Cluster sets are capable of giving you significant gains in size and strength in a short period of time.
When programming for my athletes in the Swole Town Program, I’m constantly looking for ways to make my training cycles as effective as possible.
I don’t want guys (or girls) following my program in the gym wasting time with 20 different Bicep curl variations.
I want them to be big, strong and functional beasts. I can’t have it any other way.
If you’re interested in getting stronger, this will be a great read for you.
At the end I’ll give you a full sample training day with cluster sets.
*Note: Heavy Cluster training is on the advanced side. Don’t attempt this method if you’re a beginner.
The “More is Better” Trap
Most people in the gym believe that more is better.
Work harder, spend more time, do more reps, and your results will improve, right? Not so fast..
Your body does not have endless energy to expend.
Training requires a lot of energy, and what people forget is that recovering from training also requires a massive amount of energy.
No matter what you do, there is only so much you can recover from.
If you cannot recover, your body does not adapt to the training.
That means you work hard and get little results, especially if you’re trying to get stronger and/or build muscle.
How Does The Body Get Stronger?
If you’re stronger today than you were a month ago.. Why is that?
What caused you to be able to exert more force?
Is it simply that working out builds muscle, and more muscle = more strength?
While it’s true that more muscle mass will generally correlate with greater strength, there are plenty of examples of people who you wouldn’t even know worked out who can lift superhuman amounts of weight.
My brother-in-law looks like a regular 170lb guy, and has more than once casually stepped into my gym and pressed 275lbs over his head, while I stand at a solid 240lbs and cannot perform that on my best day.
Is it not a fascinating question?
How can someone with less muscle exert more force than someone with considerably more? The answer lies in the nervous system.
The Nervous System Controls Strength
When you lift, you are not using all of the muscle available.
Your nervous system is much smarter than you, and its job is to protect the integrity of the structures within its control (among other things).
Trying to lift something very heavy could hurt you, and to protect you from injury, the nervous system will not allow you to recruit all of the muscle fibers at once.
An untrained person will be able to recruit only about 40-50% of the available muscle fibers at once.
A highly trained strength athlete can recruit well over 90%, and the strong guy in the gym is probably in the 70-80% category.
So How do you train the nervous system to allow you to recruit more muscle fibers and get stronger?
Strength is a Skill
I think it’s most useful to think of strength as a skill.
You have to view training as an opportunity to “teach” the body how to be stronger.
With that in mind, it becomes obvious that the way you set up your training is extremely important when your goal is to become stronger.
You cannot just go do your usual 3 sets of 10 on the bench press and expect to get dramatic results.
Unless you’re a new lifter, this simply will not work for very long.
If you’ve been training that way for a long time, your body has adapted already and has no need to take any further action.
Cluster Sets
Cluster sets are basically heavy singles performed on short rest periods, generally around 20 seconds long.
So, you hit one heavy rep, rest 20 seconds, and repeat for the prescribed number of reps.
The benefit here is that you’re lifting very heavy weight relative to your max.
If you’re able to get 5 reps normally with 225lbs, you can use clusters to get 6 or more reps in one set by spacing the reps out with very short rest periods.
How Cluster Sets Make You Stronger
When lifting loads at about 85% or higher relative to your max, you’re recruiting the maximum amount of muscle fibers that you’re capable of.
With lighter loads/higher reps, this is not the case until the end of the set when you’re fatigued.
Recruit the Highest Threshold Motor Units/Muscle Fibers
Heavy loads are forcing the nervous system to call upon the highest threshold muscle fibers.
The ones most capable of producing force.
As the load increases (relative to what you’re capable of), these high-power motor units must fire at a faster rate to keep up.
Thus, you’re teaching your nervous system to fire those high-impact muscle fibers faster by repetitively hitting them with heavy loads.
This alone will make you stronger. Every rep you hit in a cluster set is an impactful rep, from the first to the last.
