My HST cycle

J

James1050

New Member
Ok six week cycle (6 is correct isn't it, 15's, 10's and 5's?) with mostly compounds, I'm pretty much doing this by the book, as you saw in my thread before, I'm going on my holiday in two weeks, I'm going to find my maxes this week then take a 4 (big) break from training as I've been going at it for about 3 months now without a break and all the dieting and training (mostly dieting trainings the fun part:)) I'm pretty burnt out. So here it is, I need advice on here. Exercises:

Legs: Squats 1 set
Stiff Legged Deadlifts: 2 sets

Chest: Incline Bench 2 sets
I can't do dips so what do you guys reccomend here for one set (maybe flat dumbell press, what would be the most effective?)

Traps: Shrugs 1 set

Shoulders: Shoulder Press
Lateral Raises
Rear Delt Row
All 1 set.

Bis: Dumbell Curls 2 sets

Tris: Dumbell Tricep Extensions 2 sets

Calves: Standing Calf Raises 2 sets

Abs: Machine (not sure of the name) 2 sets

Any advice and pointers? Supps will be as reccommended from FAQ, HMB, whey, creatine (cellmass), and ZMA (I don't sleep very well). As well as Muliti + Fishoil:). Getting a great diet in check right now which should be great for bulking:). Anything I'm missing, where should my priorities be? Thanks guys you're always helpful! Sorry for the long read:(
 
anyone?
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James

Seems like most of us took a back seat this week end, plus there is some non-sense going on with the site!

Let's see, hmmmmm....
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Legs: Squats 1 set
Stiff Legged Deadlifts: 2 sets

Chest: Incline Bench 2 sets

My opinion? Decline B/B or D/b Bench, alternate with above.

Assisted Chinups 1 set /Reverse grip pulldown 1 set - alternate with Seated Row 2 sets

Traps: Shrugs 1 set (do you relly need this?)

Shoulders: Shoulder Press / Lateral Raises / Rear Delt Row
All 1 set.

Bis: Dumbell Curls 2 sets
Tris: Dumbell Tricep Extensions 2 sets
Calves: Standing Calf Raises 2 sets
Abs: Machine (not sure of the name) 2 sets
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Looks fine to me, as usual I'd recommend you save the iso's for the 5's, but that is a suggestion
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Like for like, alternate similar exercises and minimize you daily work, correcting this with extra sets for the remaining daily work, mak sense?

Sorry for the wait, we usually much faster than this, hope it will help!
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No I'm not following sorry. Oh and I've got my 15's, I'm getting my 10's tomorow and my 5's on monday. I plan on keeping all my exercises with freeweights as I'm focussing right now on size then I will get my desirable physique then tone. Can you help me out with this problem, my 15 rep max for shoulder press is two 20 pounds dbs how can I cycle that down 6 notches, I'll be using 5 pound dbs, this happens in a few other exercises also, what do you suggest i do:(.
 
James

Alternate the exercises, eg: squat (Monday) Deadlift (Wednesday) then Squat (Friday), make sense now?

Create two workouts A and B, then use them alternated each workout!
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I'm focussing right now on size </div>

Best mix to get above right:
SQUAT &amp; DEADLIFTS alternated to cover Legs (quads/hams)
CHINUPS &amp; ROWS alternated to cover Back (upper/lower back)
DIPS &amp; BENCH (incline) alternated to cover chest (upper/lower)
MILITARY PRESS/SEATED PRESS - overall shoulder development.
ABS - Any variety for ab development (Swiss ball for core)

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">20 pounds dbs how can I cycle that down 6 notches?
I'll be using 5 pound dbs</div>

10/10/15/15/20/20 or 5/10/15/15/20/20, whichever you decide, I think choice 1 as 5 is rather little, slow down your tempo, that will make it feel a little harder and more effective.

Ok, here's another tip:

15 - 70% of 1 RM
10 - 80% of 1 RM
5 - 90% of 1 RM
neg - 100 - 120% of 1 RM your choice!

Cheers
 
Thanks for the advice, I didn't even know about alternating sets, so I should do 3 sets of squats one day, then three sets of squats b day? This is so complicated haha and how do you do negatives (I know how to do them but can you explain the cycle of them in HST how much, how long etc). Thanks for your help:).
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">so I should do 3 sets of squats one day, then three sets of squats b day?</div>

I am sure you mean deadlifts on day B.
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Negatives - well you should have a partner to do these, you do only the eccentric part (the downward path on pushing exercises or the letting go part of pulling exercises).

After the 5's, the negatives take you further into 3, 2 or even 1 rep maximum territory, but you as i already said only do 1/2 of the exercise.

James - sounds to me like you need to print the FAQ e-book and give it a good read so that you grasp all the concepts, sorry no pun intended!
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Here's and example:

A
SQUATS
BENCH (incline)
CHINUPS (reverse and close grip)
MILITARY PRESS
ABS - Any variety for ab development

B
DEADLIFTS
DIPS
ROWS (cable, d/b or bentover b/b)
SEATED PRESS
Abs (Swiss ball for core)

Sets:

15 - 1 set each rest only 45 seconds maximum.
10 - 2 sets each rest 60 seconds maximum.
5 - 3 sets each rest 60 - 90 maximum.
negatives - 3 sets each rest 120 seconds maximum.

Warmup for the big exercises, don't forget shoulders!
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Just to clear up something I read in FAQ, the first few workouts will be very light, so its ok if I slow down alot to tire myself out more, such as doing ass to grass squats (thighes touching calves) and then maybe one or two behind my max just go parralel. Thanks alot for your help, I think I'm sticking with the vanilla doing it right by the books and I'll see how I go, if I need to chnage anything just tell me!
 
