Beginner: Is 15 rep. block optional in 1st cycle, if trained normal split before?

H

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Hi,

i will do HST for the first time.
I already figured out the RM's, and now i'm in SD.

Question:
I do manual work, and trained upper body already with split training, so my wrists and tendons should be fit. As i trained before some muscles with split training, do i have to do the first 15 rep. Block?
Or can i start with the 10 rep. Block?
Somewhere i read, that the 15 rep. Block is optional in the 2nd cycle, and only recommended if you have problems with tendons and wrists. So is it also optional in the first cycle if quite fit?

Thanks.
 
I believe I read that the 15-rep portion was indeed "optional" during your 2nd cycle if you were not experiencing any tendon pain.

Considering what you have said, I believe you are clear to begin cycle 2 in the 10's.
 
nativetroutbum said:
I believe I read that the 15-rep portion was indeed "optional" during your 2nd cycle if you were not experiencing any tendon pain.

Considering what you have said, I believe you are clear to begin cycle 2 in the 10's.
Click to expand...

Thanks. But i asked for starting this way in the first cycle.
 
My bad, I misunderstood your post.

From what I read the "optional" 15's were only for the 2nd cycle.

I started HST pretty fit and was surprised by how great and challenging the 15's workouts were with proper form, tempo, weight, etc.

It's only 2 weeks and you'll probably get more out of it than you think.

I would recommend starting with 15's.
 
The reality is that anything about HST except for the principles is optional. You like others will likely find that you get the most out of HST by tailoring it to your specific needs. Based on what you’ve described (your already trained, do active work and have no connective tissue issues) then you are likely not going to get that much from the 15s and would be a good candidate to skip them from the start.
 
grunt11 said:
The reality is that anything about HST except for the principles is optional. You like others will likely find that you get the most out of HST by tailoring it to your specific needs. Based on what you’ve described (your already trained, do active work and have no connective tissue issues) then you are likely not going to get that much from the 15s and would be a good candidate to skip them from the start.
Click to expand...

OK, thanks for the info.
So skipping this two weeks block in the beginning or skipping the 4th block before SD, or both, brings me to the questions:
1. how many blocks have to be done at least in one cycle to get the HST method working with good results?
2. how many blocks can be done maximum in a cycle to get the HST method working with good results?
 
There’s no simple answer to the minimum or maximum number of blocks as it depends very much on the individual. HST works as long as you are able to keep increasing the load so the more blocks you can get in between each SD while still increasing the more time you spend working out and growing as opposed to doing SD.

Keep in mind you don’t actually have to increase the load every workout. It’s all about how long you can continue to stimulate growth which over time is inhibited by Repeated Bout Effect (RBE). The more your muscles experience the same weight the more they become adapted to it and need an increase to stimulate them to further growth. Also the heavier the weight the faster RBE kicks in.

With that in mind many people who skip the 15s chose to double up on the 10s by repeating the same weight twice before increasing. You could even do the same in the 5s as two workouts with the same weight isn’t likely to cause to much RBE until you start getting close to your 1RM and even then a non-advanced lifter could still probably progress 2-3 times with the same weight even near their 1RM.

So again no simple answer but rather a balance between how long you can keep progressing and how often you SD considering that each week of SD is a week you’re not lifting. If you plan on skipping the 15s I would suggest doing the following using each weight during the 10s twice:
Week 1 10s
Week 2 10s
Week 3 10s
Week 4 10s
Week 5 5s
Week 6 5s
Week 7 5s
Week 8 3s
Week 9 SD (or test your RMs this week and SD the 10th)

8 weeks seems to be a good compromise between number of weeks spent working out and SDing, the
only way to find out if something else works better for you is to try it out.
 
grunt11 said:
There’s no simple answer to the minimum or maximum number of blocks as it depends very much on the individual. HST works as long as you are able to keep increasing the load so the more blocks you can get in between each SD while still increasing the more time you spend working out and growing as opposed to doing SD.

Keep in mind you don’t actually have to increase the load every workout. It’s all about how long you can continue to stimulate growth which over time is inhibited by Repeated Bout Effect (RBE). The more your muscles experience the same weight the more they become adapted to it and need an increase to stimulate them to further growth. Also the heavier the weight the faster RBE kicks in.

With that in mind many people who skip the 15s chose to double up on the 10s by repeating the same weight twice before increasing. You could even do the same in the 5s as two workouts with the same weight isn’t likely to cause to much RBE until you start getting close to your 1RM and even then a non-advanced lifter could still probably progress 2-3 times with the same weight even near their 1RM.

So again no simple answer but rather a balance between how long you can keep progressing and how often you SD considering that each week of SD is a week you’re not lifting. If you plan on skipping the 15s I would suggest doing the following using each weight during the 10s twice:
Week 1 10s
Week 2 10s
Week 3 10s
Week 4 10s
Week 5 5s
Week 6 5s
Week 7 5s
Week 8 3s
Week 9 SD (or test your RMs this week and SD the 10th)

8 weeks seems to be a good compromise between number of weeks spent working out and SDing, the
only way to find out if something else works better for you is to try it out.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your detailed answer :D
Tomorrow i will start my first HST cycle.

How much sets should i do per exercise? 1 x 15, 2 x 10 and 3 x 5?
Or just two sets for every exercise?

Or if i will skip the 15s and start with 10s: 2 x 10 and 3 x 5, or 2 x 10 and 2 x 5?

Regards.
 
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