Cycle #2 This is Great!

H

Hooked

New Member
I just finished my first cycle and I am now in my SD. For my 2nd cycle I want to make a few changes.

I would like to do a A/B rotation includiing
A                                 B
Squat                          Deadlift
BB Bench                     Weighted Dip
BB Overhead Press     Looking for alt. stay w/BB press?
Weighted Pull ups       Penlay Row
Standing calf raise      Seated calf raise(needed more calf stimulation, I have genetically strong calves and they like to extra work)

I will stay with 15,10,5 but I am increasing my volume so I want to try 2, 4, 6 for sets, increasing sets  traditionally every two weeks.

I was doing abs at end of workout but since I am increasing sets and adding calves I will now do abs on Tuesday and Thursday.
 
I guess I should post my success. On my first cycle of HST I gained about 3-5 lds of lean mass. Which is great I knew that my calories were low (I am a little low on cash so eating as much as I could afford) also my strength was great. i set new PR records in Bench, squat and deadlift. I was especially impressed with my bench going up , I just wasn't expecting a huge increase. At the start of cycle I was at 290lbs at the end I was able to do 325lbsx2, AMAZING! I was pretty excited. I did continue my 5's but added in some neg's when I had the chance. Also the Friday before setting my new PR I did a pyramid style work out to really get a feel of really heavy weight with really heavy neg's. PLUS one thing I really like about HST is I felt like my energy was up fo rmy workouts. I think I was overtrained before. Mostly becuase I would always refuse to take time off (it was just to hard I always miss the gym when gone too long) but I wasn't looking forword to workouts as much before I started HST and during I felt good again and I was always looking forword to the next workout. Especially as I was getting closer to the 5's I love heavy workouts. Anyways I thought I should share. I know that I still need to learn alot about the HST principles. But I am looking forword to learning them. My friends at the gym still think I am crazy. But soon the results will speak for themselves. OH I would also like ot thank the members here as everyone has been of great help!!
 
I should also add that once in the 5's I may lower sets depending how it goes. I think that 5RM at 6 sets might be a little tricky
smile.gif
So I would probally drop down to 4 or 5 sets. My last cycle I was doing 3 sets and I definalty want to keep it higher then that. I know that I need more volume then I did on my fist cycle.
 
Congrats on your progress

I would add in incline press on your second session...I like to have 2 pressing and 2 pulling movements...or you could try upright row if you're just looking for another shoulder movement and aren't bothered about more pressing.
 
At the start of cycle I was at 290lbs at the end I was able to do 325lbsx2

Sounds crazy. how many years you are training?

last cycle I was doing 3 sets and I definalty want to keep it higher then that. I know that I need more volume then I did on my fist cycle

How do you know that?

...I like to have 2 pressing and 2 pulling movements

For some muscles (like chest) i have only pushing movements, and for some others (like back) i have only pulling movements. Does it matters?
 
<div>
(Avi1985 @ Oct. 07 2007,05:43)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Sounds crazy. how many years you are training?

last cycle I was doing 3 sets and I definalty want to keep it higher then that. I know that I need more volume then I did on my fist cycle

How do you know that?</div>
Also I should mention that I have before pressed 305 but it had been over a year and I had not been benching for a while until I started HST. I have been training for 5 years 4 of those I would say are serious. I know that I need more volume becuase I can feel it. At the end of my workoout I could tell there was more left in me, I am not saying that I think you need to be able to bearly walk out of the gym, I just know that I need more volume from experiance. I stayed with the workout I had written using that HST principles that I knew ans stuck with it to see where it woudl talk me. I saw improvements but I also saw that I can add .more volume. However I would like to see others opinions
 
If you feel you can add more volume i dont think someone can argue with you. Even though working on calves while doing squat and deads sounds too much to me.
 
