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Sample workout: The upper-body supersets crusher

This is an excerpt from 100 Best Physique Workouts by Gareth Sapstead.

By Ebenezer Samuel

Why This Workout Is Effective

This workout is a great way to develop total upper-body muscle, training every muscle group from your chest to your lats to your arms. It’s a complete workout, so you can push the load to build raw strength and progress critical lifts (such as your bench press), then load up for hypertrophy later.

You’ll get some underrated ab work too, thanks to the final superset. Because you’re working through supersets, you won’t waste time—and you will also ramp up your heart rate more than you may expect.

The best part is that you’ll do all of this while building impeccable upper-body symmetry. As a bonus, leading each superset with a posterior chain exercise ensures you will build a physique with proper balance while stealthily bulletproofing your shoulders against injury.

Instructions

Do each of the supersets in order, aiming to take little to no rest between movements. In the first superset, focus on training with as much weight as you can while maintaining good form; think of the first two sets of this superset as warm-ups, then go hard on the final two sets. During the other two supersets, aim to work with weights that challenge you in the final few reps of each exercise set.

How to Progress

If you are aiming to progress this workout, here are some tips:

• In the first superset, focus on load. As you get stronger, aim to work with heavier weights.
• In the last two supersets, focus on time under tension and time spent during the hardest portion of the movement. Add a pause to the alternating bench press, chest-supported row, single-arm bench press, and elevated plank row to make them even more challenging.

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