What if you could burn calories faster while strength training? A recent study¹ compared the calories burned during two types of strength training workouts - traditional and superset. Traditional involves completion of one set of repetitions for a specific exercise followed by an inactive rest period. Superset training works two opposing muscle groups before taking a recovery period. Working opposing muscle groups allows the first muscle to rest while the opposing muscle group is working.  

The study measured calories burned during the two types of resistance training. Ten active men (average age 22 years and 165 pounds) completed a superset workout and a traditional workout on different days using the same resistance while performing the same exercises. Each workout exercised six muscle groups (chest, back, and the anterior and posterior muscles of the arms and thighs). Subjects completed four sets of each exercise lifting 70% of their 1 Repetition Maximum (1 RM). During the superset workout, subjects completed two back to back exercises for opposing muscle groups (for example, chest and back) followed by a 60 second rest before repeating the same two exercises three more times. For the traditional workout, subjects performed one set of an exercise followed by a 60 second rest before repeating that exercise three more times. The traditional workout had twice as many rest periods as the superset workout. Therefore, the traditional workout took longer to finish than the superset workout (30 vs 36 minutes). 

Researchers measured the total calorie burn during the workout, calories burned per minute, and the extra calories burned during 60-minutes of recovery. The total calorie burn during the superset workout was 241 calories while the traditional workout totaled 227 calories. Due to the fewer rest periods during the superset workout, subjects averaged 8.0 calories per minute and the traditional workout averaged 6.3 calories per minute. During the 60 minutes of recovery, the superset workout burned an extra 19 calories compared to the traditional workout which burned 14 calories above baseline resting caloric expenditure.

The take home message is that both types of strength training programs provide similar calorie burn for the same volume (sets x reps x weight) of exercise. But, for those who want to burn the most calories in the shortest amount of time, superset strength training programs provide the biggest bang for your buck at 8.0 calories per minute. Maybe its time to rethink your current resistance training program and switch to supersets; you could cut your workout time by 17% and spend the extra time on cardio exercises like cycling or running to burn an additional 50-75 calories depending on the intensity. Are you wasting precious workout time that could be better spent burning calories?                

1. Fairchild, T. J., Hackney, K. J., Kelleher, A. R., Keslacy, S., and Ploutz-Snyder, L. L. (2010). The metabolic costs of reciprocal supersets vs. traditional resistance exercise in recreationally active adults. The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 24(4), 1043-1051.