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Octopod
02-02-09, 7:41 am
Need someone who could help shed some light on cluster training, read about it on Tnation and bodybuilding.com, but just seems to me that there is more to it. I know that Poliquin covered it in one of his books, but haven't found it yet.
Please, if someone if familiar with the principles, mechanics and set/rep ranges, help a brother out!

In Flames
02-02-09, 11:59 am
Why do you want to cluster your training? Why not keep math and what not out of lifting weights and just go lift heavy ass weight in the gym on the basic exercises?

Weighted Dips
Weighted Chin-ups
Standing Overhead Press
Trap-bar Dead-lift

Try getting strong enough to add 50+lbs to your waist while doing Dips and Chin-ups in the 10+ rep range and I guarantee you will have a big back, big biceps and big chest.

Octopod
02-03-09, 6:16 am
Because, cluster training seems (from what I've read so far) to be a good way to up the volume on 85%-90% weights, and because I like to try something new every 2-3 months (I just came off of a HST cycle), it's what keeps my body growing.

eric downey
02-03-09, 7:10 am
you know in my bodybuilding days i did the same workouts for over 5 years. same basic exercises. the only thing i ever changed was the weight and reps i did in a 3month period. from 8 to 12 reps , 4 to 8, and a true 10,8,6,4,2. exercise day and order never changed. Remember K.I.S.S

Keep It Simple Stupid

Works everytime.

Octopod
02-03-09, 9:29 am
O.K....
I keep it simple. I do my bench, deads, squat and clean & press like every other dedicated animal, but Keeping It Simple Stupid doesn't mean Keeping Myself Simply Stupid. I didn't say I wanted to stop doing compound lifts, or start doing 3 hour training sessions, I just want to get myself educated about all types of training regimes i can, and getting educated is, I'm sure you'll agree, very important.
Now, if there is someone who could help me in understanding cluster training, I would be very grateful if he could enlighten me.

"In creating the perfect style, you must study all styles, and cast away all unnecessary elements while embracing the useful."
-- Bruce Lee

In Flames
02-03-09, 10:17 am
O.K....
I keep it simple. I do my bench, deads, squat and clean & press like every other dedicated animal, but Keeping It Simple Stupid doesn't mean Keeping Myself Simply Stupid. I didn't say I wanted to stop doing compound lifts, or start doing 3 hour training sessions, I just want to get myself educated about all types of training regimes i can, and getting educated is, I'm sure you'll agree, very important.
Now, if there is someone who could help me in understanding cluster training, I would be very grateful if he could enlighten me.

"In creating the perfect style, you must study all styles, and cast away all unnecessary elements while embracing the useful."
-- Bruce Lee

Theres your problem. You don't have to try out every new routine you see in a Flex magazine or some online workout made by some "so called" professional writer. Within 3 months every magazine will repost the same workout but just put it under another pro. You can keep the same workout for ever, just up the food and change reps and exercises around. Just like Eric Downey said. The only thing you want to change is the weight being lifted, you want to strive to add weight to the bar as much as possible.

MrMonday
02-03-09, 11:56 am
O.K....
I just want to get myself educated about all types of training regimes i can, and getting educated is, I'm sure you'll agree, very important.


The MOST important thing should be your bodybuilding progress. If you're going to sacrifice a working template just to "try something new" every 3 months you aren't going to get very far.

Take it from the people on this forum that have already been there and done that... you aren't going to find any secrets or anything magical hidden in new-fangled training philosophies (which are really just recycled training philosophies from 50 years ago).

You don't earn extra points in this game for knowing the most training theory or being able to quote PT authors, the only merit comes from the progress you've made on your physique and the weights you're handling. So keep your eyes on the prize, do what works and what decades of bodybuilding has shown us will work.

And if there's one thing I know, it's that consistency is the only thing that works 100% of the time.

Octopod
02-03-09, 1:52 pm
Theres your problem. You don't have to try out every new routine you see in a Flex magazine or some online workout made by some "so called" professional writer. Within 3 months every magazine will repost the same workout but just put it under another pro. You can keep the same workout for ever, just up the food and change reps and exercises around. Just like Eric Downey said. The only thing you want to change is the weight being lifted, you want to strive to add weight to the bar as much as possible.

No, that isn't my problem.
I listen to my body and I generally know when something starts feeling "old", once I start feeling that the flat barbell bench press isn't giving me the burn it used to, I start doing incline barbell bench press first and flat barbell bench press second (if I don't replace it with flat dumbell bench press).
That is what worked for me for 5 years and still does. If everyone could just put some more weight on the barbell every day to max up the intensity, then 5 years of benching once a week would add up to a 1000lbs bench instead of a 418lbs bench.
And as for the routines I do to switch thing up, I do a 5x5 based program for 12 weeks every 16 weeks, and HST once (or twice) a year, so you see no Jay-Cutler-fad-routine here.

P.S.
I wouldn't exactly call Charles Poliquin a "so called" professional writer from Flex (don't know if cluster training is his brainchild, but he wrote about it in "Modern Trends in Strength Training"), he is a great f**king strength/fitness coach.

So as you see, the only problem I have is wanting to know more about cluster training, and not finding a source.

Octopod
02-03-09, 2:00 pm
You don't earn extra points in this game for knowing the most training theory or being able to quote PT authors


If I knew everything I wanted to know about weight training, I wouldn't be here on this forum seeking help from more knowledgeable elders of the iron game.

Now please can someone help me with the topic!

Barker
09-13-09, 6:46 pm
So i know this is kinda late but maybe you'll see it.

Cluster training as explained by Christian Thibaudeau, is using approximately 90%(88-92%) of your max for multiple singles with short rest in between. Its a type of rest pause training.

Example set of a 5x1 cluster:
Perform 1 rep, rack the weight and rest for 10-15 seconds. Perform another rep, rack the weight and rest for 10-15 seconds. Do this until you have performed 5 reps. That is one cluster set. Thibaudeau recommended doing 5 sets and only using this technique for one exercise per body part. Thats just a summary. Look through his articles on tnation and you'll find alot more info on this and how to implement this into a routine. Good luck.

Alk
09-14-09, 2:20 pm
Christian Thibaudeau

I saw his "workout" on tmuscle.com

Wow...just wow...

Kids/new lifters are going to blindly follow his "workout" plan too...

Altered Beast
09-14-09, 2:54 pm
Cluster training sounds like some new designer fitness bullsh*t. Like some new over-hyped supplement, it's just hype. There is a reason the same basic powerlifting and bodybuilding workouts have never changed, because they work!

If you want something new, look up powerlifting style of training. You hit everything twice a week but you have a speed day split, than max effort split.

http://www.westside-barbell.com/

Like I said, this stuff has been around in other parts of the world for hundreds if not thousands of years simply because, IT WORKS!

Don't buy into hype. Hype has no substance, remember that.

Altered Beast
09-14-09, 2:55 pm
The beauty of bodybuilding/powerlifting is that it is pure and simple, no bullsh*t. It taps the purity of your primal essence, and it is not complicated.

Ir0nClad
09-14-09, 11:45 pm
The beauty of bodybuilding/powerlifting is that it is pure and simple, no bullsh*t. It taps the purity of your primal essence, and it is not complicated.

Exactly, just keep it simple, add more weight to the bar, and eat like an animal.

Barker
09-15-09, 8:03 pm
I'll admit that in their search for knowledge or new theories, some of the guys on tnation go a little overboard, but theres nothing overly complicated about "cluster sets" its just 5 sets of 5 heavy rest-pause reps. If you really want to try it, go for it. Thats the only way you are going to find out if it'll work for you.