My work capacity is pretty decent. Or so I like to think for a strength athlete. Anto and I programmed some cluster sets for a couple weeks and things got messy.
First, (and I've said this in my last 3 posts about him moving here and being my training partner) training WITH him has been an enormous blessing. I'm really excited to see the aesthetic and strength progress that comes from it.
We used our NEW rackable cambered bar for the clusters and piled on a whole bunch of chains. Worked up to a moderate 3 and used that weight. Here is how the clusters worked:
3x3 with 15 seconds rest between sets
REST 3 minutes
3x3 with 15 seconds rest
RESET 3 minutes
3x3 with 15 seconds rest
Because there is only 3 minutes between "clusters", he did ALL his work clusters in order to keep the rest periods accurate. He almost died. And I thought, well, he can be a little dramatic. I'll be a'ight.
.................. (insert straight faced emoji)
That first cluster was tough, but manageable. Catching breaths between sets made it tough to get big air by the last triple. 3 minutes goes by fast. That second cluster was a doozy. Holy crap... that pushed me over the edge FAST. By the time it was time for me to get ready to do the last cluster, I was questioning by own programming. That third cluster was BRUTAL.
For reference, I used about 60% of my max with 3 chains each side. The chains totaled 120#. Mind you, we also set them up so that we are using Every. Damn. Link. (Video coming shortly on how we set those up.) So no, not every chain set up is the same. With the extra weight of the RCB, it was about 185# bar weight plus the 120# chains.
MONDAY - Lower
1. Standing single leg hamstring curls – 3x10, last set iso-hold after 10 reps and then do another 10 reps if possible.
2. Cambered bar squat w/ chains – Cluster sets, 3x3 @ 15 seconds rest…. Do 3 clusters: 170# + 3 chains/side
3. Walking chain lunges – 2 sets (down w/ 3, down w/ 2, down with 1 chain)
4. Banded smith machine squats – 3x10 @ 95
5. DB Stiff leg deads – 4x10 @ 30
WEDNESDAY - Bench/shoulders
1. Shoulder saver close grip bench w/ chains – 3x5, then drop set of triples (dropping chain and bar weight): @ 100# + 2 chains/side
2. Chain flyes w/ partner eccentric – 3x8/6 (8 regular, 6 with eccentric resistance)
3. Bradford press – 3x8 (skipped bc my shoulder wasn't feeling good)
4. DB laterals – 4x12
5. Spider crawls – 3x45 seconds
superset with
Rope face pulls – 3x45 seconds
THURSDAY - Deadlift @ S5 Compound
1. Conventional deadlift - worked up to 300x3
2. Single arm lat pulldown - 4x12
3. BB rows - 4x10
4. Upper back GM over the GHR (banded) - 3x20