Turn off The Governor
Like a governor on a vehicle that slows it down when it reaches a certain speed, your muscles contain organs called Golgi Tendon Organs (GTO’s) that are constantly monitoring tension.
The GTO’s will basically turn muscle fibers off when tension gets too high, in an effort to protect the structure.
The repetition of heavy loads can desensitize the nervous system, relaxing the GTO’s and allowing more force to be produced. Again, every rep in a cluster set is intense, and we’re training the nervous system to allow us to produce more force.
You Become Better at the Movement
When repeating heavy lifts on 20 seconds of rest, you don’t have time to overthink anything.
You simply grab the bar and perform the lift.
This type of training really forces you to be in the moment.
The heavy repetitions will make you more comfortable with the lift, and you will naturally get better at it.
It also alleviates some of the fear of moving heavy weight, as you’re doing it repeatedly.
Sample Training Session Using Cluster Sets
The training session below is directly from the Swole Town training cycle called “Intensity.”
Keep in mind that when using high intensity methods like these, it is imperative that you keep the overall volume low. (volume = the total amount of reps/sets, or “work” that you’re doing.)
You absolutely have to prioritize recovery, as you’re pushing the body/nervous system very hard with the heavy repetitions.
Too much volume and accessory work and you’ll burn yourself out.
Cluster Set Training Sample: Bench Press/Back
You want to get a solid warm up in, and I prefer a circuit style warm up here as it allows me to sneak in a little low-intensity volume, build work capacity, and prepare for the session.
The weight should be very light, this should not be a struggle.
A.) Prep Circuit:
Perform 2-3 sets, moving continuously with little rest.
Movement
Reps
DB Incline Bench Press
20
DB Bent Over Row
20
Band Triceps Pressdown
20
Ab Crunches
20
*Weight should be LIGHT
B.) Cluster Sets: Bench Press
Take a few warm-up sets of 2-3 reps to build up to about 87-90% of your max on the bench press.
You’ll do 5 total reps per set, hitting one rep every 20 seconds. After 5 reps, rest 4:00 and repeat.
After 2 sets, assess how you feel and hit a 3rd set if you’re feeling good about it. If you’ve never done these, stop at 2 sets.
Movement
Sets
Reps
Rest b/w sets
Bench Press
2-3
5 reps at 87-90% of max 20 seconds between reps
4:00
C.) Close Grip Floor Press
We’re choosing a movement complimentary to the bench press to get in some additional heavy volume. We’ll hit 3 heavy sets of 5. Heavy meaning you’re not sure if you’d have gotten another rep or two.
Movement
Sets
Reps
Rest b/w sets
Close Grip Floor Press
3
5
3:00
D.) Bench Supported DB Row
Perform on an incline bench. These are to be performed as drop-sets, hitting 8-10 reps, then dropping to lighter dumbbells to get up to 20 reps per set, for 2 total sets.
Movement
Sets
Reps
Rest b/w Sets
Supported DB Row
2
20
3:00
E.) Decline DB Pullover
Same as the last block, perform 2 drop-sets, aiming for 8-10 reps, then dropping down to a lighter dumbbell and getting up to 20 total reps.
Movement
Sets
Reps
Rest b/w Sets
Decline DB Pullover
2
20
3:00
F.) Plank to Side Plank – 2:00
30 second front plank, 30 second side plank, 30 seconds back to front, then 30 seconds other side for 2 total minutes. These are used frequently for endurance throughout the core and to enhance core bracing.
Full Workout Table
I’ll put this session in one table if you’d like to try it out, feel free to screenshot.
Movement
Sets
Reps
Rest b/w Sets
Warm up Circuit
3
20
0
*Bench Press (Cluster)
2-3
5 (cluster reps) 20 sec b/w reps
4:00
Close Grip Floor Press
3
5
3:00
Bench Supported DB Rows
2
20 (dropset)
3:00
DB Decline Pullover
2
20 (dropset)
3:00
Plank to Side Plank
1
2:00 hold
n/a
Final Notes on Cluster Sets
As you can see, the overall volume in this session is pretty low. 9 total sets of lifting (warm up sets don’t count).
