SS in a workout context most commonly stands for one of four things: supersets, straight sets, steady state cardio, or the Starting Strength program. Which one applies depends on where you saw it. A strength training plan will typically mean supersets or straight sets, a cardio plan means steady state, and a beginner lifting forum almost certainly means Starting Strength. Here’s how to tell them apart and what each one involves.
SS as Supersets
Supersets are the most common meaning of SS in a written workout program. A superset pairs two exercises back to back with little or no rest between them. You finish the first exercise, move straight into the second, then rest before repeating. In many programs, you’ll see this written with A1/A2 notation, where A1 is your first exercise and A2 is the one you jump to immediately. If you see A1, A2, A3, that’s a tri-set: three exercises chained together with rest only at the end of the series.
Supersets come in a few flavors. The most effective pairing targets opposing muscle groups, like a bench press followed by a row. This structure lets one muscle group recover while the other works, which actually helps you maintain performance across sets. Pairing opposing muscles may even let you squeeze out more total reps than you’d get with traditional sets, likely because activating one muscle group primes the opposing one to fire harder.
You can also superset two exercises for the same muscle group (like a dumbbell press into a fly), though these are more fatiguing and you’ll likely need to drop the weight on the second exercise.
Why Supersets Are Popular
The biggest draw is time savings. A 2025 meta-analysis covering 19 studies and 313 participants found that supersets cut training time by roughly 37 to 50 percent compared to doing the same exercises with full rest between every set. That’s a 45-minute session compressed into 25 minutes or less.
The trade-off is that supersets feel harder. The same meta-analysis found that perceived effort was significantly higher with supersets, and blood lactate (a marker of metabolic stress) was elevated both during and after training. Your muscles burn more and your heart rate stays higher throughout. But the payoff is worth it for most people: the research showed no meaningful difference in strength gains, strength endurance, or muscle growth between supersets and traditional sets over time. You get the same results in less time, as long as you can handle the intensity.
SS as Straight Sets
In some programs, particularly older templates or coach-written plans, SS refers to straight sets. A straight set means you perform every set of an exercise at the same weight. If your program reads “Back squat 3×5 @ 225 (SS),” you’re doing three sets of five reps, all at 225 pounds. No ramping up, no dropping down.
Straight sets are the simplest way to structure a lift and the format most beginners learn first. They work well when you’re doing three or fewer working sets, because the fatigue is manageable and you can keep your total training volume high. When the number of sets climbs to four or five, straight sets get aggressive quickly. Maintaining the same weight across that many sets becomes a grind, and form tends to break down on the later sets. At that point, some coaches switch to ascending sets, where weight increases gradually across sets, or they reduce the number of sets.
SS as Steady State Cardio
If you see SS on a cardio or conditioning plan, it almost always means steady state. Steady state cardio (sometimes called LISS, for low-intensity steady state) is continuous exercise at a consistent, moderate pace. Think jogging, cycling, swimming, or brisk walking where your effort level stays the same throughout.
The target is 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate, which is the range the American Heart Association defines as moderate intensity. For most people, that feels like you can carry on a conversation but wouldn’t want to sing. If you’re new to cardio, 20 to 30 minutes is a reasonable starting point. As your endurance improves, the goal is to extend sessions up to 60 minutes. If steady state is your primary form of exercise, aim for 30 to 60 minutes most days of the week.
Steady state is the opposite of interval training. Instead of alternating between hard bursts and recovery, you maintain one effort level from start to finish. It builds your aerobic base, improves heart efficiency, and is gentle enough on the body that you can do it frequently without needing much recovery time.
SS as Starting Strength
On Reddit, fitness forums, and beginner lifting communities, SS is shorthand for Starting Strength, a barbell training program built around five core lifts: squat, bench press, deadlift, overhead press, and power clean. The program uses three sets of five reps (3×5) and adds weight every session, typically five pounds at a time.
Starting Strength is often discussed alongside StrongLifts 5×5, another popular beginner program. The two are similar, but StrongLifts uses five sets of five (5×5) and also adds five pounds per session. That means StrongLifts increases your total training volume by 125 pounds per session, while Starting Strength increases it by 75 pounds. The practical difference: Starting Strength is less total volume per workout, which means less fatigue and a longer runway before you stall. Many lifters who start with StrongLifts eventually switch to 3×5 when they can no longer complete all five sets, effectively landing on the Starting Strength model anyway.
If someone online says “I’m running SS,” they’re running this program.
How to Tell Which Meaning Applies
Context clues make this straightforward. If you see SS between two exercises (like “Bench Press SS Barbell Row”), it means superset those exercises together. If SS appears after a set and rep scheme at a single weight (like “3×8 SS”), it likely means straight sets. If it’s on a cardio day or paired with a time duration (“30 min SS”), it’s steady state. And if it’s in a forum post or someone is talking about a training program by name, it’s Starting Strength.
When in doubt, look at what surrounds the abbreviation. Two exercises paired together points to superset. A single exercise with consistent loading points to straight sets. A time block with no barbell in sight points to steady state cardio.