Cluster Training: What Is It?

Most people use a training method based on sets and repetitions. This is the most common, especially if you want to get in shape because you want to develop bigger muscles. However, this is not the only method. Variants such as cluster training have become more popular.

This method is a way of dealing with sets and repetitions using the intervals as a reference point. Rest time is more important than how fast you finish a set. Find out what cluster training is and how you can use it!

What is cluster training based on?

To understand what cluster training is, you need to consider its differences compared to more traditional training methods. When training with weights, use sets that contain a limited number of repetitions. After each set you have a rest period.

Cluster training maintains the philosophy of working with sets and repetitions, but this time you will not rest between each set. Here you rest in the middle of the sets.

We can say that cluster training in this sense is based on seconds at intervals for each set. When you do, you do not perform 6, 8, or 12 repetitions on one side, you include a pause of 10 to 20 seconds while completing the set.

Extensive cluster training

This consists of doing 5-6 sets of 5-6 repetitions with a rest time of 10 seconds between each set. This means that you start a set by completing one exercise, resting for 10 seconds, performing the second exercise, resting for 10 seconds, etc. until you have completed your sets.

This type of exercise helps you develop bigger muscles, but in a way that is different from how most people do it. Extensive cluster training uses the concept of maximum repetition or the maximum weight you can control in one movement, as a model.

In optimal training for larger muscles, you perform an average of 3 sets of 3 exercises with your greatest weight, which is a total of 9 repetitions. Using this method, thanks to the rest times, you can do between 25 and 36 repetitions, which has a positive effect on your muscle growth.

Intensive cluster training

You can do this by doing 5-6 sets on only 1 or 2 repetitions. This is a way to implement a 20 second rest between each repetition in a way that gives you a greater interval for muscle recovery. For this reason, you can increase the percentage of your greatest weight for each exercise.

We recommend this style to begin with for better strength. Thanks to lifting a heavier weight, you train your muscles so that they become stronger. Athletes whose disciplines require explosive power often use this form of training. 100 meter sprinters, for example, tend to practice it.

The set’s spectrum and iterations are an example of how you can implement cluster training. Of course, you can change these according to your feelings, goals and physical condition. However, it is important to ensure that you actually rest throughout the rest period between each repetition.

What are the benefits?

Depending on the method you use, you will benefit. Developing bigger muscles and getting stronger are two clear benefits when it comes to starting to train using this method. Best of all, you can use the intensive or comprehensive version in the same session.

Specialists developed cluster training based on the concept of muscle failure. This is where you reach the limit of resistance that your muscles can support when you exercise. For some, muscle failure means reducing weight when lifting certain objects, or an obstacle that they overcome by adding rest.

Roughly speaking, the main benefits of including this method in your routine are the following:

• Overcome periods of stalemate where you can not move on for a few weeks.
• To improve your strength and thus be able to lift more weight in less time.
• Larger muscles.
• Improving your starting strength for each repetition.
• Perfection of the technique you use for each movement.
• Your muscles recover more efficiently.

It is important to keep in mind that we do not recommend this type of exercise to everyone. To begin with, the people who practice it must have some experience in lifting weights, have a muscular base and have clear goals.

We also do not recommend that you use it in every workout. You need to combine your conventional routines and repetitions in a way that allows you to distribute it throughout the week with specific days for each one.

What does the research say about it?

One of the first studies of this type of training was published in 2008. The study shows that a rest of 10-30 seconds between each repetition has a special influence on the development of strength and power.

The rest period allows the muscles to recover partially in cluster training. This short recovery distributes the force you want to use to move the weight, so you use your energy to lift a larger amount of weight in each repetition, based on your maximum weight.

The time interval is supposed to rebuild creatine phosphate, which you do not get in more conventional methods. This causes a greater accumulation of lactic acid when muscle glycogen is ingested.

There are also studies that show how useful it is when it comes to resistance training at high speed. As well as studies that suggest positive effects when you increase your strength compared to the conventional method.

Specialists have not yet studied the contributions of this method when it comes to larger muscles, although many athletes guarantee its effectiveness. To summarize, it is a training method you should try.