If we start throwing in all kinds of curls, triceps extensions, etc. we’ll be forcing the body to try and recover from more than it will likely be able to.
Recovery is everything when you’re training for strength and size.
If you’re going to try out training with cluster sets, devote a training block of 4-6 weeks with it.
Give your body some time to adapt and you’ll likely see some nice gains in strength and probably some new muscle to go along with it.
If you’d like to have your workouts programmed for you so you can hit the gym with a solid plan, check out Swole Town, available only the world’s best training app, TrainHeroic.
Thanks for reading! Any questions? Feel free to reach out.
Mike Richardson
ISSA Tactical Conditioning Specialist. Creator of Swole Town, Forged Female and Supastrong.net. Coach, Husband, Father, Brother, Friend.
Workout Recovery is a cutting edge niche in the world of fitness right now. Learning how to recover faster from your workouts can be a huge game-changer for your progress in the gym.
Learning how to speed up workout recovery time can mean bigger gains and increased fitness levels over time.
Here is a list of 10 ways you can boost your workout recovery abilities and take your training to the next level.
Note: This article contains affiliate links to products I believe in and use. They come at no additional cost to you.
#1 Plan Workout Recovery Sessions into Your Weekly Split
In my article on Recovery Training, I explained how to implement this method for faster workout recovery. Check it out if you want a more detailed look.
Basically, recovery training entails utilizing low intensity cardiovascular exercise and low volume strength movements, along with foam rolling and stretching.
These sessions should take place the day after a high intensity training day. The lower intensity session pushes blood flow into damaged muscles and other tissues. As a result, the tissues recover faster.
The goal of a recovery workout is to stimulate recovery without incurring any additional stress on the body to have to recover from. Keep the lifting to a few sets of 5-8 reps at around 80% of your max.
End the session with 5 minutes of very light cardio and a good 10 minutes of relaxing stretching and foam rolling. Go home feeling good!
The High-Low Method
The High-Low Method is an excellent way to set up your training, regardless of what your goals might be. It’s pretty simple.. You do a high intensity training day at the gym and follow it up the next day with a low intensity workout. This can speed up your workout recovery and help you improve faster.
#2 Pre Workout Nutrition Can Help You Recover Faster
While most people focus on post-workout nutrition, little thought is often given to what we put into our bodies before we work out.
However, the absence of amino acids and carbohydrate in the body during intense exercise can put the body into a deeper state of stress. This will cause you to accumulate more recovery debt and will take longer to enter a parasympathetic recovery state.
According to one study, consuming protein and carbohydrate before your workout can be more effective at building muscle than eating it afterwards.
Having a high protein meal within 1-2 hours of your workout can help the body maintain muscle tissue during intense training. The amino acid levels in your blood will peak around 90 minutes after you eat, so eating 1-2 hours before you work out will leave you in a great physiological state for building muscle and speeding up recovery.
#3 Wear Compression Clothing
Studies have shown that wearing Compression clothing can enhance workout recovery to damaged muscle tissue and reduce muscle soreness after working out.
One study in the Journal of Sports Medicine found that compression garments are effective at enhancing workout recovery from muscle damage.
Compression garments promote blood flow and oxygenation of muscle tissue during and after exercise. They can also improve kinesthetic sense: basically our sense of body awareness and movement through space.
For true compression, a higher grade fabric is necessary. 2XU Compression Pants are definitely the best brand if you want real compression and are willing to pay about $100 (well worth it in my opinion). I own 3 pair and do notice a big difference in both performance and recovery.
Everyone knows massages are relaxing.. but do they really help us recover faster?
According to a 2018 study in Frontiers of Physiology, massage was found to be the most powerful method for recovering from Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) and fatigue.
Massage Therapy can push us into a deep state of relaxation, inducing a parasympathetic recovery state in the body. Deep tissue massage also helps promote blood flow into deep muscle tissue, helping the body clear out metabolites left over from previous workouts. The result is faster workout recovery.
