A/B split

J

jonsmith

New Member
I'm planning my first HST cycle and i plan to do an A/B split, but i want to know if this is too much "tweaking" for my very first cycle. my split looks like this:
A: squats, dips, chins, military press
B: squats (possibly deadlifts), incline bench, rows, military press

does this split look good?
as a bodybuilder i want to get and keep everything proportional, so i'm wondering if this will get and keep my hamstrings, calves, and arms proportional.
Also, i've just come off a layoff from training (appendix surgery, and sickness before that) and before the layoff i was making good gains using the usual each muscle group 1x/week.  so i just want to know if there is any reason why i should not use HST and possibly stick to my regular training.
last question, will i really make better gains on HST? and will the gains come consistently year after year?
Thanks for the help.
 
Definitely do deads. You will like the results. I would do chins on the day you do deads rather than rows as your lower back will probably find it pretty hard during 5s.

Increased frequency with HST is a real advantage over a 1x a week per muscle regime if you are aiming for hypertrophy. Just watch your volume (taken care of if you do HST as suggested) and you will be fine.

Don't worry about proportions as they can always be addressed the following cycle should you find that one area is growing faster than another.

Don't forget that your gains are very much down to you getting your eating right so make sure you have a good plan in place to make the most of your hard work in the gym.

Gains will come if you keep pushing the weight up cycle after cycle.
 
Absolutely agree with Lol, include deads and then perform the chins on same day!

HST will give you the gains you need...if you eat correctly!

Try it and see!
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alrite thanks a lot guys
i'll do deads and then switch dips and chins to my B workout and incline bench and rows to my A workout.
i guess i really won't know how well it works until i actually try. i'm trying to get my maxes now and am excited to start. i really think bryan knows his stuff.

i just have one main concern. if i do the above excercises, can someone please explain to me how my calves will get a significant growth stimulus because they are always flat on the floor for every exercise.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Just watch your volume (taken care of if you do HST as suggested) and you will be fine.</div>

by this do you mean the 1x15, 2x10, 3x5 set-up or the 2x15, 2x first week of 10s and 5s, and 1x second week of 10s and 5s set-up

thanks a lot.
 
I can't explain the science behind it, what I know from experience is olympic squats (full ROM) and deadlifts are the main exercises I do for legs and I have fairly large calves.
 
I side with Liege, the only downside to that is that my calves are not that hard, but they look fine!
 
Hello everyone first time trying HST and i'am really excited. But just a couple of questions i have been working out now for about 5 months , 3 days a week using circuit training from mens health the abs diet. i was 210 lbs now 175 and starting to tone up slowly. I am on a strick diet 3 meals and 3 protein/carb shake's a day and i work nightshift. I am just in the process now of figuring out my 5, 10 , and 5 rm and would like to know if these excersise are too much for starting this intense program?

Squats
Calves
Shrugs
Bench Press
Ez Bar curl
Barbell Bent over row
Upright row
tricep extension
Lat pulldown narrow grip
Ab cable crunch
Swiss ball ab crunch

Some insight on this would be greatly appreciated thanks alot you guys.
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737mech

Welcome to HST
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Here's a tip

Squats/Deads + Shrugs (do these at the top of deadlifts)
Bench Press/Dips
Chins ups/Barbell Bent over row
Military Presses
D/B inclined curls/tricep extensions (skull crushers)
Ab cable crunch/Swiss ball ab crunch

Do the above alternated workout A/B

15 x 1/10 x 2/5's and negatives x 3 (3 x week)

Should help you start off with a bang! EAT BIG.
 
Hey 737. welcome to HST! Most beginners benefit from a program of compound lifts such as:

Squats or deadlifts
Incline bench press or dips
Chins ups or lat pull down
Miltary press and shrugs

You can add to that ONE set for triceps like a close grip bench press and ONE DB or BB curling exercise and perhaps a calf raise. However, the concentration should be on the compound exercises. Use very strict form and avoid repetitive failure to stay injury free. An injured bodybuilder is as good as a three-legged horse on the trail.

Congrats on the weight loss. ..good job! Just make sure you are getting enough protein and good fats with whatever your food plan is. Limit the carbs to complex carbs to the extent you can. Stay way clear from sugar carbs and transfats.

EDIT: I see Fausto beat me to the draw. It is sound advice.
 
i'm just wondering about setting the weights for A/B splits. sorry, I know it was already talked about, but i couldn't find it on the forum.
do your A workouts get the weights for workouts 1,3,5 and B gets 2,4,6 in each minicycle? (i used the HST calculator)
or do i use the last three workouts weights and then spread them through the week?
thanks a lot.
 
Do (A,1) (B,2) (A,3) (B,4) (A,5) (B,6)

If you are frustrated that for some of your exercises (A w/o in this case) you are not hitting the RM loads then swap them around next cycle.

In my case I use my RM loads for some of the exercises I perform during my Wednesday w/o prior to my Friday RM w/o. I do this in the case of deads which I only do on Wednesdays. I don't do it for all exercises though as I want to make sure i have recovered in time for Fridays RM w/o.

As long as there is load progression over the cycle and from cycle to cycle there is nothing much to worry about, just variables to play with.
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">i just have one main concern. if i do the above excercises, can someone please explain to me how my calves will get a significant growth stimulus because they are always flat on the floor for every exercise.</div>I agree that initially they may not be receiving a great deal of growth stimulus but that will change as your loads increase. Once you are up near 2 x bodyweight the stimulus will be there and you will know about it!  
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Re volume:
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">by this do you mean the 1x15, 2x10, 3x5 set-up or the 2x15, 2x first week of 10s and 5s, and 1x second week of 10s and 5s set-up</div> I would shoot for at least 15 reps during each phase of the cycle. If you can do 2 sets of 10 then that's fine. During 5s try to get 15 reps but if you find that you are spent after the second set (particularly during the second week of 5s) then call it a day. You will have done a significant amount of work warming up ready for your heaviest sets anyway. If you can still get three or want to get to 15 reps by clustering that's OK too. Just play it by ear (brain!) and watch your level of fatigue.
 
While I do believe that squats and deads are sufficient for calves, if you're concerned because your feet stay flat on the floor during those exercises, then also do snatch &amp; clean pulls and power cleans.
 
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