Cluster Training is one of THE most effective training techniques for building muscle, bar none.
The strategy behind Cluster Sets allows you to get close to failure multiple times during a single set, giving you effective growth stimulus to more fibers in a muscle per set.
We're going to combine this concept with Mechanical Drop Sets, which are also excellent for allowing you to target more muscle fibers over the course of a set.
Put together, these concepts give you a very powerful growth stimulus.
What Is Cluster Training?
Very simply, you're going to take a weight you could do for 10 reps and do 6 mini-sets of 4 reps with it, with 10 seconds rest in between.
This means you're doing 24 reps with a weight you normally could do for 10.
The first 3-4 mini-sets are not going to be close to failure...in fact, they should be relatively easy.
The short rest periods give your body enough time to clear out some of the waste products of muscle contraction and allows your nervous system a short break to recover.
As you progress through the mini-sets, your body is forced to recruit more and more muscle fibers to keep going, and each mini-set gets closer and closer to failure.
Your final two mini-sets should be getting very close to it.
What Are Mechanical Drop Sets?
This method is when you start with a harder (more mechanically disadvantaged) version of an exercise or movement pattern, get as many reps as you can with it, then instead of reducing the weight, you use an easier (more mechanically advantaged) version of the exercise.
The bench press is the perfect example...starting with an incline press (hardest), then a smaller incline, then to flat or decline (easiest/strongest).
We're Going to Mash Them Together
This will allow you to get the benefits of cluster training and mechanical drop setting in one extended set. This is excellent for the chest especially because it's a fan-shaped muscle where different fibers get worked at different angles.
To do this for chest, you'll need an adjustable incline bench and a pair of dumbbells you could normally get 10-12 reps with on the incline (about 45 degrees).
To do 6 drops, you'll need to make sure to count how many notches you're working with and start accordingly.
If your bench doesn't have a lot of notches, you can always do 2 sets on each notch or something as well.
Get the weights into position then do 4 reps.
This is Mini-Set #1.
Use a full range of motion here. These reps should be fairly easy so we want tight form and a good stretch at the bottom.
When you finish 4 reps, set the weights down then move the bench incline down a notch.
By the time you do that, your 10 seconds rest will be up. So go again with another 4 reps.
This is Mini-Set #2.
Then repeat, dropping the incline a notch and doing 4 reps, until the bench is flat. I don't recommend going to decline here unless you have a separate decline bench (takes too long to set the bench to decline from flat on my bench, at least).
This is Mini-Set #3.
Mini-Set #4
Mini-Set #5
Mini-Set #6 - Flat Bench
This set will likely have you getting right up to failure! Push hard to get the full number of reps here but don't compromise form.
Once you're done, take at least 3 minutes rest.
You will have worked a LOT of muscle mass with this technique and you'll want a good amount of rest before going again. I recommend 2-3 Cluster Sets for this method.
When you get to the second and third sets, you may notice that you can't get 4 reps on the later mini-sets. That's fine...just get as many as you can without pushing right to failure on the "middle" sets...just save the all-out reps for the last mini-set.
Another excellent chest-building method is the Positions of Flexion 1 and 1/4 Rep workout.
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