Massage can get expensive, but there are other options, like a deep tissue massage gun, that may offer the same benefit anytime you want.
#5 Cold Treatment and Cryotherapy
The ancient Egyptians used ice to treat injuries over 4,000 years ago. We still do it today, but we’ve developed some pretty interesting new methods. Enter cryotherapy.
Cryotherapy has become mainstream in recent years, with clinics popping up in every major city.
It’s well established that using cold therapy can reduce inflammation, and current research says that cryotherapy can do the same thing.. in the whole body.
It’s hard to train with a sore body, and so reducing some of that inflammation can lead to improved workout recovery and your ability to train harder. The only way to know if it works for you is to try it for yourself.
#6 Get More Sleep
We all know that sleep is important for workout recovery.. but are you aware of just how important it really is? Getting more sleep (at least 8 hours) can:
Increase Growth Hormone production
Increase Testosterone levels
Decrease injury risk
Decrease perceived exertion/fatigue during your workouts
Numerous studies show that getting better sleep can improve recovery from exercise. If you’re researching how to recover faster from your workouts, getting enough sleep should be #1 on your to-do list.
According to Sleep.org, sleep is vital for helping the body retain improvements in body movements, muscle repair and muscle growth. All of which lead to improved performance.
Tips on Getting Better Sleep
These are some things that have worked for me and I highly recommend.
Stop using your phone an hour before bedtime. Stop watching the TV. Do something else, read, listen to music or take a shower and relax.
Make sure your room is as dark as possible. Blackout shades work wonders.
Studies have shown that a temperature between 66-68 degrees are optimal for falling asleep faster and sleeping deeper.
White noise, such as from a fan, can help the brain fall into a deeper sleep, faster.
Get new pillows, or even a new bed if you don’t feel comfortable. You spend a third of your life there.. why not invest in your sleep?
Heart Rate Variability (HRV) refers to the small time intervals between heart beats, measured in milliseconds. With a simple heart rate monitor like the Polar H10, and a free app on your phone, you can take an HRV measurement when you wake up in the morning in about 3 minutes.
HRV gives you a snapshot into your body’s current state. It can tell you how you’re responding to stress, and is essentially a measure of how stressed your body is. High HRV means you are resilient, and properly recovering from stress.
With HRV, you can track how well you’re recovering from your workouts and from all the stress you encounter in your daily life. Free apps like Elite HRV will give you a “readiness score,” which can help you know if you’re recovering or not, and can help you know how hard to train and when to back off.
HRV is being used by elite athletes, and is a simple and affordable way for you to gain vast insight into your health and fitness.
#8 HIIT Can Hurt Your Workout Recovery.
HIIT, or high intensity interval training, has become one of the most popular workout methods available. The problem is that too often, we rely on higher intensity training, which can have a lot of negative consequences.
More is NOT always better.. and it’s not correct that training harder is always going to make you better…
Working out at high intensities: Max effort and any conditioning where you’re training at a heart rate of greater than 90% of your max HR, are very stressful on the body. This stress causes a flood of catabolic hormones to be released, and puts a strain on your body’s recovery ability.
Repeating these workouts frequently causes a recovery debt to accumulate. Eventually it will reach a point where something will give.
Systems like the immune system will suffer, and injury risk becomes greater. The most likely scenario is that you’ll burn yourself out and progress will go backwards.
Studies have shown that 2 days per week of high intensity training is optimal for all but the most elite athletes. Plan your training carefully and be sure to manage high intensity training with a healthy respect for it’s power.
You can only benefit from what you can recover from. Recovery = Adaptation. And adaptation is the real purpose for working out in the first place.
#9 Use Supplements That Help Your Body Recover
Using the right supplements can definitely help you recover faster from your workouts. They can help reduce soreness and allow you to train more frequently, leading to bigger gains over time.
