[h=1]Increase Muscle Size & Strength with Cluster Sets[/h]
I’ve been lifting weights now for well over 25 years, and even though I can’t bench press over 400 pounds anymore, I still remember what it took to get to that level of strength. One of the techniques that helped me gain strength the most throughout the years was cluster set training.
Cluster set training involves the use of a weight that you can lift for a specific amount of repetitions, and instead of lifting the weight without interruption for a complete set, you break the set up into mini-sets where you only lift the weight for roughly one-third of the total repetitions that you normally perform successively. After the first mini-set, you rack the weight and wait 10 to 30 seconds, and then repeat the process until you surpass the total number of repetitions that you normally perform without interruption by at least one repetition.
Let me give you a good example of cluster set training. Let’s say you can bench press 275 pounds for five successive repetitions. Well, during a cluster set you would lift the 275 for the first mini-set within the cluster for two repetitions, rack the weight, wait 10 to 30 seconds and repeat two more times, or for two more mini-sets, within the first cluster. This would give a total of six repetitions with 275 pounds, meaning you performed one more repetition within the cluster set than you normally perform during a regular set with no rest between repetitions.
Cluster Sets Increase Training Volume
The ability of cluster sets to increase training volume has clearly been demonstrated in many studies. One of these studies by Iglesias-Soler et al.[SUP]4[/SUP] had subjects perform two sessions of squats with a weight they could do for four successive repetitions. In the first session, the subjects performed a traditional set with three total sets and three minutes of rest between sets. In the second session, they performed a cluster set with same weight, but rested 45 seconds between each mini-set. The results showed that the cluster set training increased the total number of repetitions considerably, relative to traditional training. In addition, cluster set training also resulted in the weights being lifted with much more velocity, indicating much better mechanical performance, or power output, during the lift.
Rest Periods Restore the Phosphagen System, Increasing Work Capacity
The key muscle-enhancing stimulus from cluster set training centers on the increase in repetitions performed during a cluster set relative to a standard set. This effect potently triggers considerable gains in muscle growth and strength.
So, what is it about cluster set training that allows the performance of additional repetitions? It has to do specifically with the rest periods between mini-sets that, as I mentioned before, must be as long as 10 to 30 seconds to sufficiently restore energy levels within the muscle cell, to fuel the additional muscular contraction required for the extra repetitions.
The precise reason for the 10- to 30-second rest period has to do with the fact that intense weight training primarily burns ATP and phosphocreatine (PC) to provide the energy required for muscular contraction, and 10 to 30 seconds is the amount of time required to sufficiently replenish the ATP and PC stores within the muscle cell.[SUP]1[/SUP] So, these relatively short rest periods are just right for resupplying the ATP/PC energy system mainly used during hardcore weight training.
Cluster Sets Induce PAP for Greater Performance
In addition to cluster set training enhancing muscular performance by specifically replenishing the ATP/PC energy system, cluster sets also induce post-activation potentiation (PAP). Post-activation potentiation is a well-known phenomenon that increases muscular contraction force by increasing the number of interactions between the two force-producing proteins actin and myosin within the muscle cell, ultimately improving contraction force and strength. What’s more, PAP is even more strongly induced when resting for short periods of time between sets[SUP]2,3[/SUP], which cluster sets provide during the brief rest period between mini-sets within the cluster. Altogether, the ability of cluster set training to stimulate PAP represents another mechanism by which cluster set training improves strength.
Boost Strength With Cluster Sets
The improved power production brought on by cluster set training demonstrated in the previously mentioned study by Iglesias-Soler et al.[SUP]4[/SUP], in combination with the greater amount of repetitions performed, should provide quite a training effect that fosters considerable gains in strength. Indeed, this influence was shown in a study where 18 highly trained athletes were divided into two training groups— with one group performing a traditional training, squat workout and the other performing a cluster set training squat workout.[SUP]5[/SUP] The results showed that while both groups increased strength considerably, the cluster set-trained group increased muscle power much more than the traditionally trained group, supporting the benefit of cluster set training for strength development.
Muscle Hypertrophy, Too!
In addition to cluster sets driving considerable strength gains, this mode of training can also be performed with a higher repetition range, focusing more on muscle hypertrophy. For instance, performing cluster set training with relatively lighter weight will permit a repetition range of eight to 12 within one cluster set, while using heavier weights promoting greater muscular activity that will induce considerable hypertrophy.
In fact, one investigation by Girman et al.[SUP]6[/SUP] showed that cluster set training generated a lower amount of lactate while performing a similar workload relative to traditional training. Since lactate production is related to metabolic stress, the lower amount of lactate produced from cluster set training indicates a lower amount of metabolic stress in the cluster set-trained group. Furthermore, because lactate, or lactic acid, accumulation tends to inhibit muscular contraction, the lower amount of lactate produced while cluster set training indicates that cluster set training will permit the completion of more repetitions, stimulating more muscle growth.
In addition, because cluster set training allows the use of more repetitions at a higher intensity level, cluster set training within a higher repetition range will still recruit many fast-twitch motor units for considerable strength gains too.
