A superset is when two exercises are performed in a row without stopping. The practice utilizes sub-maximal weight for a high volume of repetitions and allows for increased muscle growth and can be performed using any muscle group or groups and with two or more different exercises.
Although supersets may not be the best choice for building strength and power, the practice can increase your intensity while training, help prevent injury and save you time.
Procedure
A superset is when you perform an exercise and then, without resting, perform a different exercise of the same muscle group. For example, you may perform two sets of 10 repetitions on a barbell squat and then do another two sets of 10 repetitions doing a standing high jump. The first set of squats immediately followed by the first set of high jumps is one superset. After one superset, rest for several minutes before repeating.
Pros
Aside from developing more muscle, supersets have many other benefits. Among them, they increase training intensity because more work performed in less time equals more intensity. Supersets also save time; the shorter the rest period and harder you work, the faster you will be finished.
Last, supersets allow you to overload a muscle and generate high intensity without requiring heavy weights. If you have problems such as back pain and can't squat heavy, performing supersets can decrease your chances of injury.
Cons
Depending on your fitness goals, supersets may not be the best choice for getting fit. When you perform two exercises in a row with no rest in between, your strength decreases from fatigue and it reduces the amount of weight you can handle with each superset. Because supersets don't allow you to use maximal weight, they are not well-suited to building strength, which is why few powerlifters and strongmen perform them.
Variety
There is plenty of variety to choose from when performing supersets. One superset is the antagonistic superset when you perform a set of one exercise, then immediately perform a different exercise for a different or opposing muscle group such as chest and back, quadriceps and hamstrings, and biceps and triceps.
Another superset is the pre-exhaust one where an isolation exercise is performed followed by a compound exercise, such as lat pulldown and pullups, lateral raises and overhead presses, and Romainian deadlifts and squats.
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