Supersetting involves performing one exercise; and then, without any rest, performing a second exercise that works a similar or opposing muscle group. Only after performing both exercises in sequence do you rest for a couple of minutes. Then you perform your next superset. In Pumping Iron, Arnold Schwarzenegger talks about how great the muscle pump feels. The muscles fill with blood and all and become very hard, swollen and much larger.

"The greatest feeling you can get in a gym or the most satisfying feeling you can get in a gym is the pump. Let’s say you train your biceps. Blood is rushing into your muscles and that’s what we call the pump. Your muscles get a really tight feeling like your skin is going to explode at any minute. It’s really tight. It’s like somebody blowing air into your muscle. It just blows up and it feels different. It feels fantastic...."

Supersetting a biceps exercise with a triceps exercise will give you, without doubt, the most incredible pumped sensation that you’ll ever experience. Your arms will blow up like balloons. To prove this to yourself take a look in the mirror before and after your superset workout, and take before- and after-workout arm measurements. I also like to tap on my arms as I’m going along to gauge the hardness of my pump and effectiveness of my workout.

Give these supersets a try. The first four I listed involve supersetting a biceps exercise with a triceps exercise. The last one involves supersetting two triceps exercises. But since the triceps make up 2/3 of your arm mass, it makes sense to do a little extra for your triceps -- plus it’s a killer combination.

seated dumbbell curl
narrow-grip barbell bench press
2-3 supersets of 5-10 reps

E-Z barbell preacher curl
pulley pushdown
2-3 supersets of 5-10 reps

E-Z barbell concentration curl
parallel bar dips
2-3 supersets of 5-10 reps

incline-bench dumbbell curl
lying dumbbell extension (holding one dumbbell with both hands)
2-3 supersets of 5-10 reps

triceps dips between benches
dumbbell pullover (holding one dumbbell with both hands)
2-3 supersets of 5-10 reps

Note: I’ve always done the biceps exercise first in the superset, but it might be interesting to change it up by doing the triceps exercise first.

These supersets have worked for me over the years to put some decent size on my arms. You can design your own supersets by alternating two of your favorite biceps/triceps exercises. Just keep in mind that when you’re going back and forth between two different exercises, other lifters may show up at any moment and unload your barbell, steal your dumbbells, etc. Therefore it is wise to set up the two exercises close to one another. That way it’s easy to jump in and say, "Hey, I’ve still got a couple more sets on that."

John S. Howard is a competitive powerlifter with a B.I.S. Degree in English, communication and physical education. He has written numerous newspaper articles and articles for the web. His best lifts include a 480 lb squat, 325 lb bench press and a 525 lb deadlift all done in the USPF. As a teenager, Howard competed in four bodybuilding shows placing 1st in the Teenage Mr. Northern Utah. Check out his website: http://www.muscle-head.com

"A committed decision to reach a predetermined specific goal, combined with burning desire, followed by immediate, massive action repeated consistently for as long as it takes until your goal is reached."

This was the response fitness trainer, success coach, and professional bodybuilder Tom Venuto once gave to a question on how to achieve success.

Say or think what you will about Arnold Schwarzenegger, there is no doubt about one thing.

He's come a long way, baby!

If you examine Arnold a little more closely (not THAT close, lady), or rather his life, you will begin to see that while luck DID play some part in his overall success, he made a lot of his own "luck". Not only that, but many steps that Arnold Schwarzenegger took from being the son of a police chief in a small Austrian town to ultimately becoming the governor of California could have been taken directly from a textbook on how to achieve success.

First of all, there was the desire.

At the start, Arnold desired, more than anything else, to become the best bodybuilder in the world. All sorts of success coaches and motivational trainers and experts agree that having a "burning desire" to achieve something is one of the most important steps in programming success into your life. It doesn't seem to matter whether you ask professional bodybuilders or fitness trainers such as Joe Weider or Tom Venuto, or highly paid yet physically unfit success coaches who train the highest level executives at major corporations, you will be told essentially the same thing. Planned and programmed success starts with a burning desire.

Next came the goal.

As motivational and success coaches will agree, Arnold set long-term and near-term goals for himself. He kept focusing on them and massaging them and modifying them as he learned and progressed, but every goal was intended to take him to the achievement of his heart's desire. First he desired to be the best bodybuilder in the world, and then he decided to become a famous actor.

He refused to accept "no" for an answer.

While I am sure that Arnold had doubts along the way, HE never waivered from his chosen path. So many people, with a pathway clearly marked out to success, allow themselves to be distracted or even deterred from their march to success by the seeds of doubt sown by others. Even worse, many seek out and sow these seeds themselves, telling themselves, "it cannot be done" or worse still, "I cannot do that". How do you know until you have tried every possible avenue to your goal? At 16, Arnold Schwarzenegger was a skinny kid from nowhere who stood six feet tall and weighed 150 pounds. No way that kid could be a future bodybuilder, movie star, or governor was there? Arnold thought otherwise.

Along the way was the effort.

Knowing where he wanted to go and how to get there was not the end of the process with Arnold Schwarzenegger. AS with doubt, so many people believe that the effort is not worth the reward. Arnold believed otherwise. He believed that the reward justified the effort. Even as a young man, he saw such things as having to walk or ride his bicycle to the gym as part of the training process that would take him where he wanted to go. Obstacles such as not having proper exercise equipment or facilities did not deter him either. In fact, he saw these obstacles merely as problems to be solved or overcome on his way to success. How many people give up at the first or second obstacle they encounter?

He didn't know when to give up.

Arnold's life, as with many successful people, illustrates how an ordinary person can achieve extraordinary stature through one simple characteristic. Study successful people, and one fact will gradually begin to emerge. Once they had a burning desire, had set a goal, had faith in themselves, and were willing to make the effort, the key remaining factor in their success was simply their perseverance. They could not be deterred from performing the simplest or most difficult acts over and over again until success was theirs. As each new level of challenge presented itself, or as a pathway seemed to close in front of them, they simply girded their loins and began the trek on the new path or at the new level. Each setback, while it might affect them for a while, was soon put behind as they began again towards their goal.

I guess that Arnold Schwarzenegger, as did so many other successful people, as he encountered each obstacle that seemed to finish his quest for the future that he knew had to exist, simply looked at the temporary setback and said, "I'll be back!"

Donovan Baldwin is a freelance writer residing in Copperas Cove, Texas, and a University of West Florida alumnus. He is a member of Mensa and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. In his career, he has held many managerial and supervisory positions. However, his main pleasures have long been writing, nature, health, and fitness. In the last few years, he has been able to combine these pleasures by writing poetry and articles on subjects such as health, fitness, weightlifting, bodybuilding, yoga, weight loss, the environment, global warming, happiness, self improvement, and life. You can find a collection of his articles on health, fitness, diet, and weight loss at http://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory.