[Rich Ellis]

Definitely not over serious bout of man flu, but had an excellent leg session regardless

Straight sets for quads

45 Deg Leg Press
45 Deg Split Stance Leg Press

Clusters hams and calves

Prone leg curl
Standing leg curl

Toe press

I’ve not bothered including numbers as all the movements are machine, so mean next to nothing

[Rich Ellis]

I’ll give my opinion.

As I said, there are many different ways to perform cluster sets.

In the pursuit of hypertrophy, for me, you have to look at the point of a cluster.

Clusters come into their own when you are trying to maximise the number of stimulating/affective reps in a set. These are the reps that engage the high threshold motor units (the hard grinding reps). Some set-ups will lean more towards a mechanical stress, others a metabolic stress.

With this in mind, be intelligent about which method of cluster set that you utilise and where you programme them.

[Rich Ellis]

Let’s shift this towards a more generic question….. can you use variations in rep range in place of variations in movement?

Yes, you can. I personally don’t think it’s AS good an option, but needs must sometimes, so it is an option.

[Rich Ellis]

Clusters can be performed in MANY different ways.

Muscle rounds are great for a metabolic stress, they’re not going to do much for your strength development.
Be clear what your aim is, then we can talk specifically to help

IMO, MR (ie from Fortitude) won’t do a damn thing for metabolic stress.

You realize that when Scott discusses metabolic stress, he is referring to “pump” almost occlusion type training. 20-30 rep skin splitting stuff.

If you’ve ever done MR, they are nothing like that at all.

That’s exactly why Scott has MR AND “pump sets”….pump sets are metabolic stress. MR help gain some additional volume and mechanical tension.

I’m also a former PLer so I’m definitely familiar with cluster sets in high % work. Great stuff.

[/quote]

Ok

[Rich Ellis]

Rest day today, long day at work and a heavy dose of man flu – Good day for a rest to fall on. Lemsip to the rescue!

[Rich Ellis]

Push day

Straight sets for pecs and tris

Dec Bench

Inc DB
Calle pushdown

“Acceptable” is probably a fair reflection on my pressing today. I just need to stay patient, which is easier said than done, but I’m doing it

Then clusters
Rear felt cable

Cable laterals

Of note, first day on my JP supps. Had a helpful steer from Dean last night around putting my intra together (I’m a bit of a lump so have a decent intra carb serving)
Went perfectly, incredibly palatable. I don’t like sweet things when I train, but this was refreshing. Looking forward to trying the Blood Orange flavour.

.

nice session, i know you are strong af but could you write numbers from the session? [/quote]

Of course mate, I’ll include numbers moving forward

[Rich Ellis]

Clusters can be performed in MANY different ways.

Muscle rounds are great for a metabolic stress, they’re not going to do much for your strength development.

Be clear what your aim is, then we can talk specifically to help

[Rich Ellis]

Push day

Straight sets for pecs and tris

Dec Bench
Inc DB

Calle pushdown

“Acceptable” is probably a fair reflection on my pressing today. I just need to stay patient, which is easier said than done, but I’m doing it

Then clusters

Rear felt cable
Cable laterals

Of note, first day on my JP supps. Had a helpful steer from Dean last night around putting my intra together (I’m a bit of a lump so have a decent intra carb serving)

Went perfectly, incredibly palatable. I don’t like sweet things when I train, but this was refreshing. Looking forward to trying the Blood Orange flavour.

.

[Rich Ellis]

Hi mate

Clearly it’s hard to give much depth in response to a fairly superficial (in detail) post, but you answer a lot of your concerns there.

You recover well

You progress weekly across the board

It seems as though the system is working well for you, so if you are moving well in the right direction, I’d be reluctant to advise change (off the limited info) until you begin to plateau

There are many ways that you can programme for 3 day’s a week training, each have their merits, but ultimately the outcome we want is progression. If you’re achieving that, you’re doing something right!

If you want to post in more detail, you might get us coming back with some more insightful suggestions, but off what you posted, good job!

[Rich Ellis]

Yes, it definitely did!

Thanks Rich ????

????????

Have a good day bud

[Rich Ellis]

Thanks mate

Maybe I could shoot you a pm and show you my training split on paper and see what you think?

Sorry mate I didn’t get a notification

Of course 🙂

[Rich Ellis]

I downloaded it. Pretty standard Meadows legs/push/pull layout. 3 compulsory ‘heavy’ days, then up to 3 optional ‘pump’ days. The heavy days are kinda progressive overload, in that he picks a couple of exercises you run with for 4 weeks at a time, but it’s not as simple as adding weight. Sometimes its add reps, sometimes add a drop etc. It looks like low volume til you read the details about feeder sets and drops etc, Standard JM exercise selections too tbf.

Thank you mate 🙂

[Rich Ellis]

Today’s session was the start of rotation 3.

Straight sets for biceps

Hammer curls
Barbell curls

Cluster sets for back

Narrow mag grip pulldown
Mid-back chest supported row

This is the easiest of my sessions. By which I mean, the movements just aren’t as holistically taxing as the other sessions

Looking forward to a good push session tomorrow

[Rich Ellis]

Hi Rich!

How do you usually go about deloads?

do you prefer taking days off or do you do deload session?

Thanks ????

Hi mate,

I would typically do similar to Jordan. A de-load with volume cut rather than intensity

That said, if I’m feeling a bit smashed, I might take an extra day off to recover.

There’s no science to that method, very much just that I’ve trained for many years and I have a good grasp of when an extra day will be enough

Hope that helps

[Rich Ellis]

Awesome Riche!

Do you include some kind of “DC” stretch?

Hi mate

I actually don’t as yet. On my push days I do a lot of hanging from a pull-up bar. Sets of 1-2mins

As you may know, hanging is excellent for shoulder health, so I do this between each set of presses

Back to the question though…. something to explore for sure!