My sucessfull HST variation

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panzer

New Member
Just finished my fourth HST cycle. The weight progression has been incredible. For example, on the first cycle, I failed at curling 32.5 lbs @ 10 reps but now I can curl 40 lbs @10 reps. Same good results for all the other exercises as well. In fact, I felt I could have lifted MORE weights at the end of each mini-cycles so I allready know that the next HST cycle will be a good one!
Here's my HST variation:
Drop the 15 reps which I think are totally useless but also drop the additional 2 weeks of negs/5 reps which from my experience with them has only resulted in overtraining symptoms.
So , you only do 2 weeks of 10 reps followed by 2 weeks of 5 reps and then you only need to take one week of SD (9 days actually).
The enormous advantage of my HST variation is that the cycles are much shorter so you can add progress that much faster and there is also no more pain from the darned 15 reps :D or fatigue from the negs and thus no need for an extended SD.
Try it!
 
Congratulations on your progress, but I'm curious as to what kind of size gains you have made on this? Personally, after doing negatives once, I will never do an HST cycle that does not include negatives. They are potent as heck, no reason to skip them in my opinion.
 
no size gains yet to be bruttaly honest
sad.gif
 
How much are you eating? You could still put on mass over time with that program, if you eat enough. The strength gains are good though. I feel that having a good base of strength is a great help when pursuing hypertrophy specific training. It allows you to use higher RMs, larger increments, etc.
You know, not eating enough could be why you hated the negatives so much, especially if you are doing metabolic work during that time as well. I know that I was eating like a horse when I did negatives simply because I was pretty much starving 24/7. They made me sore as hell too compared to the 10s and 5s.

I agree with your sentiment regarding the 15s. I don't think they are useless, but I don't like doing them and usually don't. But I'm still relatively young and my joints don't bother me too much yet, so I think I can get by only doing 15s once in a while, or only doing them as metabolic work during the 5s and negatives...
 
Take some more fish oil tablets if you don't like 15s, joints are A-OK :)

It seems you're gaining strength ok, but you're not gaining weight. Is that your goal?
 
Hey :)

Well, we can't say it is a completely successful hypertrophy-specific training variation if the results don't show good hypertrophy, can we?

No worries though. It's probably your diet.

If you don't like negatives, that's ok, especially if you don't have a partner. Even when I dropped the negatives, I consistently gained almost 1.5" - 2" on my chest and 3/8" on my arms every cycle. And most of the growth came from the higher rep phases, but not the 15's, I also don't do them unless my joints tell me otherwise (and even then, I only do 1 week of them, I simply call it one week of primer). Of course, I eat a heck of a lot, but always keep myself below 10% bodyfat. I used to be 6% bf, now I'm about 8% or 9%.

But like Jester asked, if strength is your goal, not hypertrophy, then you're ok, just keep up what you are doing.

But if you want hypertrophy, perhaps your diet needs a revamp. Tell us more about your whole body building routine including diet, and we'll see what we can come up with.

Regards and good luck! :)
-JV
 
yes strength is my ultimate goal.
As far as size gains, the only body part i measure are my arms which have increased maybe 1/8 of an inch but this is somewhat good since i've been dead stuck at 16 1/2 for 2 long years...
As far as eating enough, well I gained about 8 lbs in 4 cycles and I definetly look fuller except for the biceps
sad.gif

Obviously a problem area...
 
Hey Panzer :)

If your arms are the only parts not growing, that may not be such a problem as long as they don't look small. 16 and 1/2 inches is great, assuming you aren't very very tall.

Try using Bryan's calculator:
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/maximum-size-calculator.html

This calculates your estimated maximum size if you are all-natural (no AAS). Genetic limit, beyond this you'd probably need AAS.

If you already have great arms (depends on your height and the length of your arms), then perhaps you don't need to grow the arms so much.

As for getting 8 pounds in four cycles, that's a little low. That's just 2 pounds a cycle, so if your cycle was 4 weeks plus SD, you are gaining only two pounds a month. Probably why you don't see much mass gain.

Of course, that's not a problem anymore, really, since you just pointed out your goal is strength. Like I said before, if strength is all you're after, then continue with what you are doing since it is giving you great results. If you want to keep on growing though, you may have to eat a little more.

Regards,
-JV
 
Hmm, I am surprised I haven't used that calculator yet. I am 190 and a bit over 13% BF right now. It said my maximum stats at 8% are 204. Not bad, but I thought I would see a number like 220.

-Colby
 
If your primary goal is strength, there are some tweaks you could make to your routine to better suit a strength goal. For instance, I would probably get rid of the 15s, but start doing some 15s during your 5s. I would drop the 10s too, and just work in the 5s range, using 5% increments and fewer movements, mostly compounds with maybe one or two isolations. You could also try out an HST/5x5 sort of hybrid and see how that works for you.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jvroig @ Sep. 08 2005,12:19)]Hey Panzer :)
If your arms are the only parts not growing, that may not be such a problem as long as they don't look small. 16 and 1/2 inches is great, assuming you aren't very very tall.
Try using Bryan's calculator:
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/maximum-size-calculator.html
This calculates your estimated maximum size if you are all-natural (no AAS). Genetic limit, beyond this you'd probably need AAS.
If you already have great arms (depends on your height and the length of your arms), then perhaps you don't need to grow the arms so much.
As for getting 8 pounds in four cycles, that's a little low. That's just 2 pounds a cycle, so if your cycle was 4 weeks plus SD, you are gaining only two pounds a month. Probably why you don't see much mass gain.
Of course, that's not a problem anymore, really, since you just pointed out your goal is strength. Like I said before, if strength is all you're after, then continue with what you are doing since it is giving you great results. If you want to keep on growing though, you may have to eat a little more.
Regards,
-JV
Click to expand...
wow thanks! I was not aware about that neat calculator.
Yes i am very tall , 6 feet and 3 inches and according to the calculator, I could get 18.2 inches arms (nice) and a lean bodyweight of 228 lbs. Problem is my weight is 225 and NOT lean.
My chest is 45 inches now but it should be 52. Hmmm, i think i will stick to strength, i don't want to look too freakish . 17 inches arms
cold and I would be happy.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Totentanz @ Sep. 08 2005,4:50)]If your primary goal is strength, there are some tweaks you could make to your routine to better suit a strength goal. For instance, I would probably get rid of the 15s, but start doing some 15s during your 5s. I would drop the 10s too, and just work in the 5s range, using 5% increments and fewer movements, mostly compounds with maybe one or two isolations. You could also try out an HST/5x5 sort of hybrid and see how that works for you.
Click to expand...
problem is , I like the 10s!
For example, next cycle, my starting weight on the bp will be the same weight as my FINISHING weight was on my very FIRST HST cycle, so I will stick with that as long as it works.
 
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