The Program

Undulating Clusters are sets of singles on a specific timer with adjustable loads within a set or a wave. Standard OTM sets often have you perform the same weight for 3-5 singles at the same weight before a 2-5% increase after a requisite number of reps. Undulating Clusters promote adjustments in loads more frequently on a rep to rep basis.

Example for a 100kg snatch

Standard OTM 

80 x 1 x 5 OTM 85 x 1 x 5 OTM 90 x 1 x 5 OTM - 5 singles to follow

Undulating Clusters 

80x1, 85x1, 82x1, 87x1, 82x1 OTM - rest 2 minutes 

82x1, 87x1, 90x1, 85x1, 90x1 OTM - rest 2 minutes 

85x1, 88x1, 91x1, 94x1, 88x1 OTM - rest 2 minutes 

- 3-5 singles to follow

This is an example of how you could undulate the set, the waving of the load used can be based on objective increases of progressive overload or, subjective measures of how the athlete feels when they walk into the gym and/or how the previous repetition had been executed. The patterns and possible waves of load can be an endless combination of variables, which can be daunting. To give you a few general guidelines, here are the parameters commonly used when writing out a program like this. 

Program Design Guidelines

Number of exercises 

1-3 exercises are ideal over the microcycle with one undulating cluster per workout. A standard exercise scheduling would be a separate workout of a snatch, a jerk and clean derivatives.

You might have a light and heavy session or a volume or intensive session on a particular movement if specialized focus is required.

An example here would be -  

Number of sets 

3-5 sets working sets best here. If you have the ability to perform more sets without the compromise to technique, to the remainder of the workout and/or workouts to follow, you can aim for 6 or more.

Volume per set 

I’ve found that sets of 3-5 reps work best. With any more than fives, there can be too much accumulative fatigue and deterioration of technique can occur. Sets of five reps would be good for lower intensity sets, power snatches, power jerks, power clean from the floor or blocks and push presses. Sets of three would be ideal for snatches, clean & jerks, cleans all performed from the floor and jerks from blocks.

Rest between Clusters 

Performing sets on the minute would be the norm here for snatch and if you are performing cleans and jerks separately, if you are having clean and jerks for the exercise selected, then it is recommended that the clean and jerk would be performed every 75 seconds. There may be a period of 10-20 seconds rest between clusters, but we will look at those parameters and progressions later on in this article.  

Rest between Clusters

1-3 Minutes are a good standard to work with. 4-5 minutes might be needed for the heavier, more taxing lifts, but any more than that would take up too much time for the total duration of the session. 35-40 minutes of the cluster sets (rest include) tend to be the upper end of what most athletes can handle as it won’t cut into too much time for the remainder of the session and recovery for the following training days. The next series of waves may start on the next succeeding minute if that athlete’s capacity is higher or the intensity is lower. Although when the intensity starts moving up to 85-90%, adding a 2-3 minute rest after every 3-5 clustered reps would be beneficial.

Unloading Weeks and Transitions

After every 2-3 weeks drop the volume to 60-70% of the previous week and a 10-15% decrease of intensity. I’ve found that it is a smoother transition for the weightlifter when the program moves from clustered sets to classic lifts of doubles and singles. Undulating Clustered Waves can raise the glass ceiling and build a higher average intensity, having the succeeding mesocycle at higher intensities give the athlete a greater foundation to perform consistently at that glass ceiling. 

Preparation Cycles 

As you are laying that foundation for building intensity closer to competition cycles, a means of progression would be increasing the cumulative number of reps. As these phases emphasize on increasing exposure and/or density. Increasing the total clusters between 70-80% OTM is a productive means of accumulating volume and a good base to work from.

A weightlifter can also keep the loads close to the same intensity from the previous week and decrease the rest period by 5-15 seconds from workout to workout if they have a major discrepancy from their rep maxes relative to their 1RMs.

The concept of increasing density would also work to build a higher threshold of repeatability for short duration outputs of speed and power. Athletes in fighting sports, contact team sports and track and field athletes would benefit from this type of progression in the late off-season. 

Standard Progression for Preparation Cycles 

1.         Increase the reps

            5x1.1.1 would progress to 5x1.1.1.1, if general capacity would need to be increased. 

2.              Increase the intensity while maintaining volume. 

5x1.1.1.1.1 between 70-80% would progress to 5x1.1.1.1.1 to 72.5-82.5%. 

3.              Decrease the rest between clusters. 

OTM sets would change to every 45 sec, every 30 sec, every 20 sec, every 15 seconds and so on. Average intensity is either maintained or dropped down by 3-5% as intra-set rest is shortened.

Note: The third option would be applied if specific capacity needs to be improved. If this is a program that is applied, it is best to use (power) jerks and push press from the rack, power cleans, power snatches and/or high pulls from the floor or blocks as this can be fatiguing as density of the cluster set increases. 

Load progression would not be a major emphasis in this application. That said, if an athlete has a major disparity between their 3 to 5RM in comparison to their 1 to 2RM this can be means to bridge the gap between their repetition maxes to their singles and doubles  

Competition Cycles

Undulating clusters can be used to build up exposure and consistency to higher loads. You might work from sets of five clusters to sets of three clusters as you move closer to the competition from 12-3 weeks away from the meet. This would depend on the athlete’s technical proficiency, overall size and strength levels. Smaller intermediate weightlifters may keep the clusters at higher volumes moving towards a competition whereas larger or stronger weightlifters might increase the intensity as they drop a rep from each clustered set every 1-2 weeks leading into the peaking phase of the competition cycle. 

Undulating Clusters can be ideal for preparing for the unpredictability of  a competition setting. Oftentimes the competition does not go according to the scheduled plan of progressively heavier warm up every 2-3 attempts as you are approaching your lifts on the platform. If the competition speeds up dramatically, it is good to have the ability and confidence that an athlete can handle ascending weights on the bar in a short time if they need to.  

Standard Progression for Competition

1. increase the load and maintain the volume 

      -     standard increase of 2.5-5% of average load from session to session.

2.     Increase the load and decrease the volume 

      -     5x1.1.1.1.1 would progress to 5x1.1.1.1, into 5x1.1.1 and then dropping a set would be the next adjustment in volume as intensity increases.

Application in Training

Training with a coach 

Undulating Clusters can be adjusted from rep to rep and set to set as the coach sees fit. If the coach is working exclusively with an athlete, the coach can wave up and down based on how each rep looks. This can also be a  good way to distract the athlete from paying attention to the weight on the bar as the coach is making frequent changes of weights and would also get the lifter out of the routine of lifting the same load progression that they consistently use.  

Training on your own 

Make sure you have a general plan for what is intended to be accomplished. The rule I like to use is that you restart the set if you miss the 1st reps, (this is often due to a lack of focus, or athletes need an extra minute of rest), repeat the cluster on the next set if there is one miss or repeat the previous successful wave if there are 2 or more misses. You would stay at the same clustered singles chosen until all the reps are successful lifts in the following week or the week after.

Microcycle example

Like anything you find on the internet, approach with caution and experiment on your own before prescribing this to your athletes or clientele. You can find that your average intensity would improve consistently when you apply this. This is a great way to build your base, so don’t be surprised that you hit a new rep max or single PR after using this variation! 

I hope that you can apply this, and you can make this work best for you, your training partners and your athletes. Remember, a program's success will be within the confines of the individual capability using it. Don’t be afraid of trial and error and make changes as you see fit.