| Good day to you, Friend!
Can you do 100 body weight squats?
How about 100 push ups?
What about 30, 50, 75, 100 chin ups?
Think you could plank for 10minutes?
Would you, could you do 50 inverted rows in box, with a fox?
Maybe, maybe not, but maybe.
Maybe you couldn't do them today, but in the near future or with some focused training you could.
Maybe not because you have an injury or are de-conditioned or don't think you're strong enough.
Maybe you could if you looked at doing those reps and exercises from a different point of view.
Cluster Sets A cluster set is basically when you do a number of reps either fixed or variable, before moving on to something else. Sometimes you do cluster sets every set and sometimes you do cluster sets until you reach a certain number or reps or sets completed.
E.g. Do 4 sets of 4 reps (2+2), where the 4 reps are a cluster set in which you do 2 reps, rest until you can do 2 more reps, then do them again. This is a great way to get stronger with a specific weight that you can only lift 2 times. By resting again until you can do 2 more reps, you get 4 total reps of the same weight, then you move on to another exercise, allowing that specific movement pattern to rest, until you come back and do it again.
E.g.2. Do 100 reps. Maybe you can't do 100 reps straight, but maybe you could do 20 reps, then 18, 15, 15, 12, 10, 10, 9, 8, and finally 3.
It took 9 sets in this example. Cool. You did 100 reps. What's up! Whose bad ass now? You are! You could track the time it took to do the reps and/or the total # of sets it took to hit the goal or keep it simple and focus only on great technique and tracking the reps.
Now imagine if you did 100 reps a day of push ups. Do you think you'd get stronger?
What if you did 50 pull ups every 3 days? Think you'd get better at pull ups? Think you'd get stronger? Think you're arms, back, stomach would have a shape change?
Definitely!
Push Ups & Pull Ups We introduced a mindset and goal of not leaving the gym until you completed 4 sets of push ups or 4 sets of pull ups in our Q4 programming. I think the record skipped when I presented the idea of not leaving until you finished your 4 sets, but it's been well received. There are a lot of tired and sore arms and people are getting stronger. That was the goal and intent. Plus its fun.
Another different way to look at this. You could supplement your training and exercise by having daily goals or weekly goals. Runners have to do ## miles every week to build up their leg and cardiovascular strength to be able to run a marathon. Why not do the same thing with your body to get stronger. Why not have a goal that you won't go to bed until you've completed ## or ### of <insert exercise>.
My dad My dad was going on his first cruise with my mom and 2 other couples. Something about this trip motivated him to start doing push ups again. He did them everyday. Maybe his first day he got 40, then the next day 45, then 50, then 60, then 75, then, 100, then 125, 150, 175, 200, 225, 250, 275, 300, 330, 360, 390, 420, ... He kept doing them everyday and he kept getting stronger. His endurance and strength increased. His core stability increased and he was excited by his progress and the fast approaching cruise that it helped motivate him to do more each day. His waist got smaller. He ate more thoughtfully. His body shape changed. He was stronger. He looked great. Everyone was proud of him. When I saw him, I'd match him set for set, to support him and get a good pump myself.
You You can do this with any exercise. Do:
- push ups.
- TRX Inverted Rows.
- Wall Slides.
- Supine Bridges
- Chin, Neutral Grip, Alternate Grip or Pull Ups
- pike push ups
- body saws
- planks
- inverted hamstrings
- spider lunges
- dumbbell curls
- dumbbell kickbacks
- jump rope
- air squats
- 1-leg squats
- split squats
- lateral lunges
- stretching
Parameters Pick an exercise you want to get better at (stronger or better mobility). Pick a number that motivates you (#/day, ##/day, ###/day or #/wk, ##/wk or ###/wk). Decide on your frequency (every day, every other day, every 2 days, ...). And do it.
Example Goal: 100 push ups. Starting Point. 1 rep. Initial goal: do 5 total reps before I go to bed. Tomorrow: add 1. Watch for leap frog opportunities: sometimes you're having a special day and you can do more than a + 1, so do it. Then: add 1 to the new total.
Bonus!
consider push & pull: for every push, do a pull. so if you do 100 push ups, how about doing 100 inverted rows or a 100 wall slides. I wouldn't necessarily do them on the same day, I might alternate a push day with a pull day.
hinge & squat: same thing. consider alternating a supine bridge day with a body weight squat day.
mind & body: remember the body will do what the mind tells it. If your mind tells your body to do it, it'll do it. If your mind tells your body to take a day off, it'll take a day off. Let your mind, courage, grit & commonsense decide what's best for you.
mobility & stability: let's say you have a tight low back or low back pain. It's not acute, meaning you're not in pain now, but you're vulnerable to it. One day you could do stretching & mobility exercises for X number of reps before you go to bed or #:## of time before you go to bed. Then the next day you could do a stability exercise to strengthen the areas around the trouble spot. Again do X number of reps or #:## of time.
Example: low back pain & tightness
Odd days: stretch & mobilize (choose 1)
- Roll back: abs, hip flexor, TFL, quads, back, lats, piriformis, adductors x25roll/spot / day.
- Front Foot Elevated 1/2 Kneeling Hip Flexor x30s/side. G=5min or 2.5min/side.
- Front Foot Elevated 1/2 Kneeling Cross Body Hip Flexor Stretch x30s/side. G=5min or 2.5min/side
- Prone Glute Push x30s/side, G=5min or 2.5m/side
- 1-Arm Lat Stretch against door jam x30s/side, G=5min or 2.5m/side
- Side-Lying Thoracic Rotation Hold x30s/side, G=5min or 2.5m/side
Even days: strengthen & stabilize (choose 1) - supine bridge x100reps/day
- 1-leg bridge x50reps/side/day
- quadruped opposites x100reps/day
- low plank x5min/day
- side plank x2.5min/day
This attention to a trouble area by you in an alternating day fashion, will help you to gradually lengthen & mobilize the stiff, tight and shortened spots and strengthen & stabilize the long, weak and unstable spots. It'll feel good (eventually) and it'll be fun (eventually) as you hit your daily goals and practice this everyday. You'll come to appreciate the custom, tailored focus your giving yourself and your trouble spots and maybe with time, reps and effort your trouble spots will become your strong and favorite spots.
And this is how you can get stronger with cluster sets. You can do cluster sets with an exercise during a workout or you can do cluster sets spread out through the day. Body weight, equipment free exercises are the easiest, but with some light planning you could do body weight exercises using equipment to help you hit your goal.
Getting stronger together,
Coach Mike
p.s. if you want help getting stronger, reply and let me know. | 
