TangoDown's HST Cluster Log

Get 10-12 reps. 3 minutes between clusters. All work sets clustered save for curls.

Squat: 155lb x 5, 220lb x 3, x 3, x 1

Bench Press: 115lb x 5, 170lb x 3, x 3, x 2, x 2, 125lb x 13

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 35lb x 4, x 4, x 3

E-Z Bar Curls: Bar + 60lb x 10, Bar + 60lb x 8
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I hope bench will be back at 175lb x 5 soon. Might have been able to push out 4 reps that first cluster. Got one more rep on my light set whereas I probably had 16-18 by the end of last cycle. Squat still feels horribly weak (4 rep max was 240lb last cycle). Failed rep 2 of the final cluster. I don't like going to failure so early. Pullups are almost back where they were. Probably could have pushed out 5 reps there.

E-Z bar curls are still a bit off.

Frustrated though because I didn't feel this weak last time I SD'd. Starting 2 increments away from my 5RM might have been too much.

Currently consuming about 3500 calories on on and off days (was taking in 3000 on off days last cycle). Didn't get to weigh myself today but last week I was 170lb.
 
Get 10-12 reps. 3 minutes between clusters. All work sets clustered save for curls.

Sumo Deadlift: 135lb x 5, 225lb x 5, 275lb x 5, x 5

Incline BB Bench: 95lb x 5, 145lb x 5, x 4, x 3, 100lb x 15

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 35lb x 5, x 3, x 2

E-Z Bar Curl: Bar + 60lb x 10, Bar + 60lb x 6, myo reps x 1, x 1
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Sumo deadlift felt great. Got a friend to film me and form was spot on. Definitely sticking with this over conventional, as my back angle is notably more upright as opposed to conventional where it's essentially parallel to the floor. Stance isn't insanely wide - just enough to put me in a comfortable position.

My friend who subs at the front desk on weekends filmed my 2nd cluster and commented that a bunch of cardio bunnies were complaining about the noise the plates were making on the 1st cluster. ****ing stupid. I'm not even dropping the bar. At least I've got permission to deadlift. Still gotta get my ass to a gym with a power rack though so I can squat without fear of paraplegia.

Incline Bench was technically a PR since I got 1 more rep on the second cluster than I had at the end of last cycle, but I'm not counting it as a PR until I'm at 5 reps with 150lb.

Pullups, last rep of the first cluster was hit or miss. Might stick with this weight for one more session.

Curls were weaker than last time, but that could have been due to a variety of factors. Gonna stick with 1 set of 10 reps for now, as opposed to 2.

Couldn't weigh myself since I think the gym's scale is broken.
 
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Get 10-12 reps. 3 minutes between clusters. All work sets clustered save for curls.

Squat: 155lb x 5, 220lb x 3, x 1

Bench: 115lb x 5, 170lb x 4, x 3, x 2, x 1, 125lb x 13

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 35lb x 5, x 3, x 2

E-Z Bar Curls: Bar + 60lb x 10
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Squat felt unbelievably weak still (didn't sleep well last night but that's no excuse), and I hurt my ankle a couple minutes after failing cluster 2 from literally just walking up to the power rack (no rolling of the ankle...). I'm discouraged. 20lb drop in 4RM last cycle and I'm not progressing back to where I was there...I don't think I'm built for squatting. Feet don't align with knees (perpetually valgus) so I have to squat duck footed and thus always flat footed when I have the bar on my back, which can't be good for the joints.

Otherwise, hips, hip flexors, quads, and hams are mobile, and form is as good as I can muster. I don't know what the hell is up.

Ankle feels like a grade I sprain so I'll give it some time and see where it's at. I may squat one more time come next week and if strength is the same I might consider dropping it in favor of leg press while continuing to sumo deadlift.

Bench was up a rep, will keep pushing until I'm back at last cycle's 5 rep max of 175lb and hopefully push past that. Failed rep 14 of last cycle's 16-18 rep max.

Pullups, I'm pushing to Belt + 40lb, last cycle's 4 rep max. Seems strength there came back the fastest out of all the lifts.

Curls were fine.
 
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Get 10-12 reps. 3 minutes between clusters. All work sets clustered save for curls.

Sumo Deadlift: 135lb x 5, 225lb x 5, 285lb x 5

Incline BB Bench: 95lb x 5, 150lb x 4, x 3, x 3, 100lb x 15

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 40lb x 5, x 3, x 2 (PR)

E-Z Bar Curl: Bar + 65lb x 8
_______________________________

Deadlift felt lopsided and hard. I got 5 hours of sleep last night on Ambien and I may have grabbed the bar a bit off to the side when lifting. Will repeat the weight next session I deadlift. Also, I need to start back on the mobility work as I felt kind of tight.

