Between 2 Racks
Between 2 Racks is a strength training podcast from KILO, a coach-led education company built to support personal trainers and strength coaches who want a deeper, more durable understanding of training.
The goal is simple: create a home for sound knowledge. Not trends, not shortcuts, and not recycled talking points.
Each episode explores program design, loading, periodization, and coaching decisions through real-world application. We focus on what holds up over time, where theory breaks down in practice, and how coaches can make better decisions for the people they train.
Hosted by experienced coaches with decades spent in private training, performance settings, and long-term athlete development, the conversations are practical, honest, and grounded in principle.
If you are a coach looking for clarity, depth, and a place to think critically about training, Between 2 Racks is that space.
Let’s kick it!
Between 2 Racks
Cluster Training Explained: When, Why & How
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Cluster training is often misunderstood as just another advanced method, but in reality, it’s a way to reorganize work to improve output, not just increase difficulty.
In this episode, we break down what clusters actually are, where they came from, and how they’ve evolved from early strength methods to modern performance training. More importantly, we explain how clusters change the structure of a set to allow for higher quality repetitions, better bar speed, and greater motor unit recruitment without simply adding more fatigue.
We walk through the different types of cluster structures, including basic, undulating, ascending, descending, and wave-based approaches, and explain how each can be used depending on the training goal.
We also cover how clusters apply across strength, power, and hypertrophy, and why their real value lies in improving the quality of work at a given load. From reducing fatigue in power training to increasing mechanical tension in hypertrophy work, clusters offer a more precise way to drive adaptation.
Finally, we discuss where clusters fit within a broader program, when they should be used, and why they are best reserved for more advanced trainees who can actually benefit from the increased complexity.
This episode is about understanding how to manipulate the set itself to get more from the same work.
Because better training isn’t always more work, it’s better structure.
0:00 Introduction
0:23 History of Clusters with Steph
4:17 First Use of the Word "Cluster" in Literature
12:10 Clusters Revived for Strength (Charles Poliquin Era)
12:43 The 5 Types of Cluster Sets
13:04 Basic Clusters (5 Singles)
14:45 Undulating Clusters
16:19 Clusters Are for Advanced Lifters
19:16 Using Clusters for Hypertrophy on Power Athletes
26:53 Pure Strength Clusters and Programming
27:55 Clusters for Power Training
40:35 Cluster Sets In Season
43:18 Rest Distribution vs. Clusters
45:07 Buffers into Accumulation Then Clusters in Intensification
50:29 Final Thoughts on Clusters
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