I don't doubt that you can probably do more volume as you say you can. But keep in mind that just because you CAN do more volume doesn't mean that you NEED to do more volume. Once you do enough work to cause growth you are just wasting energy and slowing recuperation if you do more.
 
but yeah that's the thing, it's funny when people say doing not enough volume is better than doing more than enough, not that anyone said that directly here, but anyways i completely disagree with that statement, if u AREN'T doing enough, u aren't stimulating growth. at ALL! just by that statement, if u aren't doing enough, you aren't doing enough. if u don't shoot a basketball towards the ring enough, it WON'T go in (unless like in the movie spacejam i think Yosamite Sam shoots the ball whilst in midair and goes in, but that's the EXCEPTION!
biggrin.gif
).
however if u DO more than enough, you're still gonna stimulate growth, u might generate more fatigue than necessary but it won't hamper results TOO significantly IMO (ie to a certain degree lol, doin 10 sets more than u should is crazy hehe!)
but still that doesn't hold true with the basketball hoop argument..... lol

anyways not sure why i brought that up but it came to mind
biggrin.gif
 
Until I get to the heavy 5's I am not too worried about too much volume, I will try to monitor myself to make sure I am not overtraining. But I woudl like to see how the increase in volume will affect me. Worst case it is too much I SD and back off some for the next cycle.
 
I would like to get others opinions on this next cycle I am about to start in about a week. Anthing I should/shounld't do? Is the shedule I have good? Anthing anyone would do differently? Thanks
smile.gif
 
<div>
(Hooked @ Oct. 09 2007,17:02)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I would like to get others opinions on this next cycle I am about to start in about a week. Anthing I should/shounld't do? Is the shedule I have good? Anthing anyone would do differently? Thanks
smile.gif
</div>
At first glance, I must say you have a pretty solid routine. It is somewhat similar to my current cycle -- check out my &quot;The Road to 10%&quot; thread in the training logs forum for more info.
 
YEAH mate your routine sounds AWESOME imo, the volume is highish but as you've said u feel u need more volume, go for it yeah definitely! ;) if u can handle 6x5, yeah sure go for it but that's alot for heavy weight ay (in terms of frequency as well), but yep go hard dude!
biggrin.gif
 
Part of the reason I also chose to go higher volume was that I was following that &quot;In the Now&quot; and also other comments I read hear and there. It seemed like many agreed that 30 reps per body part was a very good number. So I decieded to try it out. Correct me if I am wrong, but haven't some even done upwards of 40 and 50 reps per body part?? If so they would have way more volume then this, right?
 
Oh I also forgot , I have been wanting to try Max Stim sytle and I figure with this higher volume it will give me the chance when it gets too heavy.
 
yeah true, i'm thinking of upping my volume too ay... i'm not sure who's doing 40 to 50 reps each workout ay, yeeeah go the maxstim hehe.
and YEAH remember to eat enough too ok ;) good luck!
 
in regards to your &quot;B&quot; alternate for shoulders , if you can do them - upright rows are great. They fit well as an alternate , hitting the medials and upper traps nicely. They are a compound but a fairly low CNS draining movement compared to most.
smile.gif
 
<div>
(RUSS @ Oct. 11 2007,05:10)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">in regards to your &quot;B&quot; alternate for shoulders , if you can do them - upright rows are great. They fit well as an alternate , hitting the medials and upper traps nicely. They are a compound but a fairly low CNS draining movement compared to most.
smile.gif
</div>
I agree Russ and I think that is exactly what I will do. I just need to figure out my weights. Thanks alls for your input!
 
<div>
(Hooked @ Oct. 11 2007,09:53)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(RUSS @ Oct. 11 2007,05:10)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">in regards to your &quot;B&quot; alternate for shoulders , if you can do them - upright rows are great. They fit well as an alternate , hitting the medials and upper traps nicely. They are a compound but a fairly low CNS draining movement compared to most.
smile.gif
</div>
I agree Russ and I think that is exactly what I will do. I just need to figure out my weights. Thanks alls for your input!</div>
IMHO when figuring out weight for uprights it's better to err on the side of caution , as at first it'll take a few weeks for form to click and feel second nature anyway(if these are a new movement for you) you can always adjust loads upwards later after the neural learning is complete and the real &quot;muscling up the bar&quot; kicks in. Also in my experience it takes about 6 months or so to see them really kicking in and widening the shoulders - seems like traps show evidence (visibly) first. Although the weights will go up and all short term , I would suggest sticking with these for the better part of a year to assess thier effectiveness fairly , as gains ( visible size that is) seem to come on all the sudden (several months in) , obviously this isn't really whats happening but just how it visibly appears.
smile.gif
 
hmmm RUSS u don't think that upright rows are dangerous? i'm sure many people do them just fine but imo it puts the rotator cuffs in an EXTREMELY vulnerable position ay ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top