An article by Precision Nutrition looked at 2 studies examining the effects of Vitamins C and E on workout recovery. The studies found that after three days without supplementation, free radicals had more than doubled.
Free radicals are chemicals that damage our cells and cause inflammation in the body. After 3 days of working out AND supplementing with Vitamins C and E, free radicals didn’t increase at all!
Which Supplements Help us Recover Faster?
Using the right supplements can definitely help you recover faster and be less sore from your workouts. The following list is a good place to start for supplements that actually have plenty of research showing they work:
Creatine: increase lean mass, speed up glycogen resynthesis and speed up protein synthesis. Creatine has also been shown to improve cognitive function, as it is stored both in muscle tissue and in the brain.
Tart Cherry Juice/Turmeric: Both potent antioxidants, they can reduce inflammation.. causing less soreness from training and faster recovery of muscle damaged muscle tissues. Use only after higher intensity days so you don’t hurt your body’s own natural abilities.
BCAA’s: Help your body spare muscle tissue while you work out. Can make fatigue take longer to set in, and can help the body recover faster after your workout.
Protein Supplementation: Additional protein can help keep the body in an anabolic state, repairing and building muscle throughout the day and while you sleep.
I prefer to get my supplements from Bulk Supplements. It’s cheaper, you get more, and the supplements are pure, with no added fillers or harmful chemicals.
#10 Use a Cool-Down After Every Workout to Recover Faster
Especially after higher intensity sessions, your body is ramped up and in a sympathetic, stress-driven state. While this may feel good, it is not conducive to recovery. Take a few minutes after every workout to perform a proper cool-down to help push your body into a faster recovery state.
Perform 5 minutes of low intensity cardiovascular exercise
Perform light, relaxing stretching. Use foam rolling if you have the time and the means.
Assume a relaxing pose, such as the child’s pose in Yoga
Breathe and relax. Try to force your heart rate down as low as possible
A cool down can help you get into a recovery mode faster, leading to faster recovery before your next workout. These small differences each time you work out can have big effects over time. Don’t walk out of the gym amped up. The workout is over, and now it’s time to refuel and recover.
Conclusion
The art of workout recovery should be important to anyone seeking to improve their physical abilities. The faster you can recover from your workouts, the sooner you can get back in the gym and actually reap the benefits of your efforts.
Implement these 10 strategies and you will have given yourself a huge boost, and will no doubt reap many benefits for a long time to come. Recover faster from your workouts and get to the next level of you!
Mike (Supastrong)
Bioforce Certified Conditioning Coach and personal trainer. I’ve run boot camps and served as the wellness coordinator for a fortune 500 company. Currently a Federal Agent in San Diego, CA, and an Infantryman in the Army Reserve.
These 10 Fitness tips can help take your workout game to the next level. Get stronger, Improve faster, and crush new goals .
Note: This article contains affiliate links to products I believe in and use. They come at no additional cost to you.
Progress = Motivation
It’s undeniable that progress is the driving force that keeps us motivated to push ourselves forward.
There’s nothing better than seeing hard work result in real changes to our body and our abilities.
It’s critical, then, to make sure you’re doing the right things to keep progress rolling forward.
Sooner or later, we all reach a point where changes need to be made. We plateau, and many lose motivation or become complacent and just go through the motions, repeating the same routine for months or years with little results to show for it.
Here are 10 things you can do to take your workouts, your fitness and your life to the next level. You might just find something that can restart your motivation and get you moving forward to that best version of yourself, where you belong!
Tip #1: Keep a Workout Journal
Keeping a workout Journal will allow you to:
Track Progress over time
See what was working for you in the past when you run into problems in the present
“Compete” against yourself using past performances in any type of workout
Analyze exactly what you’re doing, and how much you’re doing, compared to the results you’re getting.
Great coaches and trainers will always have their clients keep a workout journal. Having access to past workouts can be invaluable.
There are plenty of free apps you can use. I use “Day One Journal.” It’s free and easy to use. It also allows you to place “tags” on all your workouts, so you can easily reference them when you need to.
