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As I have mentioned before, I 'm with Fausto on this ab thing. My goal is not so much huge abs, but a flat and defined stomach. When it comes to abs, I just stick with 15-20 reps throughout my cycle. Nutrition is literally everything (with added cardio as needed).

My vote too for this being the most helpful BB forum on the net. Real answers from real people who really workout and really see gains. Thank you guys!

I would probably continue with 2 sets per exercise, since this is how you started. If a weight feels light for a given exercise, you can just use larger increments. Do not worry too much if you can't get 5 reps for your second set, that's ok. You could use clusters to compensate if you wish...

Joint problems could be the result of very frequent training and/or too much volume. My joints started to hurt last cycle when I tried 5-6x a week full-body with the same volume per workout as in my normal 3x a week program. After returning to 3x a week again, the pain was gone. During the...

HST is based upon the principle (among others) that the minimum effective load depends on your level of conditioning. After a long layoff, even a light weight (allowing 15-20 reps) can be effective, but this will last for a few weeks at best. After that, RBE sets in and you must increase the...

Blizz, just stick blindly to your plan for a while and do not let anything distract you. After a few months of a healthy lifestyle you will find out that there is really no turning back. Also remember what Captain Crunch said. Should you feel weak at heart, shout out loud and a lot of people...

Or you could cut for a while during the summer and then try again to bulk up as clean as possible. It is all a matter of how you see yourself and what your goals are. I like to stay relatively lean all of the time, so there are no great differences in bodyfat percentage levels during...

As I see it, the most important issue with high frequency is your ability to get in enough calories. I've found out that it is much easier for me to bulk on a 3x a week schedule.

Basically what daxie said, I couldn't agree more. Sometimes you see people that are HUGE but they have no definition, they may even look fat. Being relatively lean all year round has always been my goal, it gives you that "thick" look, if you know what I mean. It is really annoying if...

I would probably opt for 2. 6x a week lifting plus 3x cardio seems too much to me. Besides, you will be having a hard time getting in enough calories to bulk if you choose option 1. High frequency works well for cutting, at least for me (you burn a lot of calories even without doing cardio). I...

I must say that I agree with O & G and gripstrength, go on with cardio if you want to. I would SD a bit longer if I did cardio, though, but again this is your choice. Besides, I believe that low intensity running has to do mainly with your legs and less with other major muscle groups...

From my experience (pre-HST), I believe that just one week of rest (7 days) does absolutely nothing. When I resumed training, I felt no different than in my previous workouts (strength-wise and DOMS-wise). What is more, if an extended period of post-5's is taken into account (3-4 weeks), it...

I am SDing right now, and I was wondering how long experienced HSTers SD for in general. I know this greatly depends on what one has been doing (extended period of post-5's or not etc.), but for this post let us just assume the regular 8 week cycle (2 weeks of post-5's) and a relatively...

Hi djmb and welcome. First of all, I would like to mention that a HST cycle consists of several 2 week blocks, i.e 2 weeks for 15's, 2 weeks for 10's, 2 weeks for 5's, 2 or more weeks for post 5's (negatives or you continue with your 5 RM max, these weeks being optional). Thus, each cycle last...

I'm not so sure about the relation of loaded stretches to the RBE, but I wouldn't bother doing them during the 15's either. The purpose of the 15's is to flush the muscles with lactic acid. Vicious has mentioned in his customization thread that this stage should represent the most primitive form...

Thank you all for your comments, I found a lot of ideas there. Maybe I'll cut down the number of exercises to a few core movements for the next cycle. Another viable scenario would be to use 3x full body workouts per week up to (and including) the first week of 5's, then switch to 6x per week...

As I see it, the second set is a means to get more TUL, especially during the low reps phase. I agree with skinnyman about the clustering, the important thing is to get enough TUL, not to test your strength limits. The muscle itself does not count reps or sets.

Thanks Fausto. The routine was ok until I got to the heavy stuff. More warmup sets, extra metabolic work, more volume for some exercises and the duration went up. The thing is that I wanted to maintain or even increase the original volume (generally 2 sets per exercise), so I decided not to...

In the beginning of my HST cycle (15's), my workouts lasted no more than 45 minutes/1 hour (warmup included). I am in the post-5's now and the workouts last approximately 75-90 minutes! I started with 2 sets per exercise and I pretty much follow the same pattern (2-3 sets per exercise plus some...

I agree with Fausto. Many pro bodybuilders seem to have a belly when relaxed. This isn't due to excessive bodyfat levels, it's just that their abs are HUGE. You don't want abs that stick out more than your chest. I do 15-20 reps for each abs exercise throughout my entire cycle (i.e. I do not...