Any help before starting?

S

sprinter91

New Member
Hey everyone I'm new here and I've been looking at this HST training and I've made this program what do you think about it?

It's a 3 day split mondays / wednesdays / fridays and excercises are not in correct order, been thinking of doing this order chest/back/shoulders/legs/tris/bis

1st Bench press 2 sets 15reps
2nd Dips chest version 2 sets 15 reps
3rd SLDL 2 sets 15 reps
4th Squats 2 sets 15 reps
5th leg press 2 sets 15 reps
6th Barbell shoulder military press 2 sets 15 reps
7th DB lateral raises 2 sets 15 reps
8th Bent over row 2 sets 15 reps
9th pull ups wide grip 2 sets 15 reps
10th calves 2 sets 20 reps
11th Skullcrusher or any other triceps excercise 1 set 15 reps
12th Barbell curl 1 set 15 reps

I've wanted to include Interval Sprinting on off days such as tuesdays, thursdays and maybe saturday or sunday with ab excercises after running, it's 30 mins HIT. Is this okay?

My goal is to bulk a little bit and strenghten my bodyparts, specially the upper body since my weakest parts are chest and shoulders and when finished cut all fat off.

The supplements I've got are Dymatize 100% Whey Hidroisolate, creatine/creapure, fish oil + vitamin D3 (Natrol), multivitamin (orange triad) and animal pack for the joints.

Is this workout program + supplements good to begin with or are there any changes in excercises or routine or supplements that I should do?

If I read correctly it's the first 2 weeks 15 sets, the next 2 weeks 10 sets and so on right?

Thanks in advance.
 
If i were you i will do something like this:

Military Press
Squat
SLDL
Barbell Row
Chest Dip
Chin Up

You do military press first since you want to emphatize shoulders. Bicep and triceps aren't really needed if you do solid dips and chins (which you can do instead of pull ups, they are a better compound). You also don't need leg press since you squat, you can keep the lateral raises if you are really anal about the shoulders.

If you want to do interval training do it on the treadmill for 10 minutes after weight training, since it optimize the absorbtion of nutrient in the muscle.

Supplements are ok but it's the diet that make it or break it.

Regarding reps scheme, yeah it's two week of 15, two of 10, two of 5 and two of negative or other things.. But yeah, it's not only this, make sure you undertsand all the principles, and you've read the HST faq e book and maybe the pimp my hst ebook to have an even better view on all the system

Cheers!
 
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1. Yup, 2 weeks of 15s, 2 of 20s, 2 of 5s then 2 weeks of whatever you like at heavy reps (working to increase your 5RM, 3's, negatives + 5RM ... whatever)

2. I would do this; Back, Chest, Legs, Shoulder, Bi's, Tri's. Back tends to need a little less warming up than Chest. Spacing out Chest-Shoulder-Tri's is generally how it's done.

3. If you want to bulk, I wouldn't do any form of cardio. You'll just have to eat more to make up for the energy burned. HIT is fantastic when cutting, but doesn't really have a great place when you're trying to put on mass.

4. No need to bother with Squats AND Leg Press, but you an alternate them if you wish. Lateral raises aren't very useful at all. You're never moving enough weight with them and if you get heavy then you'll start cheating (we all do). Upright Rows with a shoulder width grip will let you move a helluva lot more weight. But military press is going to hit that middle deltoid too if you don't want another compound added in.
 
Thanks for responding.

Ok so if I get this right.

Leg press and squats don't go together so I could do squats and add another leg excercise? Leg extensions, etc because I heard 2 excercises for each muscle is generally good.
Can I do Uprights Rows and Military press or is it better to do another shoulder excercise?

I love running so I don't know, that's why I'm wondering 2 to 3 times a week sprinting will it stopt my bulk growth or will it still let me grow but at a slower pace or something?

I haven't been training for 9 months so my weights are pretty weak, bench press 10kg on each side, 5kg barbell military press on each side and so on.

For the rest the excercises chosen and sets that I set up good to start with for the first cicle?

Thanks again
 
Leg press is basically just a machine mimic of a squat. There's just no reason to double up on them and HST aims to avoid unnecessary volume (it just taxes the nerves, doesn't increase muscle hypertrophy). SLDL is definitely worth keeping as uses the hamstrings; which squats pretty much ignore, beyond a smidgeon of strain via the glutes.

2 exercises for each muscle isn't really necessary. It's psychological rather than factual.

If you want to include the HIT, just make sure you add more calories to compensate. It won't be a case of gaining more slowly, it will just be a case of not really gaining at all.

Upright Rows & Military Press are a good pairing.


With your lack of training to date (just going by the weights you listed), you're probably in for some pretty quick 'beginner gains', so make sure you eat enough to keep up with it.
 
Ah ok so with Squats and SLDL I would have enough to do legs?
I'm prepping everything since I'm gonna "start" wednesday and friday but the official cycle is gonna start monday.
I've been reading, what would be better, chin ups or pull ups? Chin ups aid more the bis and pull ups the delts or am I wrong.
Nearly got the routine done, Alex about the sets I posted first are they correct? 2 sets on each excercise and bis and tris just 1?

