A few questions regarding clustering

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danchubbz

Member
Clustering sounds interesting to me, I have a few q's

1. How much rest do u have between reps after you rack it? Is it like rest pause (approx 15-20 secs)

2. Can u just pick a load, 15 reps for example and just keep adding weight? Would 60% of 1RM be a good starting point, so when u start u could probably complete all 15 in one go but week by week It would take more attempts

3. If so when do stop? Is it when the clustering gets as low as 1-2 reps at a time

4. If so do u go right back to 60% or do with a new projected 1RM?

Thanks
 
1.yes


2.yes

3. Stop at 3 reps or do negatives.

4. Take a week or two off to decondition, then start again at 60% of your NEW 1rm. Each cycle you will get stronger.
 
danchubbz said:
Clustering sounds interesting to me, I have a few q's

1. How much rest do u have between reps after you rack it? Is it like rest pause (approx 15-20 secs)
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Whatever would seem normal rest time between any two sets.

2. Can u just pick a load, 15 reps for example and just keep adding weight? Would 60% of 1RM be a good starting point, so when u start u could probably complete all 15 in one go but week by week It would take more attempts
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I would do a higher volume. I'm doing a cluster routine right now and I do 30 total reps. Might drop that a bit when I get to the heavy weights.

3. If so when do stop? Is it when the clustering gets as low as 1-2 reps at a time
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Stop when you stop seeing gains.

4. If so do u go right back to 60% or do with a new projected 1RM?
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As with any other HST version, your new max for the next cycle should be higher. I'd recommend figuring out your maxes before each cycle, deconditioning, and then starting. If you want to play it by ear then up the starting weight and keep going until you surpass your previous max.
 
How big do increase each week?

Do u just add say 2.5k continually or a more traditional HST approach of 10% or so of your RM?
 
danchubbz said:
Clustering sounds interesting to me, I have a few q's

1. How much rest do u have between reps after you rack it? Is it like rest pause (approx 15-20 secs)
Click to expand...

No, not like 15-20 seconds. It's the same rest period you would have for that weight range. All you're doing is removing the notion of a 'set', and completing the rep total in as many 'clusters' as you can, without going to failure on any one of them.

2. Can u just pick a load, 15 reps for example and just keep adding weight? Would 60% of 1RM be a good starting point, so when u start u could probably complete all 15 in one go but week by week It would take more attempts
Click to expand...

Clustering is really only useful once you get into the 5's. For 10s and 15s, the load is not going to be a limiting factor for those rep ranges. The incrementation of load is still the same, but what you are doing is setting a rep-count/total and completing it in as many 'clusters' as you can. e.g. 5RM, instead of setting up a matrix of 3x5reps, your rep count is 15. You may have gained strength during the cycle and your planned 5RM is now not your literal 5RM. So you might complete the reps in 7, 5, 3. For your first 5's load you might complete it as 9, 6.

3. If so when do stop? Is it when the clustering gets as low as 1-2 reps at a time
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You only stop when you stop making gains. Pragmatically, completing 15 reps as singles with proper spacing would take ~40mins, so you mightn't want to take it to that degree.

4. If so do u go right back to 60% or do with a new projected 1RM?

Thanks
Click to expand...

At the end of the cycle you just figure out your new 15, 10 and 5 RM's as you normally would. You can also figure out your 1RM if you like (probably only worth it for chest, back, squat, dead).




Clustering is awesome.
 
So, with clustering you do one extended set instead of 2 or 3 regular sets? How would that work with, say, db bench? If my 5rm is 100lbs, how would you approach it?
 
Clustering merely removes the notion of 'sets' from training. Instead, you focus on the rep count. For example:

Your flat bench 5RM is 100kg. Your plan is to do 15 reps total. Your incrementation for 5's is: 87.5, 90, 92.5, 95, 97.5, 100.

For your 87.5kgs day, instead of doing 3 sets of 5 reps (5,5,5), you keep lifting in 'clusters' until the rep before failure. You might accomplish your 15 reps by doing 8, and then 7. For your 90kg day it might be 7,7,1. For 92.5 it might also be 7,7,1 ... as the load becomes heavier, obviously your clusters will be smaller, but the idea is to unburden you from the idea of 'sets'. For you 5RM day, you probably will just end up doing 5,5,5 (after all, it's still the heaviest weight you can move for 5 reps). However as you look to increase your strength, you won't look to complete bouts of repetitions in 'sets' of 5, you just do what you can manage until you hit 15. You bump to 102.5kgs, and and you might complete your reps like this; 4,4,3,3,1 for example. Random '3x5' guy might have stopped at 4,4 or 4,4,3 but you're not bothered with that nonsense and just want to complete a given # of reps.
 
Is clustering the same as myo-reps? If not, how are they different? And what would an example of a myo-rep workout with the example of 100 lbs for a 5rm?
 
From what I understand with clustering, the goal is total number of reps. The first cluster you rep until 1 shy of failure, take your normal rest, then repeat until you hit your rep goal. With myos, you rep until 1 shy of failure, then rest for 15 sec. and repeat. IIRC, you repeat 2 or 3 times only and the rest period prior to the last "set" of reps can be increased to 20 sec.
 
lako said:
Is clustering the same as myo-reps? If not, how are they different? And what would an example of a myo-rep workout with the example of 100 lbs for a 5rm?
Click to expand...

You can't really do myo reps at that relative load. Above ~8RM the load becomes a limiting factor.
 
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