For the past year I have been doing HST with a couple of slight variations and have been very pleased with the results. After almost 50 years of lifting, I don’t expect big gains but was pleasantly surprised. Legs, arms, lats and traps responded better than they have for years. This program may not be for everyone but you might want to give it a shot if you think you are stalling out.
First though. It is important to recognize that you will go nowhere with any program if you don’t evaluate certain variables:
Testosterone Levels. If you don’t have any fuel in your car, you cannot start it, period. To gain lean muscle mass, you need to be producing testosterone. If your levels are below 300 or so ng/dl, your lifting results will be unsatisfactory no matter how perfect everything else is. Have your levels checked. Try to get them up to at least the 500-600 range. Testosterone levels can be influenced by many factors. However, to maximize your levels, don’t smoke, lay off alcohol in excess, eat a clean diet, take herbal supplements if necessary don't overdue cardio or, if you are on the downside of midlife like me, consider Androgel. See an Endochronologist to get evaluated.
Diet. Eat clean. Diet is really important if you want to add lean mass. If you just want to bulk up, it is not as important. I typically prioritize my food intake by protein, good fats, complex carbs, simple carbs, bad fats.
Stress. Limit it in your life to the extent you can or it will limit your results.
Sleep. Get enough of it.
The HST/HIT/SS Program:
This program steals ideas from all of the above routines but primarily HST. I don’t really use HIT in it but, rather, some of the more sane principles as put forth by Ellington Darden. The Super Slow portion only applies to certain exercises on my last set as you shall see if you can make it to the end of this post.
The program is an A, B, C split. That is, doing routine A on Monday, B on Wednesday and C on Friday or whatever schedule fits into my week. Sometimes I further split a day into an AM/PM split or into a two day split. Sometimes I may work out for two days straight and then not lift again until 4 days later. I found little difference in results. Just try and be consistent from week-to-week, not day-to-day.
The programs are as follows:
A:
Incline Bench Press
Seated Military Press
Close Grip Bench Press
Behind Back Shrugs
Weighted Chin Ups
Barbell Curl
Leg Press
B:
Weighted Dips
One Arm Tricep Extensions
Lateral Raises
Dumbell Shrugs
Weighted Pull Ups
Incline DB Curls
Leg Extentions
C:
Flat Bench Flyes
Clean and Jerk
Shrug Bar Shrugs
Overhead Tricep Rope Extensions
Seated Rows
Hammer Curls
Deadlifts
Core Workout:
I also do a core workout twice a week consisting of hyperextensions, ab and neck exercises. It doesn’t matter which days they are performed.
Reps and Sets:
I do a six week cycle as follows:
Week 1: 15 Reps for 1 Set
Week 2: 10 Reps for 1 Set followed immediately by 1 Drop Set of 5 reps
Weeks 3-6: 5 Repsfor 1 Set followed immediately by 2 Drop Sets of 5 Reps each
For legs I start the first week with 25 reps, then 20 reps in the second week, 15 reps in the third week and 10 reps in weeks 4-6 as my legs respond better to higher reps. I adjust the drop sets to make sure that I always get at least a total of 25 reps in.
Comment:
So far I have outlined a pretty basic HST–type workout. Here is where I deviate a bit.
Effort:
Instead of using progressive load within a rep range, I go to within one rep of failure. However, I define failure as not being able to do another rep without compromising my form or tempo. It is not a “max effort” as used in HIT programs. I feel I can get away with it because I am not actually “failing” and do not repeat a specific exercise within a rep range so my muscles are being hit with slight variations in emphasis each workout. Many will disagree with this but I find it works pretty good for me.
Tempo and SS Reps:
I adjust my tempo as I go along to insure that all my sets are within one set of “failure.” I do this by feel. Generally, I start out with a 311 tempo and adjust to a slower, or faster, tempo as I approach my final reps to get the most effort out of each set within my personal failure guidelines. This goes for drop sets as well as the intitial set.
I make an exception to my last set of drop sets for certain exercises such as chin ups, pull ups and dips. On my second or last drop set I usually just as slow as I can and still complete the rep in good form. I do this only with exercises where my first drop set is using bodyweight only. For instance, with pull ups, I will do a set of 5’s with the appropriate weight attached to a belt. I then immediately drop the belt and do 5 more reps with just my bodyweight at a tempo that allows me to hit my failure criteria. Then I rest for no more than 10 seconds and do 1 bodyweight pull up as slowconcentrically and eccentrically as I can and maintain good form. That set is a real killer.
Final Comments:
I have been doing this program for close to a year now and am still making good results. I don’t burn out because I stay away from absolute failure. I don’t do negatives as they can sometimes cause injury, especially if you workout without a partner. After completing the sixth week, I take two weeks SD. I find the longer SD really helps me to recover fully and decondition my muscles to allow continued growth.
This is obviously not a program for a beginner lifter as it is too strenuous. Stick with regular HST if you are fairly new to lifting. However, if you are reasonably advanced, say 5 years of consistent lifting behind you, give it a try if you feel stale or just want to try something different. I have found that all programs have some benefit but that combining the best of each to meet your individual circumstances sometimes is best.
I know some will argue that doing just 7 exercises per workout during the 15's is too little. However, if you understand why you are doing the 15's, then you will probably realize that it is sufficient.
Others will wonder why I just do one week for the 15's and 10's but 4 weeks for the 5's. Primarily because that is works best for me right now. The 15's are for my joints. I don't get a lot of growth with 10's (this seems to often be the case with older more experienced lifters) but the 5's give me good hypertrophy in conjunction with the drop sets. I don't run into any RBE problems with 4 weeks of 5's since I am doing only not repeating movements within a given week and the time it takes RBE to kick in typically elongates as the number of reps decrease.