Incline BB, if I had pushed to 5 reps on the first cluster, it would have been a PR. I think I can get the 5 reps next time I do the lift. If I do, I'll move on to 155lb. Last rep of the last cluster was questionable with the spot but the dude claims I got it so I'll count it as 3 reps.

Weighted pullups PR'd. Got 4 reps last cycle. Moving on to a 45lb plate.

Curls were self-explanatory.
 
Get 10-12 reps. 3 minutes between clusters. All work sets clustered save for curls.

Bench Press: 115lb x 5, 170lb x 5, x 2, x 3, 125lb x 15

Squat: 155lb x 5, 220lb x ?, x 3, x 2

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 45lb x 3, x 2, x 2, x 2

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Had to bench first because squat rack was taken by a personal trainer and her client doing a circuit. 3rd cluster decided to go slightly narrower and felt a lot stronger. So I'll be going back to the grip width I was using last cycle. Last rep of first cluster questionable but because I felt stronger on the 3rd cluster with the shorter width, I'll push to 175lb (last cycle's 5RM). Got all 15 reps with last cycles 15RM so I'm thinking the grip width adjustment is definitely required.

Squat, I felt strong on the first rep and then my spotter decided to help me up with the rest of the reps despite telling him not to. So I don't know where I'm at there. I guess I'll repeat 220lb once again. This is ridiculous. I don't know what made me so much weaker, but I shouldn't still be stuck 20lb under last cycle's 4RM by this point.

Pullups, new weight so not surprising. Last rep was questionable so I called it a day there and chose to not do bicep curls.

I've been sleeping a bit better this week. About 6.5 hours a night. I'd prefer 7.5 but it's not terrible relative to what I was getting before. Let's just hope I don't regress lol.

Currently no real accurate way to weigh myself. Scale is broken at my gym so last time I weighed in there at the beginning of the cycle where I was 170lb. My home scale says I'm 174lb but it's never been accurate. Eating 3500 calories a day so I should be putting on weight. I never really believed the whole concept of "hardgainer" but...

Here's the PRs I hope to achieve or exceed by the end of the cycle:

Bench: 185lb x 5 (though knowing my track record, I'd be okay with 180lb x 5). Last cycle's 5RM was 175lb.

Incline Bench: 155lb x 5. Last cycle's 5RM was 145lb. Will probably hit 150lb x 5 next session.

Sumo Deadlift: Since I hit 315lb x 3 with conventional (albeit not feeling it at all in the legs due to horrid levers that place my torso angle parallel to the floor), so I hope to at least get to 305lb x 5. Preferably 315lb x 5. All in good form, of course.

Weighted Pullups (overhand, deadhang): Belt + 45lb x 5. Hit a PR at Belt + 40lb x 5 the session before this one.

E-Z Curls: Preferably Bar + 70lb x 10. Hit 9 last cycle but may have cheated a bit so I'd prefer to be a bit stricter. I may just drop these and cycle between weighted pullups and weighted chins next cycle, but chins have given, in the past, my AC joint in my right shoulder a bit of an issue due to an old injury.

Squat: ??? I was hoping for at least 250lb x 5 but since I got so much weaker for an unknown reason I'd be happy to just get back to where I was last cycle. May be switching to leg press next cycle if things don't go my way.
 
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PR incline bench 150lb x 5. Moving on to 155lb.

Pullups, I'm pushing back to Belt + 42.5lb from 45lb. 5lb was too much of a jump from the last PR.

Sumo Deadlift, 4 reps with 285lb. Didn't try 5. Note that last time I sumo deadlifted, I had 5 reps but had to reset a couple of times because the bar kept going off to the side at the bottom of the lift. Second cluster was 2 reps. Didn't try 3. So I technically didn't fail. Will stick with sumo and ride out the cycle with it. If I'm not at at least 300lb x 5 by the end, I may switch back to conventional as I had 305lb x 5 with that. I do feel sumo much more in the legs though, and because 305lb x 5 conventional felt very much a lower back lift due to my levers, I might just benefit from a slightly weaker sumo deadlift that will push my leg strength up.

We'll see.

Curls, I'm definitely dropping in favor of a weighted pullup/chin split next cycle.

Gym scale, which may still be wonky, says I'm 172lb.

A little discouraged thus far at progress but I'll ride out the cycle and see where I get. Hoping to power through 175lb x 5 bench next time and push to 180lb x 5, if not 185lb x 5.
 