Advanced
You can dive a lot deeper into this, if you’re a more serious athlete.. You could be tracking things like your resting heart rate each morning and/or your heart rate variability. You could also have some specific workout “tests” you can repeat to measure progress.
Tip #2: Use a Heart Rate Monitor
Example of a Training Session with a HR monitor
Using a heart rate monitor can change the way you work out completely.
You can be specific about what you’re trying to accomplish in your workout by using different heart rate zones for different outcomes.
For example, training for 30 minutes with your heart rate between 110-120 would be a low intensity cardio session, stimulating recovery.
30 minutes with the heart rate between 130-150 would be stimulating cardiac output.. training the heart to pump more blood per beat and enlarging the left ventricle, improving aerobic fitness.Â
Training for 30 minutes with a HR at 155-170 would be training for aerobic power, and would be a much higher intensity session.
I highly recommend the Polar H10 heart rate monitor. Polar really can’t be beat in this department, and this model is both affordable and accurate. It’s also full of great features.
If you’re more advanced, a heart rate monitor can be even more useful. You can track how long it takes your heart rate to recover after intense activity, with the goal of increasing your one minute heart rate recovery over time. You can also keep track of your resting heart rate by testing it first thing in the morning. A low resting heart rate is the surest sign of improving aerobic fitness.
Tip #3: Have a Clear Goal
If you ask people in the gym what their goals are, you’d get all kinds of answers.
From experience as a trainer I can tell you, most people don’t really know exactly what they’re trying to accomplish. They say things like “I just want to gain muscle and lose weight,” or, “I want to get in shape.”
These are not clear, definite goals. A goal should be something like; “I want to lose 15lbs in the next 8 weeks,” or, “I want to gain 5lbs of muscle and be at 10% body fat by May 1st.”
Goals should be: SMART
Specific – What exactly do you want to accomplish?
Measurable – Don’t just say “lose weight.” Say, I’m going to lose 10lbs.
Achievable – You aren’t going to add 100lbs to your bench press in 30 days. Remember, Progress = Motivation.. Set yourself up to achieve small goals that are attainable, and they will add up to big changes.
Relevant – If you’re training for a marathon, your goals should be relevant to that.. too many people have conflicting goals like, I want to get bigger, lose weight, get stronger, get leaner and run faster.
Timely – Goals should have a time-frame. If you want to add 50lbs to your bench press, say: “I’ll add 50lbs to my bench press in 6 months by doing _______.”
Have clear goals, and be able to express how you’re going to accomplish the goal. If you don’t know how, then that is why trainers have jobs, and there is plenty of information out there as well. It’s your goal, and your responsibility to go after it!
Tip #4: Use High Intensity Training Carefully
Too many people are obsessed with HIIT workouts.  And it’s true, HIIT can be a highly effective way to achieve a range of fitness goals. But HIIT training comes at a cost, as it takes considerable energy for your body to recover from a constant beat-down of high intensity effort.
A study by Les Mills Lab concluded that 40 minutes of HIIT training per week was optimal for most people, with added training being detrimental to fitness and performance.
High intensity training, or HIIT, should be utilized no more than twice per week. Even elite athletes rarely go above 3 days per week, and even then it is only for short training cycles.
your bodies simply cannot recover enough to adapt to that much high intensity effort, and so short term gains in performance will soon turn to a massive recovery debt, and your workouts and your well-being will suffer the consequences.
Fitness is best improved by using a variety of different intensities and methods. Keep the HIIT to 1-2 days per week and utilize other methods, low and moderate intensity training on the other days.
There are several ways you can help speed boost your workout recovery. I’ll list a few here from my article: 10 Ways to Boost Workout Recovery:
Recovery Workouts: lower intensity workouts to stimulate blood flow and recovery the day after a high intensity workout.
Compression clothing: Compression can reduce muscle damage and soreness. Check out 2XU Compression Pants if you want real compression.
