A lot of new people seem to have come onto this site recently and quite a few have lamented about their lack of results. They are hoping that HST will provide the magic bullet to suddenly transform them into the Incredible Hulk. It won't. If you have not been gaining muscle on other programs, chances are you won't gain a whole lot more with HST unless you have never deconditioned your muscles before. Chances are you have other problems. That's the bad news.
The good news is that building muscle is not rocket science either. For what it is worth, here is a quick summary of what I have concluded after almost a half century of lifting. I just wish I had known most of this a long time ago.
To get the type of body you want, four basic elements need to be present in the following order of importance, in my opinion:
*Enough Testosterone production to build muscle,
*A good diet
*Enough rest
*A good exercise program
There is absolutely no reason not to meet criteria #1 in today's environment. Take a simple blood test and if you come out low, see an endochronologist. Don't equate this to 'taking steroids'. If you are low in T production, you will be given enough medication to bring you up to normal levels. Under the worst case scenario, the amount of medication given will be about 1/10th of what a minor league steroid user takes. However, if you don't have enough T production yourself and correct that situation, I can give a 200% money back guarantee that you will never see satisfactory gains.
Diet is just common sense. Eat enough protein and good fats to help build muscle. Trans fats do not build muscle and can lower your T levels even more. So can alcohol. I never gained muscle when I drank a lot. I merely staved off the beer belly. Carbs are the only debateable food group. If you are more than 10 pounds under the weight you want to be, go for them. If not, I think one is better off limiting them to under 200 grams per day. If you want to count calories and content, and you should (within reason, of course), try the counter at FitDay.Com. It's pretty good.
Rest includes more than sleep. It means being as reasonably stress free as one can expect. Stress produces cortisol which raises havoc with building muscles. Cortisol is much better at building fat. Find ways to lower stress in your life. We all have our own unique stresses in life but very few of us know how to limit their detrimental effect. Learn to live with managing stress or stay small.
Any exercise program that doesn't lead to injury is beneficial. HST makes the most sense to me since Bryan took the time to condense hundreds of studies down to a few basic principles. Follow these principles if you want to maximize growth. Don't get hung up on finding the perfect workout routine. It doesn't exist as our bodies are constantly changing. Stick with basic compound movements and throw in some isolations for arm, calfs and traps if it makes you feel better. Spend the time you do now contemplating the benefits of incline bench over flat bench on planning your meals for the day. And keep in mind that, unless you have extremely high T levels, i.e., above 1500 ng/dl, less sets is usually better than more sets. 60 sets per week is my absolute maximum per week and actually half that volume produces the same results for me. Once you get that 'pumped up' feeling in your muscles, doing more will only create the need for a longer 'rest' period when what you really need is more frequency. "DOMS is for Dummies." Sorry Vince! Despite what some people will say, you don't have to "pay your dues" by working out 2-3 hours per day, 5 to 6 days per week.
Lacking any one of the four will cause you to fail or, at best, have frustratingly slow gains.
To summarize:
*Check T production
*Eat well
*Manage stress
*Exercise sanely
Enough preaching for this Sunday. I got horses waiting to try and buck these old bones into the dust.
The good news is that building muscle is not rocket science either. For what it is worth, here is a quick summary of what I have concluded after almost a half century of lifting. I just wish I had known most of this a long time ago.
To get the type of body you want, four basic elements need to be present in the following order of importance, in my opinion:
*Enough Testosterone production to build muscle,
*A good diet
*Enough rest
*A good exercise program
There is absolutely no reason not to meet criteria #1 in today's environment. Take a simple blood test and if you come out low, see an endochronologist. Don't equate this to 'taking steroids'. If you are low in T production, you will be given enough medication to bring you up to normal levels. Under the worst case scenario, the amount of medication given will be about 1/10th of what a minor league steroid user takes. However, if you don't have enough T production yourself and correct that situation, I can give a 200% money back guarantee that you will never see satisfactory gains.
Diet is just common sense. Eat enough protein and good fats to help build muscle. Trans fats do not build muscle and can lower your T levels even more. So can alcohol. I never gained muscle when I drank a lot. I merely staved off the beer belly. Carbs are the only debateable food group. If you are more than 10 pounds under the weight you want to be, go for them. If not, I think one is better off limiting them to under 200 grams per day. If you want to count calories and content, and you should (within reason, of course), try the counter at FitDay.Com. It's pretty good.
Rest includes more than sleep. It means being as reasonably stress free as one can expect. Stress produces cortisol which raises havoc with building muscles. Cortisol is much better at building fat. Find ways to lower stress in your life. We all have our own unique stresses in life but very few of us know how to limit their detrimental effect. Learn to live with managing stress or stay small.
Any exercise program that doesn't lead to injury is beneficial. HST makes the most sense to me since Bryan took the time to condense hundreds of studies down to a few basic principles. Follow these principles if you want to maximize growth. Don't get hung up on finding the perfect workout routine. It doesn't exist as our bodies are constantly changing. Stick with basic compound movements and throw in some isolations for arm, calfs and traps if it makes you feel better. Spend the time you do now contemplating the benefits of incline bench over flat bench on planning your meals for the day. And keep in mind that, unless you have extremely high T levels, i.e., above 1500 ng/dl, less sets is usually better than more sets. 60 sets per week is my absolute maximum per week and actually half that volume produces the same results for me. Once you get that 'pumped up' feeling in your muscles, doing more will only create the need for a longer 'rest' period when what you really need is more frequency. "DOMS is for Dummies." Sorry Vince! Despite what some people will say, you don't have to "pay your dues" by working out 2-3 hours per day, 5 to 6 days per week.
Lacking any one of the four will cause you to fail or, at best, have frustratingly slow gains.
To summarize:
*Check T production
*Eat well
*Manage stress
*Exercise sanely
Enough preaching for this Sunday. I got horses waiting to try and buck these old bones into the dust.