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Benched 175lb x 4, x 2, x 2, x 2 today. So I'm almost back to where I was last cycle. Narrowing grip width definitely helped.

Pullups: Belt + 42.5lb x 4, x (2 or 3, I forget), x 2. Didn't do last cluster. If I get 5 reps soon, this will be the second PR for pullups this cycle.

Squatted 155lb x 5 and my bum ankle felt tight so I transitioned to the leg press. It's not a plate loaded one - rather it has those rectangular weights that are pulled upward during the concentric motion of the lift. 320lb x 5, x 5. Regardless, different exercise. I'd like to keep the squat in my program whilst I try to increase ROM in the ankles because I'd like to keep the movement pattern primed in my muscle memory (as simplistic a explanation as that is lol). Maybe I'll do it as a warm up for deadlift. Any ideas, let me know. I'd like to eventually transition back to squatting as a primary movement pattern, but I need to fix my ankles.

E-Z bar curls utilized typical bar + 65lb x 8.

What I'm thinking of doing next cycle:

A/B

Light Squat/Maybe Light Squat

Leg Press/Deadlift (if sumo DL isn't around 300lb x 5 by end of this cycle, probably switching back to conventional)

Bench Press/Incline Bench Press

Weighted Pullups/Weighted Chinups
 
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Well it seems to be that you've made some great strength gains so far. And that's without substantial muscle gains. So clusters seem to be working w/regard to completing a larger rep total at your higher loads.

I think Leg Press should be in there for a while. Whatever your ankle issue is, it's certainly impacting your ability to do squats.

Impressive chin/pull strength there; +1/4 of body mass (approximately).
 
AlexAustralia said:
Well it seems to be that you've made some great strength gains so far. And that's without substantial muscle gains. So clusters seem to be working w/regard to completing a larger rep total at your higher loads.

I think Leg Press should be in there for a while. Whatever your ankle issue is, it's certainly impacting your ability to do squats.

Impressive chin/pull strength there; +1/4 of body mass (approximately).
Click to expand...

It's definitely a long slog. I don't know how some kids around my height are squatting 315 and benching in the 225 eight months after starting training.

I guess I had to make up for a lack of a decent strength base.
 
Get 10-12 reps. 3 minutes between clusters. All work sets clustered save for curls.

Sumo Deadlift: 135lb x 5, 225lb x 5, 285, x 5, x 4, x 1

Incline BB Bench: 95lb x 5, 155lb x 4, x 3, x 2

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 42.5 x 4, x 2, x 3, x 1

E-Z Bar Curl: Bar + 62.5lb x 5
_________________

Moving on to 295lb x 5 with Sumo DL. Hopefully I can at least match the 5RM I had last cycle with conventional DL (305lb x 5). I think I still need to really work on bracing my core hard before the lift, but other than that I think my form is fine.

Failed rep one of cluster 1 on incline bench, but I should be able to get 5 reps next time. When I do, that'll be the second PR with incline bench this cycle.

Pullups, still stuck at 4 reps. I think I might be able to get 5 if the bar at my gym wasn't so fat. I don't know why it's about 10 feet off the ground either...

I didn't like how curls felt so I stopped at 5. When I approach the end of the cycle, I'll test my 5RM weighted chins.
 
Bench still stuck at 175 x 4 reps. Pullups felt weak. Non-plate loaded leg press up to 325, will continue to push that up as I get used to it.

On the other hand, if I hit 5 reps next session, I'll have PR'd twice with incline bench at 155lb x 5.

If I start to regress, I'd say, besides bench and squat being garbage, this cycle was some what productive. I'm hoping to pull 300lb x 5 Sumo or more, which would be slightly weaker than the 305lb x 5 conventional pull I had last cycle, to justify the switch over to sumo. But other than that, 5lb PR on weighted pullups and 10lb PR on incline bench wouldn't be bad. At least I know what to stick with next cycle and what to modify.

Do you guys think dropping bench and sticking with incline would, once I push to higher numbers on the incline bench, also boost my flat bench without even doing it?
 
If you only want hypertrophy, then Incline bench is fine. If you want serious chest hypertrophy, do wide grip dips.
If you want to get strong at the flat bench press, then flat bench press.
 
Sci said:
If you only want hypertrophy, then Incline bench is fine. If you want serious chest hypertrophy, do wide grip dips.
If you want to get strong at the flat bench press, then flat bench press.
Click to expand...

I can't seem to progress on flat bench press. My levers are garbage. The fact that my incline bench is catching up to my flat bench seems symptomatic of that.
 
