Q: What do you think about combining chest and back in a superset? I hear that it should be a large body part like back and biceps, or within one body part, such as legs. What are the upsides and downsides of doing it either way?
A: There are no upsides and downsides, per se, because training has no right or wrong answers beyond flat out “overtraining” and “training with poor form”. I personally feel that combining large body parts means that something has to give. But it depends on what you want out of it, how often you do it and how carefully you choose exercises and combine them. Single exercises combined into a superset, such as what Arnold used to do: Incline presses combined with pull downs – is a great way to keep the intensity up in both body parts and using the time in alternating body part sets to rest one body part optimally. But then why wouldn’t you just train that body part normally? The idea if you do combine that is to choose just one exercise per body part and stick with it for a series of supersets – somewhat like the GVT question, but a little different. I prefer to do supersets within one body part alternating exercises that recruit slightly different muscle within the group. But as with anything, try it for yourself. Some people really only like to train using supersets, and this is just one way to try it.