I wanna bulk up but not that big because I prefer a lean body but with a bit muscle I shall post a pic on later and well let me know what you think (gonna do some shopping now for a couple of mins)

About the diet; I don't eat that much since I work and finish at 5pm I only have rest at 10am 8 mins, 12pm 30 mins, 3pm 8 mins and finish round 5pm then head to the gym, normally my routine of eating is as follows.

6:30am; All bran cornflakes with milk (semi)
10am; apple or banana
12pm; sandwiches 1 with ham and another one with another thing haha
3pm; I try to eat a baguette multicereal with something in it
5pm training; when finished I normally take the protein shake (haven't started yet) which adds my next question, could you mix protein powder and creatine powder together or do you have to take them separate?
7pm: turkey or chicken or fish with cooked potatoes and salad/tomatoes/cucumber/etc.

I don't know much about the calorie intake and such I just eat what I can but I try to eat moderate and healthy, any help on this would also be appreciated, ALOT! Haha

Tuesdays and wednesdays will be sprinting/cardio days with maybe saturdays included or sundays.

Thanks again in advance, sorry about being a pain haha
 
Well here are the pictures of my body how it is currently, I wanna grow a bit more in my upper body but I think that with doing this routine I would achieve it also want to get rid of that stubborn fat on my waist but that's gonna take a while.. My goal is like I said above to get a lean athletic body, not too big, not too small.

IMG00069-20130114-2132.jpgIMG00070-20130114-2132.jpgIMG00072-20130114-2132.jpg
 
My recommendation would be to alternate between:

Squats/Deadlifts
Military Press/Lateral Raises
Chin Ups/Rows
Incline Bench Press/Dips

2 sets of 15's, 3 sets of 10's and 4 sets of 5's. Complete body workout every other day. You do not need to SD for at least 3 months. Use bands or a machine to assist you with the chin ups or substitute lateral pulldowns. If, for example, you can get 5 reps on set 1 but not on the other 3 sets, get as many as you can. Try to increase a little each time or at least each week.

And Eat!
 
I thought alternating or doing some kind of split was bad specially if like me haven't been training for 9 months, and HST was normally a full body workout 3x a week.

I eat as much as I can haha, I try to at least get to 5/6 meals but with work and such it's hard to get the proper nutrition sometimes.
 
Sprint, there is no split involved. 4 exercises to be done times 3 per week, say Monday, Wednesday and Friday. 8 total sets for the 15's, 12 total sets for the 10's and 16 total sets for the 5's. 45 to 60 minutes, no more.You can do all the exercises on the left side of the slash or all the exercises on the right side of the slash for the next 3 months or do the left side M, right side W, left side F, right side M, etc.

Forget the snacks. Eat meals. You have some of the best food choices in the world in Belgium. Eat BIG.
 
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Ok so if I get this right it would be like this

Workout A

Squats 2 sets 15 reps
Incline Bench press
2 sets 15 reps
Bent Over Row
2 sets 15 reps
Military Barbell Press
2 sets 15 reps
Barbell Shrugs
2 sets 15 reps
Tricep pushdown / skullcrusher
2 sets 15 reps
Barbell Curls
2 sets 15 reps
Calves
2 sets 15 reps

Workout B

Stiff Legged Deadlift
2 sets 15 reps
Chest Dips
2 sets 15 reps
Chin Ups
2 sets 15 reps
Upright Row
2 sets 15 reps
DB Shrugs
2 sets 15 reps
Triceps pushdowns / skullcrushers
2 sets 15 reps
DB Curls
2 sets 15 reps
Calves
2 sets 15 reps

Am I correct? Will that be more beneficial than doing all excercises in 1 day?
 
Re: body composition - frankly, unless you're prepared to starve a lot, you don't have much in the way of body fat to lose. I think you should definitely bulk, there's easily 7-10kgs of mass waiting to jump on that frame with minimal fat gain. And from an aesthetics perspective, losing more body fat at your conditioning will just contribute to looking "skinny fat", where as having a low bf% when you actually have muscle produces the ripped look that it sounds like you're after.
 
I agree, you need to bulk.

Don't do cardio and eat as much as possible for the next 6 months minimum. You may need to start counting calories. Get around 200 grams of protein a day minimum.
 
sprinter91 said:
Workout B

Stiff Legged Deadlift
2 sets 15 reps
Chest Dips
2 sets 15 reps
Chin Ups
2 sets 15 reps
Upright Row
2 sets 15 reps
DB Shrugs
2 sets 15 reps
Triceps pushdowns / skullcrushers
2 sets 15 reps
DB Curls
2 sets 15 reps
Calves
2 sets 15 reps

Am I correct? Will that be more beneficial than doing all excercises in 1 day?
Click to expand...

