Get the absolute most out of the Cluster Series in 12 weeks! Part I.

Cluster series are my favorite method of increasing strength as quickly as possible. This technique is neurologically very demanding, so it is important that the rest of the workout is not a classic volume workout. The program needs to be built around the ones and in a way that is as conducive to them as possible.

How does it work?

1. You will practice a series of several ones with short breaks. For example, there will be five such repetitions with a pause of 20 seconds in between. You will then rest for 3-4 minutes before repeating the entire series.
2. The focus will be on the heavy weight. You will train between 87.5% and 97.5% of 1RM depending on what the exercise is.
3. You will improve by accelerating the engagement of fast twitch muscle fibres. And also by numbing the Golgi tendon bodies, improving intramuscular coordination and getting used to heavy weights.
4. Cluster series have several variations. There are the Poliquin cluster series (5 reps in one set with 15 - 20 second pauses), the Miller long cluster series (5-6 reps in one set with 30 - 45 second pauses), the Miller short cluster series (2-4 reps in one set with 45 - 60 second pauses), and the Mentzer cluster series (5 - 6 reps, 3 with about 95% and 2-3 with about 85%, 30 - 45 second pauses).

What you can expect

Strength

Cluster series increase strength extremely effectively. However, the variations described above are also very effective for volume, especially in advanced athletes.

This program will help you increase strength significantly in 12 weeks. I've seen advances of up to 40 kg on the squat, and that's in a top athlete (a world-class track cyclist). He improved from 180 kg, to 220. Bench also improved from 100 to 140.

Not everyone will improve that much, of course, but a 10-20% increase in performance on a major exercise is astounding.

Volume

This isn't a bodybuilder's program, but you will also improve your volume while doing it. I trained a professional American football player who put on almost 3 pounds of muscle with this program. That doesn't seem like much, but this guy didn't gain any body fat. Plus, consider that he had ten years of hard training under his belt.

If you have enough fat, you'll also look tougher. This program increases muscle tone. The more efficient your nervous system, the higher your muscle tone. Cluster series are the most effective way to increase neurological efficiency.

Another benefit is that with this program you get used to moving close to your max. This will not only help you in testing 1RM, but it will reduce the stress hormone response to the situation. You will then be able to train with heavy weight more often and recover from it faster.

Controlling cortisol and adrenaline

There are 5 main variables that control the management of cortisol and adrenaline release during training. Although both hormones are necessary for optimal performance, an excess of either one can reduce performance and improvement.

We understand the function of cortisol well. It makes more muscle break down and reduces the supply of glucose and protein to the muscles. It can increase myostatin production and lead to lower testosterone levels in the long term.

But why is elevated adrenaline a problem? Adrenaline stays in your body longer and will stick to beta adrenergic receptors. These receptors are responsible for calming and reducing sensitivity.

A study by Fry et al. showed a nearly 40% reduction in sensitivity with very intense training for 2 weeks (5 days per week at maximum).

In this state, your body has a much lower response to its own adrenaline. This will reduce strength production, focus, motivation, energy levels, etc. At the same level of exertion, more cortisol will also fill in. The body has to make more of it to get the job done.

Why is this essential for this program? Let's take a look at the 5 main variables and how they can affect cortisol and adrenaline production.

1. Volume of Work: One of the main functions of cortisol is to mobilize energy. The more energy you need, the more cortisol you create. Therefore, a higher volume of work will lead to higher cortisol production.
2. Intensity: or how much you are training your blood for your sets. The closer you get to failure, the more intense the stress a given series is on your body. The response is to increase your cortisol levels, which will also increase your adrenaline levels so you have the mental and physical strength to defend yourself against potential danger. This will increase your strength, alertness and motivation to survive.
3. Psychological Stress: if a weight or a task in general scares you, your body will flush out more cortisol. The reasons are the same as above, i.e. coping with the situation. In training, this usually applies to weights near max, especially in exercises where the spine is under a lot of load.
4. Neurological demands: how hard your nervous system has to work in training. Examples of how much stress on the CNS increases include: using complex exercises, exercises you haven't quite mastered, too many exercises, heavy loads, explosive exercises, alternating between two exercises, circuit training, using two completely different methods and intensity levels in one workout.
5. Density: the higher the ratio of training to rest, the higher your cortisol and adrenaline production will be.

Cluster program overview

The intensity is high in the cluster program, the psychological stress is high and the neurological demands are quite high due to the choice of exercises (complex) and the use of high loads.

The last thing you want is to add stress to your CNS with a large number of assistance exercises. By doing this you would increase the three variables already responsible for cortisol/adrenaline production. And you can't sustain that for more than three weeks.

For the same reason, you need to keep the overall volume of work low. That's also why you won't be adding too many assistance exercises. The program is minimalist, so the training density is low, so it won't give you problems.

You will train 4 times a week. Each workout focuses on one primary exercise: a variation of squats, horizontal presses, deadlifts/hip hinges, and overhead or positive bench presses.

After the primary exercise, one complex assistance exercise and one or two less demanding exercises are added. Both the primary and main assistance exercises are practiced using two to three cluster sets.

The easiest exercises of the workout are practiced using intensification techniques, such as break sets or mechanical crash sets, in one or two sets to failure.

As you can see, the volume of work is pretty low: 7 - 9 working sets in one workout, allowing you to train at a higher intensity.

Since you will be resting 20 - 60 seconds between reps and up to 4 minutes between sets, the density of the workout will be very low. This along with the low volume of work is extremely important. Without this, you won't be able to handle high intensity training for the entire 12 weeks.

The program is divided into four three-week blocks. Each of the blocks uses a different approach to cluster sets and the overall intensity gradually increases.

Exercises

There will be 3 - 4 exercises in each workout. The first two you will practice using cluster series. The primary exercise is the one that we will be primarily concerned with. This will not change throughout the program.

The main assisting exercise will focus on improving the primary exercise. It may be a variation of it, part of its movement, or another exercise exercising the same muscles. This exercise can be changed in each training block.

The other two exercises will not be as neurologically demanding. These will be either isolated exercises or complex exercises but trained on machines, You will use either crash sets, myo-repeats or rested sets, depending on the training block.

Primary exercises

You can choose as many as you like, but you must maintain the logic of the program. Choose from the following.

Day 1 - Squat Variations

• Back Squat
• Front Squat
• Squat with axis low
• Squat with safety axis
• Box squat
• Zercher squat

Day 2 - Horizontal Pressure Variations

• Bench press
• Bench press on negative bench
• Floor press
• Bench press with football axis
• Bench press with Duffalo/buffalo axis

Day 3 - Deadlift/hip hinge variations

• Classic deadlift
• Sumo deadlift
• Deadlift with trap axis
• Power repositioning variation
• Market force variation

Day 4 - Variations of vertical push/push on the positive bench

• Military press
• Push press
• Bench press on positive bench (30 degrees)
• Bench press on positive bench (60 degrees)

In the second part of this article, we'll look at recommended assistance exercises.

Source: www.t-nation.com - The Ultimate Cluster Training Program
Author.
Translated by Jaromír Uhlíř