3 questions

M

Maximuscrates

New Member
1. When I finish my 2 weeks of my 10's should my weight on my first day of 5's exceed my weight on the final day of my tens?

2. When I am finished the post 5's, do I take a day or two the following week to retest my maxes?

3. What is the reason that it is important not to lift to failure until your second friday of 10's 15's etc?
 
1. It might, but it doesn't have to. Zig-zag is perfectly acceptable, within reason.

2. No, when you go into the post-5s, you should eventually discover what your new 5 RM is. Make a note of it and use that to build your next cycle. You will be too burnt out after the post-5s, in my opinion, to find accurate maxes. They may even end up being lower than your own ones if you do it after two weeks of negatives.

3. Because lifting to failure can stress the nervous system, which will cause strength loss, etc etc. If you wait until the last friday of each phase, that gives you a weekend to rest plus you will probably be doing slightly less work for the first couple days of the next phase, allowing further recovery.
 
1. It doesn't have to. If you are only doing one week of 5's then the answer is more likely yes. If you are doing two weeks of 5's before you max out, you may well start out at a sub max 10 weight.

2. Some people do but I don't. I find that I can estimate them within 1 or 2% based on my previous cycle, assuming one keeps a careful record of the weights and reps attained.

3. That, in my opinion, may be a bit overstated. In fact, I now use a program that gets close to all maxes on every lift but uses an A,B,C routine with a different rep scheme each week until I hit the 5's. I will post it when I get a chance. It is a slight bit off-center of strict HST but I have found it to be the best routine for me after almost 50 years of lifting. The important thing is that if you are doing the same routine each workout day, you do not NEED to lift to failure to achieve results, you are less likely to overtrain and less likely to suffer an injury, especially if your form is a bit off. Progression and staying healthy are the real keys.

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Regarding question two... it depends on how easy the 15 thru 5 RM days felt. You may have big strength increases. Also, if you were trying a new exercise or one in which you haven't done in a long time, strength should shoot up quick at the end of the cycle. If one of these two are happening, then I would retest my maxes the week after negs.

Old and Grey.... wow, are you back? Great to hear from you!!!
 
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