Being stuck at home for so long has done two things to me - itâs given me a lot more energy and purpose to train (Iâve been training at home for years), and itâs been discouraging me from spending more time on the computer than necessary. This is great for my health and fitness, but the second point doesnât help you, all five of my readers.
So Iâve decided to start a series on how to organize your own training. In my ideal world of fitness education, everyone would know how to manage their own fitness. Sure, youâd still need coaches and trainers to hit top levels at things, but to be able to do better, to get stronger and faster and more conditioned, thatâs something we should all know how to do.
Organizing Your Training
A cluster is a term Iâve stolen with the utmost respect from Tactical Barbell - a great set of programs in their own right that align with almost everything I write here. A cluster is simply a group of exercises that you choose to focus on. This shows up in a lot of training programsâŚ
Stronglifts uses 5 exercises split across two clusters (squat, bench, row / squat, press, deadlift)
Similarly Starting Strength starts off similarly with 4 exercises split into two clusters (squat, bench, deadlift / squat, press, deadlift) but eventually replaces the second clusterâs deadlift with a power clean.
Pavelâs Simple & Sinister, Power to the People, and The Naked Warrior all use a single cluster of 2 exercises to focus on.
And many other internet programs you find can be thought of this way.
Really, the way to think of clusters is simple: itâs a set of exercises youâre going to work on until youâve gotten sufficiently good at them. But thereâs a couple of considerationsâŚ
How Many Clusters, How Many Exercises?
The number of clusters you use depends on what your training week looks like. If you intend to train 2-3 times per week, you probably want a single cluster repeated every day, but could alterate between two clusters if you wish. If youâre training 4 or more times per week, you should definitely alternate between two clusters.
The number of exercises per cluster depends on your time each session. If you only have 15-20 minutes to train each day, 2 exercises are what you want. If youâre more flexible with time, 3-4 exercises per cluster is probably the sweet spot. If you really love to train and want to spend more time doing so, 5 exercises per cluster is probably the limit Iâd go for.
Which Exercises?
Choosing what exercises go in a cluster is about balance, but it depends on how many exercises you have available. One mistake some people seem to make is to try to do too much at once. The point of a cluster is to get really good at a certain number of things, before switching to other things to get good at. There is always going to be carry over.
The first consideration for exercise choice is necessity: is there anything specific you NEED to train for? Are you a powerlifter? Make sure squat, bench, and deadlift make it into your cluster. A weightlifter? Snatches and cleans gotta be in there. Training for a PT test? Make sure you include pushups and pullups.
Secondly, we need to look to structural balance. This happens in a few phases, each more specific than the last. You donât need to satisfy each phase that follows, just start at the top and satisfy as many as you need to complete your cluster:
The training week should include both upper and lower body training. Ideally, both done in the same cluster, but if you are alternating two clusters you can separate upper and lower body training.
Upper body training should include both pushing and pulling work.
Lower body training should include both squatting and hinging motions.
The week should include some work dedicated to core stability, like carries, turkish getups, ab rollouts, or similar.
What this means is that if you are training a 2 exercise cluster, you only need to have one upper body and one lower body exercise. A 3 exercise cluster should cover upper body pushing, upper body pulling, and a lower body exercise. A 4 exercise cluster should further split the lower body training into squatting and hinging. And a 5 exercise cluster should include direct core training.
When Do I Swap Things Around?
Training with a specifically chosen cluster of only a few exercises often leaves holes in your training. On top of that, it can get boring with time. So when are you supposed to change things up, and vary whatâs in your cluster.
You should train with a cluster for at least 6 weeks. At that point, change as little as possible if you feel like it. If your cluster is three exercises, and youâre not happy with one of them after three weeks, swap that exercise out and keep the other two. Then repeat for 6 weeks.
This may seem like a long time, but everyone needs to remember that training is a long term, life long thing. If you change one exercise in your three exercise cluster every 6 weeks, youâre going to end the year with a decent amount of expertise in 10 different exercises. Thatâs a lot!
Got Any Examples?
Of course I do. Let me start with my all time favorite cluster that I come back to all the time:
Trap Bar Deadlifts: these are somewhere between a squat and a deadlift, so I count it as covering both bases.
Weighted Dips: upper body pushing that helps maintain healthy shoulders, in addition to reversing the spinal compression of a deadlift.
Weighted Chinups: the king of upper body pulling exercises, good for shoulder health and core strength.
Beyond this, Iâve also had a lot of fun with this two exercise cluster:
Power Cleans: the power version of a clean uses a lot of upper body muscle, making it a sort of a hybrid between upper body pulling and a lower body hinge.
Overhead Press: a great pushing exercise in itâs own right, but balancing weight overhead also trains core strength.
There are many many cluster options, though. Like:
The Powerlifter: Squat/Bench/Deadlift
The Gymnast: Pistol Squats/Handstand Pushups/One-arm Pullups
The Strongman: Axle Deadlift/Log Press
The Generalist: Squat/Bench/Weighted Pullups
The Absurdist: Trap Bar Deadlifts/Weighted Muscle-ups
The PT Trainee: Pushups/Pullups/Running
Whatâs Your Point?
Why did I write this? My goal here is to make you think about your training as training - as working to get better at a core set of things you want to get better at. This is a mindset shift if you have looked at workouts as a method to make yourself feel sore or exhausted, or thought of them as something you did because itâs good for you.
The mindset of a trainee compared to an exerciser is buried in here. The trainee strives to get better at what they do. An exerciser does things to pass the time. If you want to be a strength trainee, start looking at your training through the lens of clusters.
What sort of clusters do you use in your training?