About Bryan Haycock

Comparing Traditional Weight Training and HST

This is a very good question and one that deserves to be answered, without simply zealously defending the premise that is being questioned. This makes for a very bad circular argument that can be VERY frustrating for people with skeptical, though honest, questions.

First, let’s start with what isn’t different about HST compared with previous training programs. The length of this list is what has raised this question in the first place, and justifiably so. Let’s begin with the “concepts” and then follow with the “methods”. [Read more...]

I frequently hear comments both for and against tweaking or personalizing HST on an individual basis. This is to be expected among people who are real enthusiasts of weight training. You also find this irresistible urge to tweak among other enthusiasts such as audiophiles. An audiophile will go out and spend obscene amounts of money on the highest end exotic equipment they can find. But this isn’t good enough! They must find some way to “tweak” it, some way to make it their own delectable creation. Anything from placing the turntable on a 3 inch marble slab, putting sand bags on and/or in the speakers, or using speaker wire that cost as much as the car you used to drive to the store. Whenever you find people who are really into what they are doing, they will try to find ways not only to squeeze out the last bit of performance, but also make it their own creation. [Read more...]

Anyone who has lifted weights, on and off, for several years is familiar with the concept of “muscle memory”. Muscle memory in this context refers to the observation that when a person begins lifting weights after a prolonged lay off, it is much easier to return to their previous levels of size and strength than it was to get there the first time around. Even when significant atrophy (muscle shrinking) has taken place during the layoff, previously hypertrophied muscle returns to its previous size more quickly than usual.

A recent study looking at fiber type conversions during muscle hypertrophy may have uncovered a possible mechanism for this phenomenon. [Read more...]

Many of you have voiced you desire to learn more about the effects of exercise in the “older” population. I will leave it up to you to decide exactly when a person becomes “older”, however, one recent study clearly demonstrated the effects of high-intensity exercise on individuals ranging in age from 60 to 75.

In a recent study performed at Ohio University, 18 untrained men ages 60-75 years volunteered for the study. Nine were randomly placed in the resistance-training group (RT), and the other half served as untrained (UT) or control subjects. RT subjects performed a 16-week high-intensity (85-90% 1RM) resistance training program performed 2 times per week. Each workout consisted of 3 sets to failure (6-8 repetitions based on 1 RM of 3 exercises) using leg press (LP), half squat (HS), and leg extension (LE) with 1-2 minutes rest between sets. [Read more...]