There's definitely a question of form regarding your flat BB bench. Unfortunately, it isn't like doing it with DB's where the load essentially 'forces' you to use the most efficient curve of movement.

Incline is just as good as bench for hypertrophy. Another option is loading plates on your back (spotter/anyone with hands at the gym) and doing push ups.
 
Without intentionally being vague (its 6:22 am!), someone posted a video on here the other day that demonstrated a theory that if you're stuck at a weight on a exercise then it's beneficial (in his opinion) to reduce the ROM and increase the weight?

Not sure i completely agree, but since I've not tried it I won't dismiss it either, it's certainly another option to the usual do the bench first in your routine, get more food and/or caffine in pre-work out etc...
 
Get 10-12 reps. All work loads clustered 3 minutes apart save for curls.

Stats: 5'8", 175lb

Sumo Deadlift: 295lb x 5, x 2

Incline BB Bench: 155lb x 5, x 3, x 2 (PR + 5lb), 100lb x 15

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 42.5lb x 3, Belt + 32.5lb x 4, x 3

E-Z Bar Curls: Bar + 65lb x 8
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Apparently I'm 175lb. Don't feel it. Scale might be fubar as there was a ton of water on it from some shmuck who decided to weigh himself drenched in shower water. I'll re-weigh myself again soon.

The 5lb difference in weight might explain why I'm not progressing in weighted pullups after the last PR this cycle. I'm going to deload the lift specifically and work my way back up. Today was one rep less than normal.

Sumo Deadlift, got 5 reps with 295lb and then 2 reps on the 2nd cluster. Gonna repeat weight again to see if I can't up the reps on the 2nd cluster, and then move to 305lb (which would match my conventional 5RM from last cycle).

Incline Bench PR. Moving on to 160lb.

Probably sticking with current curl weight until I test weighted chinups. Then I can drop them completely.
 
Get 10-12 reps. All work loads clustered 3 minutes apart save for curls.

Stats: 5'8", 175lb

Bench Press: 175lb x 5, x 2, x 3, 125lb x 15

Leg Press (non-plate loaded): 330lb x 5, x 4

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 32.5lb x 5, x 5
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Really focused on getting the chest as high as possible on bench, crushing the traps and pushing in an arch. It paid off because I subsequently matched last cycle's PR, but I still don't feel very stable as to my feet and still don't have the contact I want between my heels and the ground to initiate good leg drive. I've got to find a way to change that, but for now, I'll push onto 180lb. Maybe I'll put some plates under my feet next time I flat bench.

Pullups, continued deload. Moving onto 37.5lb.

Leg Press, continuing to progress.

Worked out on 5 hours of sleep. Didn't seem to inhibit me much.
 
Get 10-12 reps. All work loads clustered 3 minutes apart save for curls.

Stats: 5'8", 175lb

Sumo Deadlift: 135lb x 5, 225lb x 5, 300lb x 5, x 3, x 1

Incline BB Bench: 95lb x 5, 160lb x 3, x 3, x 3, x 1, 105lb x 15

Weighted Pullups: Belt + 37.5lb x 5, x 5
_____________________________

Sumo deadlift went well. Last cluster, I was sloppy with my back angle and therefore there was a bit of rounding, particularly in the thoracic region. I'm considering pushing up by 5lb each session for the rest of the cycle so I don't overload one day and end up thrashing myself into another SD when there's potential PRs left in multiple lifts. We'll see.

Incline Bench, the angle might have been slightly lower than my home gym (currently at another YMCA while mine is closed for a week of maintenance). 3 clusters of 3 reps pretty much means I could have pushed out 4 or 5 on the first cluster. Reason I feel the angle is lower is because my 15 rep set felt easier than it usually does, and this is with 5lb more weight than usual. Albeit, I'm going to defer to next incline bench session when I'm back at my home gym.

What was really annoying though was that the bar rack was way behind my head so it made it impossible to bench without a lift off. Luckily, I had a friend with me today so it wasn't an issue.

Pullups went fine. I realize that as I get heavier, pullups may stagnant even though I could be getting stronger at them. So if I hit Belt + 42.5lb x 5 and yet am 5lb heavier than I was when I hit Belt + 40lb x 5, that's a significantly larger PR than it appears to be.

I dropped a 45lb plate on my left ring finger, but it only crushed the tip. It hurts and it's bruised but it's not the joint so it doesn't make much of a difference. Don't think much could be done even if it was broken, which I don't think it is.
 
Plate on the finger is always a bastard.

Nice pull PR, keeping track of BW is always important in this regard.
 
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