Fit and fine by Kamal Singh CSCS: Cluster sets for increasing muscle size

What’s your best bet if you want to increase your strength as well as muscle size but are short on time?

Recently a friend came to me and said that he was interested in training for increasing strength as well as muscle size. He was in a bit of rush and wanted to gain strength and size very quickly without resorting to performance-enhancing drugs. As a competitive wrestler, he was a veteran at strength training and knew how to up the intensity in the gym. I had just the solution to his problem. But before we get to that solution let us find out how to train for muscle size and strength.

Training for muscle size

This is the goal of almost all the newbies hitting the gym. Let me re-phrase that, gaining muscle size should be the goal of all newbies starting to lift weights, irrespective of whether you want to lose weight or just “tone”. And no, you will not start looking like Mr/Ms Universe just because you have gained a few measly kilos of muscle. Research by exercise physiologists like Brad Schoenfeld et al has shown that a training program for muscle growth should have the following three elements:

1.Mechanical tension: This directly relates to the weight on the bar, heavier loads are better. Lifting heavier over a period of time is more efficient for putting on size than trying to gain size by increasing repetitions.

2.Metabolic stress: It’s caused by doing higher number of repetitions. This is typical bodybuilding style lifting where getting a muscle pump is the goal. So, lots of sets and higher repetitions in a workout.

3.Muscle damage: All weight training causes tiny muscle tears which leads to the body repairing the tissue and thus growing stronger and bigger. The highest amount of muscle damage is caused by eccentric training where the weight is lowered under control. This type of training causes a lot of post workout soreness and is needed for inducing growth.

Training for strength

Competitive powerlifters and athletes like wrestlers, judo players, train to gain strength without wanting to put on size as this would make them up go up a weight class which is a no, no if they want to be competitive. Powerlifting programs usually consist of the following:

1.High intensity: Here intensity means heavier weights. Athletes looking to gain strength will generally lift weights at intensities higher than 80% of 1RM or one-repetition max. One-rep max is the max weight a person can lift for a single repetition for a given exercise. Sets consists of 3-5 repetitions at the most.

2.Low volume: Strength training programs consist of few exercises and low number of sets per workout. Gaining strength and avoiding unnecessary fatigue is the overall goal.

Enter cluster style of training

A cluster set breaks a set into several mini sets with short rest between them. So, a trainee would do one repetition, rest for 15-20 seconds, perform another repetition, rest 15-20 seconds. This get repeated till all the repetitions are done. Cluster sets will let the trainee use a heavier weight for more volume than if regular set was used.

We know that gaining strength and size is dependent on lifting heavier weight for a higher number of repetitions of volume. Thus, Cluster style training beats the usual slow method of putting on muscle size and increasing strength. Let me illustrate it for you:

•A lifter can squat 80 kgs for 5 reps. The training program says Squats for 3 sets of 5 reps @ 80 kg.

•The lifter can do this the regular way – 3 sets done with continuous repetitions. If she pushes hard, the repetitions might go up to 6 in a set.

•But if she opts for cluster sets, she would load 90 kgs and do 1+1+1+1+1 for 3 sets.

•From the above example, it’s pretty evident that a greater amount of work is being done when opting for cluster sets and this would lead to an increase in strength and size faster.

It would be tempting for everybody to choose cluster sets but they are not for everybody. A beginner cannot use this method as they would not be able to generate enough intensity in the gym and the heavy load with high volume might be too much for them. But if you have been training for a year or more and have built up some strength, then go ahead and try cluster sets. I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised. Now go and do it…

Kamal Singh is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist who has been coaching for 15 years

From HT Brunch, February 6, 2022

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