James,

You can slow down but I now prefer to do more reps. I go for around 25 for the first workout to get a nice burn going but always stop short of failure even though it's light.

Try to ensure that your first weights for 15s are not less then 50% of your 5RMs. It's not a golden rule or anything but I have read stuff that suggested a weight of 50%+ of 5RM was a good place to start. There's no point going too light or you don't feel as if you have done a workout.
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It's not a problem to repeat a few workouts or to adjust increments to account for this. So if your 5RM was 100lbs and your 15RM was 70lbs, you might have 15s set up as:

45,50,55,60,65,70

Instead, you could do:

50,50,55,60,65,70

or even

55,55,60,60,65,70
 
Thanks, but I did read in the FAQs that anything above 2-3 second negatives just detracted to the whole process, I got all my maxes with perfect form, , 2-3 second negatives, what should I do? Oh and it said the bigger increments the better for hypertrophy, more for strength. So my 15 rep max for bench is 60 pounds (I know), so which should I do?
20,25,30,40,50,60 or have that little five pound increment towards the end like:
20,30,40,50,55,60
Which would work better?
 
James

How many reps you actually do and your tempo (speed) should be determiniant on your actual muscle breakdown between fast twitch and slow stwitch fibers. Since most of us can't afford to have this scientifically determined, we tend to experiment and find the tempo that works best in our individual circumstances. I find that I do best with 4 second eccentrics (down) or more. However, it took me years to come to that conclusion. For now, why not mix it up and do a 2 second eccentric and 1 second concentric tempo one week and a 3,1 or even 4, 1 the following week or, better yet so that you don't screw up your loads, alternate tempos when you change to a new cycle?

O &amp; G
 
I got all my maxes going explosive up, 2-3 eccentric. What do you suggest I try? Sorry to everyone reading this thread haha I just realise how flustered my post is, I was in a bit of a hurry
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. What about my benching (and other exercises that I don't even have big enough lifts to go down 10 pounds six times
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) increments?
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">So my 15 rep max for bench is 60 pounds (I know), so which should I do?
20,25,30,40,50,60 or have that little five pound increment towards the end like:
20,30,40,50,55,60</div>

I wouldn't do either of those. Far too light mate. If your max for 15s is 60lbs and you are planning on starting 15s with 20lbs you won't get a burn unless you do around 100 reps! (perhaps a slight exaggeration there
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). My guess is that your 5RM is around 90/100lbs? If so then you should start 15s at around 45lbs.

I would do 45,45,50,50,55,60 so for the second week you are incrementing the weight each session.

James, whilst progressive loading over the whole cycle is important, don't get hung up on having to increase loads every workout. It's not worth starting with tiny light weights during 15s just so you can increment the weight over the next several workouts. This is especially true when your maximums are relatively light. If you do what I mentioned in my previous post you will have a great set of workouts during 15s.

Re negs: I find that I start out with negs at around 4 seconds for the first few reps then I take about 3 secs for the remainder of the set, finishing up when I am taking 2 secs or less but still under control.
 
Hey James, No need to feel that way. Probably a bit of info overload. Don't forget that we are all different in some respects. O&amp;G has been training a long time and has found out what works best for him. I'm gaining experience with each cycle. This is your first cycle right? You can, will, and should revise things subsequently as you gain experience. Vanilla HST is just that - good enough for nearly everybody. Just do as you planned and enjoy your training.
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Oh, and one last thing: Be sure to get your eating right.
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Recent 'eat enough' thread
 
Don't worry about it too much. Your first HST cycle is a learning experience. You'll make some mistakes, but big deal. You've got your whole life to perfect this, and even then, by your third cycle you will probably know what works for you.
 
Sorry if I confused you James. To simplify things a bit, when I was doing the regular vanilla HST program, I would typically start each 2 week rep scheme at about 60% of my rep max for that number of reps. Then I would add about 5% the next day, etc. The routine Fausto outlined is an excellent one. Go for it and worry about the details later.

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60% is a good figure to start with. That would put you right about where Lol told you to start. Repeating weights for a couple workouts is perfectly fine, especially if it makes incrementing easier.
 
Here is what my supposed diet when I get back from my holiday (leaving in two days:D so I'll be very strategically conditioned will be gone for three weeks):

Meal 1: Scoop of whey, two whole eggs, multi, 1 HMB capsule
bowl of oats and two pieces of wholemeal toast with butter.

Meal 2: Chicken with wholegrain pasta with grated reduced fat cheese.

Meal 3: 3 wholemeal bread rolls with chicken and lettuce.

Meal 4: Pre 30 grams of whey + water + 1 HMB capsule
Post: 2 scoops of whey, raisins, banana, dark grape juice.
+ 1 HMB capsule.
On off days 1 tin of tuna + brown rice.

Meal 5: Dinner.

ZMA + Vitamin C

Meal 6: 1 serving casein in milk, 4 fish oil capsules.

I think I might follow you guys advice, starting with higher height but sorry if I was a bit edgy it's just that I read in the FAQs (which I should of guessed before, is geared towards people with bigger lifts:(. My 5rm is yet to be determined, I'll be doing it tomorrow so wish me luck! Just a clarification I'm going for mass entirely, not to fussed about strength because it is coming alone with focussing on mass just fine:). So smaller increments will be best suited for hupertrophy? I will post up my whole routine with increments when I organise it, if you have any ideas and suggestions about my diet please post up! Thank you guys so much, greatly appreciated (sorry for the long read:().
 
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