Pre Workout Protein and Carbs: Pre workout nutrition is often overlooked and has a big impact on recovery.
Massage/Relaxation
Massages and any other form of deep relaxation can be very beneficial.. as they help nudge the body into a parasympathetic recovery state. Studies have shown that massage can reduce Delayed onset muscle soreness by 30%.
Take care of yourself. Focus as much on recovery as you do on working out and training, and you will reap much greater rewards from your efforts and stay in the game a lot longer.
#6 Switch Up Your Training Every 6-10 Weeks
After 6-10 weeks of focusing on one aspect of your training (strength, endurance, size, etc..) your progress is sure to slow down and eventually come to a halt.
For this reason, smart athletes Periodize their training. This means they place more focus in one area for a period of time (usually 6-8 weeks), and then switch their focus. This allows for constant progress.
This doesn’t mean that you completely disregard other areas of fitness. You simply place less emphasis on them so you can focus a little more in another area. If you’re going to try to get stronger for 6-8 weeks, you can add an extra day or two of strength training, and do a little less cardio/endurance work during that time.
Periodizing your training will give you the best chance at continuous progress and is the best long term strategy to follow for optimal gains in fitness.
#7 Use The Right Supplements
If you walk into any supplement store, you are bombarded with literally thousands of different supplements all claiming to have incredible results.
It’s really important to understand that these supplement companies are not bound by the FDA, and can make all sorts of claims that aren’t necessarily true at all.
Keep it simple. There are supplements backed by a ton of research showing they work, and exactly how they work and what they DO.
Once you understand this, all you have to do is choose the right ones to help you with your goals. If your only goal is losing weight, creatine probably isn’t going to benefit you, regardless of what the label claims.
Supplements That Actually Work
Creatine
-Increase Power/Power Endurance -Increase Strength -Increase size -Use for heavy/max lifting, short sprinting, HIIT
L-Citrulline
-Increase Nitric Oxide -Vasodilator – Improved blood flow -Gives a “pump” when lifting -Use for higher volume lifting, strength/size, HIIT
Antioxidant Supplements
-Tart Cherry, Turmeric, other similar products -Reduce Inflammation -Using frequently can hinder the body’s natural ability to control inflammation from your training.
Caffeine
-You know it works! -Decreased perceived exertion/makes exercise feel easier -Can train longer without feeling fatigue -Increases motivation to work harder -Regular use/tolerance diminishes effectiveness
Beta-Alanine
-Decreases perceived exertion -Can work at higher intensities for longer/delays fatigue -Use for longer sessions, endurance training, HIIT
BCAA’s
-Branched Chain Amino Acids -Reduce muscle wasting during prolonged training -Use during training if you havn’t eaten a pre-training meal or are training in a fasted state. -Use for longer duration sessions to spare muscle tissue
Use supplements that are complimentary to your Goals and proven to work.
I prefer to buy my supplements from Bulk Supplements. It’s cheaper, you get more, and it’s the supplement in pure form, with no added fillers.
#8 Always Perform a Warm up
One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in the gym is going straight into a workout without warming up.Â
The likelihood of getting injured can be reduced by performing a dynamic warm up; raising body temperature, increasing elasticity of the muscles and pushing blood into the joints.. creating a “cushion” and readying the body for more intense work.Â
Research has shown that performing a warm up can improve performance. Warming up properly can make you stronger and more powerful during your workout.
A Proper Warm-Up:
5-10 minutes of light cardiovascular activity, slowly building up to higher intensities
dynamic stretching (not static stretching where you hold for 30 seconds), and mobility work.
Lower intensity movements similar to what you plan on doing in your workout, gradually building up to working sets. If you’re going to be bench pressing, start out with some light presses, warm up the shoulders, etc..
Making sure you warm up will result in less injuries, and will lead to better performances in your workouts.
Research also shows that warming up may reduce the amount of soreness you experience after your workout. Keep your body healthy… use the warm up as a way to focus on the upcoming session and get your mind focused and your body ready to push new limits.
