3 short questions on 2nd HST cycle

J

jbweimar

New Member
Just finished my first HST cycle and am currently doing Strategic Deconditioning. I have three 3 questions about my next cycle:

1) Is it bad to do 2 sets of squats and 1 set of deadlifts three times a week? Some people say to only deadlift once a week, but if the total sets per week is the same, isn't it better to spread it out?

2) For the next cycle I'm thinking about alternating a workout A and workout B, where for example workout A would include flat bench and flyes and workout B would instead include dips and incline bench. Is HST still productive this way even though the frequency is cut in half (which seems to violate one of the HST principles)?

3) How is it possible to increase all weights after a cycle of HST? It has been over 8 weeks since you last lifted the 15s. How can you expect to maintain the strength gains over such a long period?

My new routine would look something like this (any suggestions welcome):

Workout A

Deadlift 1 set
Squat 2 sets
Pull-ups (1 set close grip, 1 set wide grip)
Flat Bench 2 sets
DB Row 2 sets
BB Military Press 2 sets
Cable Bi/Tri superset 2 sets
Flyes 2 sets
Reverse Flyes 2 sets
Abs 3 sets

Workout B

Lunges 2 sets
Leg Press 2 sets
Pull-ups (1 set close grip, 1 set wide grip)
Incl. Bench 2 sets
DB Rows 2 sets
Dips 2 sets
Hammer Curl 2 sets
Upright rows 2 sets
Shrugs 2 sets
Skull crushers 2 sets
Lateral Raises 2 sets
Abs 3 sets
 
I find that after a bit, when the weights start to get heavy, it is hard to continue with both squats and deads in the same workout. The low back takes a lot of hammering with squats and deads together, and you run the risk of form breaking down.

I've been doing squats and deads together for my 15s and 10s. Next week, as I start my 5s week, I intend to split up my workouts to an A and B routine, with squats and deads in the separate routines. Thus one week I do squats twice and deads once; the next week I do deads twice and squats once. It's still a lot, but it beats the heck out of squats and deads on the same day.
 
jbweimar said:
3) How is it possible to increase all weights after a cycle of HST? It has been over 8 weeks since you last lifted the 15s. How can you expect to maintain the strength gains over such a long period?
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You trained most of those 8 weeks, didn't you? Even though you've moved on to ten reps, then five reps, you're still getting stronger. It's only during SD that you start to lose some ground, but I don't think ten days is going to result in huge strength or size losses, but some is expected, even desirable. That is sort of the point of deconditioning. Your body responds to the lighter weights again after the short layoff. But, the beginning weights of a cycle should be higher than the beginning weights of the previous cycle. This should happen naturally if you set a goal of ~10% increase in weight on the last workout for each cycle, and work backwards using the same increments (~5%) to set the weights for the first workout.
 
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Why would you lose strength during the 10s and 5s? You do realize that strength gains aren't specific to a rep range? If you are able to lift more for 5 reps, you are going to be able to lift more for 15 reps as well. Strength is based on cross sectional area of the muscle fibers and neural coordination. If your muscle is growing, you will become stronger.

What is your rationale for doing deads and squats in one workout, then leg press and lunges in the other? Doing squats or deads together in one workout can be very fatiguing and actually dangerous if you are going heavy enough. Both exercises tax the lower back and so if you do, for instance, squats after deads, you could increase your chances of failing. It would be a lot easier to do deads and leg press in one then squats and lunges in the other. This would ensure that your lower back is fresh for each exercise and prevent it from getting too sore the next day. However, I would recommend considering romanian deadlift, stiff legged deadlift or even leg curls instead of lunges to pair up with squats. If your squat and dead aren't very heavy yet then you might be able to get away with it. I used to do both in the same workout a long time ago without an issue.
 
Ah, I see what you're saying about having strength carrying over to different rep ranges. It makes sense.

I actually did my whole first cycle with deadlift and squat on the same day three times per week. But yes, my lifts aren't very heavy yet: deadlift 5s 350lbs and squat 5s 245lbs. I can see how it could be bad for your lower back once it gets heavy. Good point about the exercise selection.I will do dead/leg press on workout A and lunge/squat on workout B.

Do you have experience with using an alternating exercise selection like this with HST training? As I stated in my post, I'm worried that I might be zigzagging too much since for example my incline bench will be lower than my flat bench. What are your thoughts on this?

Totentanz said:
Why would you lose strength during the 10s and 5s? You do realize that strength gains aren't specific to a rep range? If you are able to lift more for 5 reps, you are going to be able to lift more for 15 reps as well. Strength is based on cross sectional area of the muscle fibers and neural coordination. If your muscle is growing, you will become stronger.

What is your rationale for doing deads and squats in one workout, then leg press and lunges in the other? Doing squats or deads together in one workout can be very fatiguing and actually dangerous if you are going heavy enough. Both exercises tax the lower back and so if you do, for instance, squats after deads, you could increase your chances of failing. It would be a lot easier to do deads and leg press in one then squats and lunges in the other. This would ensure that your lower back is fresh for each exercise and prevent it from getting too sore the next day. However, I would recommend considering romanian deadlift, stiff legged deadlift or even leg curls instead of lunges to pair up with squats. If your squat and dead aren't very heavy yet then you might be able to get away with it. I used to do both in the same workout a long time ago without an issue.
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It won'tl be a concern. Flat Bench and Incline both target the pecs differently, and also will target delts and triceps differently as well so it isn't really applicable.
 
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