Cluster buster: failure is not an option with this master plan to build maximum strength

Your parents probably forgave you if you failed a test or two in school. But if you failed a class or two, they surely kicked your little schoolboy ass. So, if history has taught you anything, a little failure can be a great motivator, while a lot of failure can invite a big hurt.

Funny how that same lesson can be applied to the gym. Training to "failure"--performing a set until you can't possibly squeeze out another rep--is fine on occasion, in that it pushes your muscles to the limits. But to rely on "failure" as a lifting mainstay is to invite low-grade muscle gains. There's a better way to build the mountains of muscle you seek, and in much less time than you thought a great workout could take. Here's how: You'll use a method called "cluster" training, in which you'll do five sets of two reps using a load that's equal to the heaviest weight you can lift five times with perfect form. Between each set, you'll rest 10 seconds. All five sets combined equal one "cluster." The combination of low reps and short rest periods allows your muscles to do more work with a heavier weight in less time, which means a bigger, stronger you.

Compare this cluster system to the old train-to-failure standby. You would do five reps of the bench press with your five-rep max but then have to rest for several minutes in order to recover enough to repeat the set. Even then, you might only get four reps, which decreases the volume of work you've performed and limits the muscle you can build. With cluster training, you perform twice as many reps with the same weight you would normally use with the failure method.

Need more proof? I gained 70 pounds of muscle over the past three years from workouts like this, and in the last year alone I went up 50 pounds on my bench, 85 pounds on my squat, and 110 pounds on my deadlift.

My program will have you hitting the weights four days a week, devoting two days to building maximum strength and another two days to gaining size and endurance. Each workout should clock in at 40 minutes or less. Try it for four weeks and I promise you'll succeed in breaking your muscle barriers. Or you could keep training to failure--but you'll just be failing yourself.

Workout A

LOWER BODY, MAXIMUM STRENGTH

FREQUENCY: Do this workout once a week for four weeks.

HOW TO DO IT: Perform exercise 1A as cluster sets--choose the heaviest weight you can lift five times and do two reps, then rest 10 seconds. Repeat four more times until you've done 10 total reps. That's one "cluster." Then do one set of exercise 1B. Alternate four clusters of 1A with four sets of exercise 1B, then move on to exercise 2. Do exercises 2-5 as straight sets, performing all sets of one exercise before moving on to the next.

WEIGHT: Use the heaviest weight that allows you to complete all the prescribed reps for each exercise.

[1A] SNATCH-GRIP DEADLIFT

Do four clusters of 10 reps each Target: Hips, Hamstrings

* Use a double-shoulder-width grip.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[1B] WARRIOR-LUNGE HIP-FLEXOR STRETCH

Stretch each leg for 20 seconds Target: Quads, Hip Flexors

* You should feel the stretch in the trailing hip.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[2] BARBELL GOOD MORNINGS

Sets: 4 Reps: 10 Target: Lower Back, Hamstrings

* Keep your lower back naturally arched.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[3] DUMBBELL WALKING LUNGE

Sets: 3 Reps: 8 (each leg) Target: Quadriceps

* From the lunge position, push off your front leg and step forward with your back leg.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[4] UNEVEN BABBELL SIDE BENDS

Sets: 2 Reps: Do 10 per side, resting in between Target: Obliques

* Bend as far as you can without moving your hips.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[5] PLANK

Sets: 2 Reps: Hold for as long as you can Target: Core Endurance

* If this is too easy, have someone add weight to your back.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Workout B

UPPER BODY

FREQUENCY: Do this workout once a week for four weeks.

HOW TO DO IT: Perform the exercise pairs (1A and 1B, 2A and 2B) as alternating sets, resting one minute between each set until you've completed the prescribed number of sets for each. (So you'll do one set of 1A, rest one minute, then do one set of 1B, rest for another minute, and so on.) Fellow the same procedure for the next pair. Do exercise 3 as straight sets, completing all sets with 90 seconds of rest between each.

WEIGHT: Use the heaviest weight that allows you to complete all the prescribed reps for each exercise.

[1A] INCLINE DUMBBELL PRESS

Sets: 5 Reps: 8 Target: Chest

* Set the bench at a 30-degree angle.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[1B] BENTOVER ROW

Sets: 5 Reps: 8 Target: Back

* Keep your shoulder blades squeezed together.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[2A] SEATED DUMBBELL CLEANS

Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Target: Shoulders

* Explosively swing the dumbbells up to your shoulders.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[2B] DECLINE CLOSE-GRIP BENCH PRESS

Sets: 3 Reps: 10 Target: Chest

* Grip the bar just inside shoulder width.