There's no real drawback there, because whether the weight used in the second exercise is reduced a little isn't as important as the fact that the overall fatigue to the muscle goes up by using supersets. That's the primary driver of growth stimulation.
As far as the amount of weight used on the second exercise, it's a given that in a superset the second exercise weight will always be slightly diminished no matter what the exercise. That doesn't matter as much as the overall intensity on the muscle, which is the point of supersets.
Concerning the actual weight lifted and any hormonal advantage that in theory accrues to doing compounds, that's (1) just a theory and (2) using a little less weight by doing the compound second has not been established as making any differences within that theory.
As to which is better pre or post, theory doesn't matter as much as practice. What matters is the after-effects. Try each approach for a few weeks at least, then assess what the benefits are.
Well of course the idea that compounds stimulate more growth is a theory, but so is gravity. Would you bet people can grow as much or even more with multiple isolations to target all the muscles that are involved in a compound as opposed to doing the compound only? I sure as shit wouldn't, something special certainly happens in a compound, that's why a set of squats to failure can make your whole body grow... I'd bet compounds cause the body to produce larger amounts of growth-producing biochemical resources compared to isolations.
Honest question, Pumpster...
Are you taking drugs to faciliate muscle growth? Your attitude is as if the manner in which you execute your training doesn't matter much, and it doesn't
if you're taking drugs. However, if you train drug free for a considerable number of years, experimenting with different training methods, journaling it all and analyzing results, one thing you sure as shit will discover is that your training does matter, there are limits to the amount of work you can do in a workout and still gain, and that factors such as the movements you utilize, order of those movements
do matter to a great extent and they are the difference between making gains and not making gains. No offense, I appreciate the knowledge you share, but I get the impression you and tbombz are on drugs and lack an understanding of the necessities of
DRUG-FREE gains.
I certainly agree that theory doesn't matter as much as practice, that's why I give advice from
my experience; it's not just theory. That's exactly how I came to the conclusion that post-exhaust was more effective than pre-exhaust, and it just so happens that it both yields better results in practice
and makes sense in theory.
i totally agree that pre exhaust in no way diminishes gains. in fact, IMO pre exhaust when used properly, for some people, might just help speed up gains.
I agree with you that pre-exhaust can speed up progress for someone who doesn't normally utilize it, tbombz, but like I stated above, post-exhaust as opposed to pre-exhaust may be more effective for a drug-free trainee due to higher intensity on the compound. Again, allowing a higher intensity on the compound likely causes the body to produce larger amounts of growth-producing biochemical resources compared to isolations. In fact, post-exhaust would likely be even more effective for a drug user, not just the drug-free. No offense, but
you've admitted to using drugs and therefore
it doesn't matter a whole lot how you train. What I told pumpster about this topic above applies to your situation as well.
You've also mentioned you don't write your workouts down, but rather "train on instinct."
Your drugs are the only reason you're getting away with this. Only after someone spends years of documenting workouts ON PAPER, experimenting, and analyzing the numbers can they determine what is absolutely optimal. Why? Say you do pre-exhaust every third workout for 3 months...then say you do post-exhaust every third workout for the next 3 months...YOU WILL HAVE NO CLUE ON HOW THEY COMPARE UNLESS YOU CAN GO BACK AND ANALYZE THE NUMBERS
IN YOUR BOOKS. The same concept applies to any variation in training.
You don't have to depend on your training to stimulate the body to release biochemical growth resources, you depend on drugs for that.
For drug-free lifters, it is an entirely different world. They must train in a way that stimulates the production of these growth-producing resources while simltaneously minimizing recovery demands, as the same "pool" of resources for growth will be "dipped into" for recovery. So, drug-free lifters reach a point of diminishing returns as far as volume (the amount of work done during a workout). They must be very careful, they must record every workout and analyze the numbers in order to make necessary adjustments in order to ensure gains will continue.