Hey Sprinter,

Personally, I'd do regular deads rather than SLDL's because you can move more load. You want to maximise growth potential so learn to deadlift well and they will reward you in kind. I think SLDL's are great when paired with front squats.

Doing two separate sets of DB shrugs may not be necessary if you do a shrug at the top of each deadlift (or do a set of shrugs after your last deadlift rep before you put the bar down). If your grip isn't that good you can always use straps and work on your grip separately. Learning to use a hook-grip is a very useful technique.

As you are already doing dips, do a triceps stretch movement rather than pushdowns. This will give the long head some extra ROM: either overhead tri-extension or lying tri-extension (similar to skull crusher except you allow the bar to pass back over your head to get a good tri stretch prior to powering the bar back up). Use an EZ-curl bar for either of these.

All the best!
 
Sprint, you're getting close man! You really do not need the last 4 exercises in each of your alternating workouts but I guess your are convinced that you must work on those isolation movements so I would just say go for it. However, if you do the first 4 exercises with good form and a nice controlled and slow eccentric (down) movement, then you should be too tired to complete the next 4 exercises. Take a minimum of 3 seconds to lower the weight. It ain't easy, especially when doing 15 reps!

Yes, alternating between exercises like you have it set up will help stimulate muscle growth through recruiting different muscle fibers.

One last thing, I would suggest trading the stiff legged deadlifts for regular deadlifts. Using a deadlift or shrug bar or even relatively heavy dumbells at this stage will help protect your lower spine area since you will not have to extend yourself forward as with a barbell. In any case, be aware of the potential until you get more lifting under your belt. (And, by the way, forget about using a belt...make your back work a little.) Don't worry about the ham strings as they will get enough stimulation at your stage from the squats and regular deads. Smaller muscles must keep up with bigger muscles! The compound movements work the oppossing muscle as well as the "targeted" muscle.

And EAT!
 
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A final thought Sprint. As Alex said, you appear to have that "skinny fat" or "skinny soft' appearance. Many times that is due to low testosteron (I deliberately mispelled it or it gives you a link to some web site.). I suggest having it blood tested. At your age you should be running no less than 600 ng/dl and 1200 would be better. If you are below 300, you can lift until the cows come home and you will not be build much muscle. It is the most overlooked key in training.

If it is low, get on a hormone (testosteron) replacement therapy. I am not suggesting abusing illegally obtained steroids, just get back to the high end of where you should be. I use the gel (Androgel) which is prescribed by my doctor and it keeps me between 800 and 1200 ng/dl. Plenty to build musclewith, even when you are older than dirt. Half the women in the world seem to be on hormone (estrogen) replacement therapy. It is about time the men started thinking more with their penises when it comes to working out. :cool:

And, in case I have not mentioned it before, EAT.
 
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Well 9 month without training might cause that look on my body right? I haven't been watching alot on what I eat or so when I stopped and it's due to my injury too..
I'll try doing the first cycle and notice improvements, I'll do some cardio tuesdays and thursdays with abs just to check how my body responds maybe I don't have got low testosteron maybe it's due to the lack of training or so? If that's not the case I'll go and let my blood be checked. I don't really understand the 600ng/dl thingy so I really don't understand what you said there Old.

I did my first day today but starting monday oficially with the cycle, these 2 days are to gget my body used.
My routine today was.

Squats - 15kg on each side
2 sets 15 reps, was a bit hard since it's been a while but I completed them without any major problems.

Incline bench - I did 10kg, first set went well but failing at last 2 and seconds set only reached 10, rested 10 seconds and then did the last 5.. so I think I need to improve there

Push ups - 2 sets 15 reps BW

Bent over row - 10 kg each side, 2 sets 15 reps. I tried 15 kgs but I couldn't reach the 15 sets and with 10kg the last sets were hard, just to add a question, where should you feel most stress in this excercise? I felt it mostly on my shoulder side (maybe back)

Upright row - Bent over row and uprights rows, never done them before so it's my first time, I did this one with Barbell weight only, I felt it on my shoulders but I had some trouble while lifting ¡, my left wrist had some problems.

Barbell shrugs - Barbell weight used, all went well with this one.

Overhead tri-extension - 8kg I did them normally but didn't feel alot of pressure on my tri's, more on my forearms and at the last reps on my tris

Barbell curls - 5kg, tried 7,5kg but didn't work so well was bouncing back and forward so just went to 5kg to do them correctly.

Leg press calves (the gym lacks calves equipment so I can only do Barbell calve raises and leg press calves, but don't know if they are similar..) 60kg 15 sets, no problems with them.

I notice my upper body way weaker than my lower, I'm not gonna start running tomorrow that will maybe be tuesday or when my termic equipment arrives for running that I ordered.

What do you guys think ? Should I do the first 2 weeks just like this or should I start the cycle monday?

Thanks, and Old I'm trying to eat as much as I can haha :D
 
Just used the caliper but don't know if I did it well.

My abdomen is between 42 - 44
Chest 9 - 11

Don't really know the % bf :s but oh well haha.
 
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