I’ve been lifting weights now for well over 25 years, and even though I can’t bench press over 400 pounds anymore, I still remember what it took to get to that level of strength. One of the techniques that helped me gain strength the most throughout the years was cluster set training.
Cluster set training involves the use of a weight that you can lift for a specific amount of repetitions, and instead of lifting the weight without interruption for a complete set, you break the set up into mini-sets where you only lift the weight for roughly one-third of the total repetitions that you normally perform successively. After the first mini-set, you rack the weight and wait 10 to 30 seconds, and then repeat the process until you surpass the total number of repetitions that you normally perform without interruption by at least one repetition.
Let me give you a good example of cluster set training. Let’s say you can bench press 275 pounds for five successive repetitions. Well, during a cluster set you would lift the 275 for the first mini-set within the cluster for two repetitions, rack the weight, wait 10 to 30 seconds and repeat two more times, or for two more mini-sets, within the first cluster. This would give a total of six repetitions with 275 pounds, meaning you performed one more repetition within the cluster set than you normally perform during a regular set with no rest between repetitions.
Cluster Sets Increase Training Volume
The ability of cluster sets to increase training volume has clearly been demonstrated in many studies. One of these studies by Iglesias-Soler et al.[SUP]4[/SUP] had subjects perform two sessions of squats with a weight they could do for four successive repetitions. In the first session, the subjects performed a traditional set with three total sets and three minutes of rest between sets. In the second session, they performed a cluster set with same weight, but rested 45 seconds between each mini-set. The results showed that the cluster set training increased the total number of repetitions considerably, relative to traditional training. In addition, cluster set training also resulted in the weights being lifted with much more velocity, indicating much better mechanical performance, or power output, during the lift.
Rest Periods Restore the Phosphagen System, Increasing Work Capacity
The key muscle-enhancing stimulus from cluster set training centers on the increase in repetitions performed during a cluster set relative to a standard set. This effect potently triggers considerable gains in muscle growth and strength.
So, what is it about cluster set training that allows the performance of additional repetitions? It has to do specifically with the rest periods between mini-sets that, as I mentioned before, must be as long as 10 to 30 seconds to sufficiently restore energy levels within the muscle cell, to fuel the additional muscular contraction required for the extra repetitions.
The precise reason for the 10- to 30-second rest period has to do with the fact that intense weight training primarily burns ATP and phosphocreatine (PC) to provide the energy required for muscular contraction, and 10 to 30 seconds is the amount of time required to sufficiently replenish the ATP and PC stores within the muscle cell.[SUP]1[/SUP] So, these relatively short rest periods are just right for resupplying the ATP/PC energy system mainly used during hardcore weight training.
Cluster Sets Induce PAP for Greater Performance
In addition to cluster set training enhancing muscular performance by specifically replenishing the ATP/PC energy system, cluster sets also induce post-activation potentiation (PAP). Post-activation potentiation is a well-known phenomenon that increases muscular contraction force by increasing the number of interactions between the two force-producing proteins actin and myosin within the muscle cell, ultimately improving contraction force and strength. What’s more, PAP is even more strongly induced when resting for short periods of time between sets[SUP]2,3[/SUP], which cluster sets provide during the brief rest period between mini-sets within the cluster. Altogether, the ability of cluster set training to stimulate PAP represents another mechanism by which cluster set training improves strength.
Boost Strength With Cluster Sets
The improved power production brought on by cluster set training demonstrated in the previously mentioned study by Iglesias-Soler et al.[SUP]4[/SUP], in combination with the greater amount of repetitions performed, should provide quite a training effect that fosters considerable gains in strength. Indeed, this influence was shown in a study where 18 highly trained athletes were divided into two training groups— with one group performing a traditional training, squat workout and the other performing a cluster set training squat workout.[SUP]5[/SUP] The results showed that while both groups increased strength considerably, the cluster set-trained group increased muscle power much more than the traditionally trained group, supporting the benefit of cluster set training for strength development.
Muscle Hypertrophy, Too!
In addition to cluster sets driving considerable strength gains, this mode of training can also be performed with a higher repetition range, focusing more on muscle hypertrophy. For instance, performing cluster set training with relatively lighter weight will permit a repetition range of eight to 12 within one cluster set, while using heavier weights promoting greater muscular activity that will induce considerable hypertrophy.
In fact, one investigation by Girman et al.[SUP]6[/SUP] showed that cluster set training generated a lower amount of lactate while performing a similar workload relative to traditional training. Since lactate production is related to metabolic stress, the lower amount of lactate produced from cluster set training indicates a lower amount of metabolic stress in the cluster set-trained group. Furthermore, because lactate, or lactic acid, accumulation tends to inhibit muscular contraction, the lower amount of lactate produced while cluster set training indicates that cluster set training will permit the completion of more repetitions, stimulating more muscle growth.
In addition, because cluster set training allows the use of more repetitions at a higher intensity level, cluster set training within a higher repetition range will still recruit many fast-twitch motor units for considerable strength gains too.