Anyway, I will now see if the board will accept this rather long post!
First though. It is important to recognize that you will go nowhere with any program if you don’t evaluate certain variables:
Testosterone Levels. If you don’t have any fuel in your car, you cannot start it, period. To gain lean muscle mass, you need to be producing testosterone. If your levels are below 300 or so ng/dl, your lifting results will be unsatisfactory no matter how perfect everything else is. Have your levels checked. Try to get them up to at least the 500-600 range. Testosterone levels can be influenced by many factors. However, to maximize your levels, don’t smoke, lay off alcohol in excess, eat a clean diet, take herbal supplements if necessary don't overdue cardio or, if you are on the downside of midlife like me, consider Androgel. See an Endochronologist to get evaluated.
Diet. Eat clean. Diet is really important if you want to add lean mass. If you just want to bulk up, it is not as important. I typically prioritize my food intake by protein, good fats, complex carbs, simple carbs, bad fats.
Stress. Limit it in your life to the extent you can or it will limit your results.
Sleep. Get enough of it.
The HST/HIT/SS Program:
This program steals ideas from all of the above routines but primarily HST. I don’t really use HIT in it but, rather, some of the more sane principles as put forth by Ellington Darden. The Super Slow portion only applies to certain exercises on my last set as you shall see if you can make it to the end of this post.
The program is an A, B, C split. That is, doing routine A on Monday, B on Wednesday and C on Friday or whatever schedule fits into my week. Sometimes I further split a day into an AM/PM split or into a two day split. Sometimes I may work out for two days straight and then not lift again until 4 days later. I found little difference in results. Just try and be consistent from week-to-week, not day-to-day.
The programs are as follows:
A:
Incline Bench Press
Seated Military Press
Close Grip Bench Press
Behind Back Shrugs
Weighted Chin Ups
Barbell Curl
Leg Press
B:
Weighted Dips
One Arm Tricep Extensions
Lateral Raises
Dumbell Shrugs
Weighted Pull Ups
Incline DB Curls
Leg Extentions
C:
Flat Bench Flyes
Clean and Jerk
Shrug Bar Shrugs
Overhead Tricep Rope Extensions
Seated Rows
Hammer Curls
Deadlifts
Core Workout:
I also do a core workout twice a week consisting of hyperextensions, ab and neck exercises. It doesn’t matter which days they are performed.
Reps and Sets:
I do a six week cycle as follows:
Week 1: 15 Reps for 1 Set
Week 2: 10 Reps for 1 Set followed immediately by 1 Drop Set of 5 reps
Weeks 3-6: 5 Repsfor 1 Set followed immediately by 2 Drop Sets of 5 Reps each
For legs I start the first week with 25 reps, then 20 reps in the second week, 15 reps in the third week and 10 reps in weeks 4-6 as my legs respond better to higher reps. I adjust the drop sets to make sure that I always get at least a total of 25 reps in.
Comment:
So far I have outlined a pretty basic HST–type workout. Here is where I deviate a bit.
Effort:
Instead of using progressive load within a rep range, I go to within one rep of failure. However, I define failure as not being able to do another rep without compromising my form or tempo. It is not a “max effort” as used in HIT programs. I feel I can get away with it because I am not actually “failing” and do not repeat a specific exercise within a rep range so my muscles are being hit with slight variations in emphasis each workout. Many will disagree with this but I find it works pretty good for me.
Tempo and SS Reps:
I adjust my tempo as I go along to insure that all my sets are within one set of “failure.” I do this by feel. Generally, I start out with a 311 tempo and adjust to a slower, or faster, tempo as I approach my final reps to get the most effort out of each set within my personal failure guidelines. This goes for drop sets as well as the intitial set.
I make an exception to my last set of drop sets for certain exercises such as chin ups, pull ups and dips. On my second or last drop set I usually just as slow as I can and still complete the rep in good form. I do this only with exercises where my first drop set is using bodyweight only. For instance, with pull ups, I will do a set of 5’s with the appropriate weight attached to a belt. I then immediately drop the belt and do 5 more reps with just my bodyweight at a tempo that allows me to hit my failure criteria. Then I rest for no more than 10 seconds and do 1 bodyweight pull up as slowconcentrically and eccentrically as I can and maintain good form. That set is a real killer.
Final Comments:
I have been doing this program for close to a year now and am still making good results. I don’t burn out because I stay away from absolute failure. I don’t do negatives as they can sometimes cause injury, especially if you workout without a partner. After completing the sixth week, I take two weeks SD. I find the longer SD really helps me to recover fully and decondition my muscles to allow continued growth.
This is obviously not a program for a beginner lifter as it is too strenuous. Stick with regular HST if you are fairly new to lifting. However, if you are reasonably advanced, say 5 years of consistent lifting behind you, give it a try if you feel stale or just want to try something different. I have found that all programs have some benefit but that combining the best of each to meet your individual circumstances sometimes is best.
I know some will argue that doing just 7 exercises per workout during the 15's is too little. However, if you understand why you are doing the 15's, then you will probably realize that it is sufficient.
Others will wonder why I just do one week for the 15's and 10's but 4 weeks for the 5's. Primarily because that is works best for me right now. The 15's are for my joints. I don't get a lot of growth with 10's (this seems to often be the case with older more experienced lifters) but the 5's give me good hypertrophy in conjunction with the drop sets. I don't run into any RBE problems with 4 weeks of 5's since I am doing only not repeating movements within a given week and the time it takes RBE to kick in typically elongates as the number of reps decrease.
Anyway, I will now see if the board will accept this rather long post!