#9 Always Perform a Cool Down
There is less research pointing to the benefits of a cool down versus warming up.
Studies have shown some conflicting results with respect to using a cool down as a means to faster recovery from training. However, there are absolutely some very good reasons to incorporate a cool-down into your training sessions.
According to one study in the Journal of Sports Medicine, an active cool down may help prevent immune system depression and promote faster recovery from intense training sessions.
How to Cool-Down Properly
Perform light cardiovascular activity for 5 minutes, gradually reducing your heart rate as low as possible.
Perform some light stretching, focus on relaxing
Foam rolling is a good idea, if you have the time and the means
Assume a recovery position, anything where you feel relaxed.
Focus on driving the heart rate down as close to resting as possible. Spend 3-5 minutes in this position.
A good cool-down can help speed up the process of the body going into a parasympathetic recovery mode. Walking out of the gym amped up with your heart rate rate still in the training zone isn’t a great idea.
#10 Never Neglect Your Aerobic Fitness.. Your Life May Depend on it.
Regardless of what your goals are, having at least a base level of aerobic fitness is paramount to your overall health and longevity. There are very direct links to aerobic fitness and mortality risks.
A massive study of more than 122,000 people foundthat the higher your level of cardio-respiratory fitness, the less chance you have of dying from all causes.
The importance of this study cannot be overstated. Aerobic fitness reduces mortality risks across the board, with NO upper limit observed. The better your aerobic fitness, the less chance you have of dying, period!
This doesn’t mean you have to turn yourself into an endurance athlete. Training the aerobic system is simple and can be done with 3-5 sessions per week of low-moderate intensity cardiovascular sessions.
You can incorporate some extra cardio into almost any training program. Check out my article related to this Here.
Conclusion
I hope this was helpful for you. If you take your workouts and your goals seriously, there is no doubt that incorporating some, or all of the 10 ideas in this list can be of great benefit to you. They certainly have been for me, and I’ve been doing this for a long time!
Continue to improve and find that best version of yourself!
Let me know what you think with a comment, or email me at Contact@supastrong.net
Thanks for being here!!!
Mike (Supastrong)
Bioforce Certified Conditioning Coach and personal trainer. I’ve run boot camps and served as the wellness coordinator for a fortune 500 company. Currently a Federal Agent in San Diego, CA, and an Infantryman in the Army Reserve.
Shoulders hurt when you bench press? I have a solution..
Everyone wants the big bench press. It is likely the most overused exercise in history, and many with worn out, injured shoulders can attest to the dangers in relying too heavily on the bench press
Enter the Dumbell Floor Press, a simple movement that can save your shoulders and make you bigger and stronger at the same time.
Why is it Better on the Shoulders?
For Starters, floor pressing allows you to have your entire body against the floor..hips, back, and shoulders. Compared to laying on a bench, this allows the body to “grip” the floor, setting the shoulders into a better pressing position.
The Dumbell variation is even better on the shoulders, as your shoulders are not locked into one position like when you grip a barbell. The range of motion is also smaller, eliminating the portion of the bench press that really stresses out the shoulder joint, forcing the triceps to work harder.
What Muscles are Worked Compared to a Barbell Bench Press?
The dumbell floor press placed more emphasis on the upper chest and triceps when compared to a normal bench press. Perform a couple sets for higher reps (10 or more) and you will feel the upper chest being worked in a unique way.
Important Tips
Some things to focus on when performing this movement:
Keep constant tension. When your arm hits the ground, do not relax. Keep active tension and hold for one second before performing another rep..
On the first rep, hold the top position for 5 seconds and feel the shoulder socket being pushed into place.
After a one second pause at the bottom, explode up with force, activating as many muscle fibers as possible.
Conclusion
When it comes to working the chest, you have to mix it up. You must have other tools in your bag besides the bench press to save your shoulders and hit the pressing muscles from different angles. The dumbell floor press is a fantastic, effective method you can implement right away.
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