want to take the guess work out of all of this? Pick up a copy of my book today at http://truthaboutabs.com and try the scientifically designed programs already illustrated within.

Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer (NCSF-CPT, AFAA-CPT), and author of “The Truth about Six Pack Abs” ©2004-2005.

Visit http://truthaboutabs.com to receive several free bonuses that are yours to keep with no purchase necessary

My Legs Are Already Big Enough. I Keep Hearing Working Legs Is A MUST. Why Is That So Important?

Believe me? I hated leg workouts. Until I realize the true potential that a simple set of squats could unleash.

Frankly? I see the same people on the leg press machine, leg extensions, doing lunges and doing squats week after week. But for every other muscle group, it’s like a new day. There’s the familiar faces of course, but there’s always new people. It’s like working leg is an exclusive club.

And yet that is 50% of your body! Your entire lower body you will neglect because:

? You don’t like working legs
? You don’t want bigger legs
? Your leg are big enough

But let’s suppose? you do work legs. And without much weight at all. Just enough to stimulate your entire body propelling it into new levels of growth. Do you think that is possible?

How can doing squats increase our bench press? If you are stuck on bicep curls, how can incorporating legs into your routine break you thru those plateaus?

I’m here to tell you right now, as you read this, that doing leg workouts is a whole lot more then just getting bigger, more toned, or stronger legs.

Think about it. Testosterone is a primary ingredient of building muscle. So you do a hard set of tricep pushdowns. Your body responds by making more testosterone. Let’s just guess at 10% more for the day. Phew. Hard workout. Good job!

Do you qualify as one of those people?

But,? let’s say you do a set of breathing squats at 100% intensity.

You just boosted your testosterone production 1000%.

Do you think I’m being facetious?

But back to the purpose of this question. Working your legs isn’t an option. It’s something you do. So you don’t want bigger legs? Fine. Don’t pile on the weight. Don’t overload them. Just stimulate your metabolism, and stimulate your body changing. So you don’t like legs? Get over it.

Fact is, by incorporating legs into your workout, you will see more gains in 6 weeks then most people do in 3 months.

Don’t take my word for it. Look around at your gym? The guy with a huge upper body and tiny chicken legs. Do you want to look like that? Who are the bigger guys in your gym? Who are the women that you most want to look like? I can assure you those people do legs. Any top notch physique does legs.

Doing a cardio machine that uses legs is not the same.

So that’s why working your legs is so important. Please do not make excuses. You do not have to train to failure where you cannot walk. You don’t have to squat 600 lbs. You simply must train the 50% of your body that pretty much 80% of everybody just doesn’t do.

Next time you are in the gym take a good look around. Notice the leg equipment. Notice the same people using that week after week.

Become one of the individuals at your gym that trains legs and discover the secret to growth.

Here are the reasons why working every muscle – not just certain ones – is the superior method of getting the results you want:

1. Builds lean muscle
2. Reduces body fat levels
3. Increases energy
4. Balances blood sugar in the body
5. Increases neuromuscular efficiency
6. Improves sexual performance
7. Lowers cholesterol in the body
8. Protects against heart disease
9. Improves mood

All the above reasons are by-products of increased testosterone. For men, this means better muscle gains. For women, don’t worry you don’t have enough testosterone to get big and bulky like a man. For everybody, working legs will help you with the above factors and assist you in reaching your goals.

Marc David is a bodybuilder, writer, and author of the the e-book “The Beginner’s Guide to Fitness and Bodybuilding” (BGFB): What Every Beginner Should Know but Probably Doesn’t. The Beginner’s Guide is oriented towards fitness minded men and women who are just starting or have worked out for years without results who want weight loss and to gain muscle. To learn more about the Beginner’s Guide, visit Beginning-Bodybuilding at: http://www.beginning-bodybuilding.com