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All you need is a pair of dumbbells for ‘The Devil’s Cluster’

If pairing endless exercises to back-to-back, inside out and upside down to create confusing ‘circuits’ doesn’t sound like your idea of a good time, you’ll be pleased to hear that you can tick nearly all of your strength and muscle-building boxes with just one movement. You'll be even more pleased to hear about the metabolism spiking boost you’ll get from performing it.

‘The Devil’s Cluster’ is a combination movement that flows — *ahem* effortlessly — between a burpee, a clean, a squat and a press; a series of movements that eagle eyed CrossFitters will recognise as a soul-sucking hybrid of the ‘Devil’s Press’ and a ‘Cluster’.

Working your chest, back, arms, legs and shoulders, the Devil’s Cluster also challenges your core and coordination, while rocketing your hear rate through the roof. Basically, it’s dumbbell hell.

Once you’ve got the movement nailed, there really is no wrong way to feature it in a workout. Aim for max reps in a given time frame, set a rep target and time how long it takes, perform a predetermined number of reps at the beginning of each minute, resting for the remainder, or simply go for sets and reps alongside other movements in your regularly scheduled training.

If you’re looking our suggestion (and if we’re feeling inclined to be a bad influence), we’d recommend taking the Devil’s Cluster for a swing using the ‘Death By…’ format:

Working in an EMOM (every minute on the minute) fashion, start a running clock and begin with one rep, resting for the remainder of the minute. Each minute you’ll perform an additional rep, climbing the ladder one rep at a time (e.g. one rep in the first minute, two in the second minute, three in the third etc…) until you can no longer fit the prescribed work into sixty seconds… or you quit.

Make a note of your finishing round, and attempt to beat that score each time you repeat the challenge, ensuring you’re building your fitness.

Drop down into a press-up position (A) and perform a press-up, gripping a pair of dumbbells (B). Quickly jump your knees towards your chest and with a flat back explosively lift the dumbbells from the ground (C). Use momentum to swing the weights up, dipping down to ‘catch them’ on your shoulders, before lowering yourself into a full squat (D). Stand up explosively (E) pressing the dumbbells overhead (F). Lower them back to your shoulders, then the ground and repeat.