Frequency, # of sets and periodization

T

tonholas

New Member
I have a lot of questions, since I was a swimmer and just now am entering this world of body building.

1 - As far as frequency, I really would like to train 6 times a week because I enjoy training. How bad would it be if I split the practice in upper and lower body and do it i two days?

2 - Since I am spliting the practice, is it ok if I increase the number of sets to 3-5 per muscle group?

3 - Since I am a begginer, I am very far from my plateau. So, I am thinking how necessary it would be for me to do strategic deconditioning very often.

4- The fourth and last question is about periodization. I am wondering what would be the best advice for someone like me who will be training HST for a year. Would it be better to train one 8 weeks cycle after another... or would it be better for me to make the cycles longer... like 12 weeks or so?
 
1 - As far as frequency, I really would like to train 6 times a week because I enjoy training. How bad would it be if I split the practice in upper and lower body and do it i two days?

It would be good :)

2 - Since I am spliting the practice, is it ok if I increase the number of sets to 3-5 per muscle group?

Id cluster to 15 reps per exercise, you can add more volume later if you like

3 - Since I am a begginer, I am very far from my plateau. So, I am thinking how necessary it would be for me to do strategic deconditioning very often.

I SD every 10 weeks, you could do that, or when you feel any injuries coming on

4- The fourth and last question is about periodization. I am wondering what would be the best advice for someone like me who will be training HST for a year. Would it be better to train one 8 weeks cycle after another... or would it be better for me to make the cycles longer... like 12 weeks or so?

Thats not periodization, longer cycles work better in my experience

Happy lifting
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">2 - Since I am spliting the practice, is it ok if I increase the number of sets to 3-5 per muscle group?

Id cluster to 15 reps per exercise, you can add more volume later if you like </div>
Maybe a little clearer is to say, your total poundage per workout per exersize remains nearly the same when you do 15 reps (I personally do two sets, but I'm advanced), then two sets of 10 reps with more weight, then 3 sets of 5 reps with even more weight.
Your daily load is similar, only you're hitting different types of muscle fibres as you go through the cycle. Chances are, as a beginner, by overdoing sets, you'll possibly start losing form, hitting failure (that's not good, unless you're at the end of a rep range) or injure yourself. On the other hand, if you're an avid swimmer used to regular 'workouts', you have less chance of injury, better Vo2 uptake, and well developed mitochondria for the 15's. But for your first cycle, it's probably best to stick to the vanilla program. It will be interesting to see your gains, coming into this allready in good shape, but not weight trained.
Don't forget to eat and sleep or you're wasting your time.
 
Thanks a lot,

I still have more questions about periodization and I will go into further detail to make sure I am thinking right.

I was thinking for next year to divide my training into 4 mesocycles of 12 weeks. Maybe with some SD in between them. I am guessing my first cycle will be more of adaptation with more volume and less intensity...

But then... how do HST apply to a macrocycle of a whole year? I couldn't figure that out.

I have more questions about nutrition, but I guess I will post them in a differet topic.

Thanks a lot once again!
 
I wouldn't plan out a year specifically. When you hit the 5's, well, most of us don't SD until we feel the need (joint pain or fatigue) or if the gains stop. A guy in your condition might go a long while in a cycle IMO.
 
My advice would be to try a cycle for 6-8 weeks and see how your body responds. You will have a much better idea of how volume, frequency, etc. impacts you and you can perhaps better design your longer term plans. I think we all wind up tweaking things a little as we go along. I've been training for almost 35 years now and I sure can't plan out exactly what I'm going to do for the next year.
 
15 reps will be a great start since you are a beginner.

6 workouts a week equals a lot of food to eat to grow? maybe you are cutting?
 
So, let me see if I got it right...

I should go by the book untill I reach 5 repetitions per exercise.

Then, I should keep practicing with 5 repetitions untill I feel that I've reached a plateau, however long it takes.

Right?
 
Basically, yes, because most of us get the most growth out of the fives, according to our poll. Some grow well in the tens, and there was a suspicion that growth in the fives was latent growth from the tens in part.
You won't know where you get the best results right away. Do a regular cycle or two, and keep track of your weight and fat. You might mark on your logs your weekly weight and stats to look at later.
I myself was doing better with slightly higher reps, so I devised a cycle (around my fifth, I think) of 15, 12, 9, 6 reps. For a while, that was good, then did a vanilla cycle to change things up a bit, and my next cycle will be a different program (5x5), similar to HST. Sometimes we have to experiment a bit, but not for a week or so. For a whole cycle at least, or you won't know what you have. You also notice that I didn't stray far from the original program. You can't fix what allready works!
 
Just keep in mind all the repetition ranges are important.

What rep range may give you the most growth is not necissarly the rep range you should concentrate on more.

they all go together nicely.

Good luck
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as your a newbie you will get gains anyway so do as little as you need to get them,if you do to much now then as you get more conditioned you will need to do even more to get little results.
i would say if you want to train 6x a wk do fullbody weights m,w,f,
cardio t,th,s,...good luck
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Wait a second, I thought it was 3 workouts a week with progressive load. 3 workouts of 15RM for 2 weeks and go down. Isn't that right?
 
Cova there are many ways to do hst.

3 days a week is about perfect.

if you have time upper/lower for 6 days a week.

Or you can do am/pm workout 3 days a week.

However keep in mind this type of training burns tons of calories!
 
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