Can't I Just Skip It?

H

HectaM

New Member
Alright,

I'm thinking that I've seen this discussed somewhere else on the board, but I can't seem to find it after searching.

I got myself involved in a little competition for the month of November.

Basically, the person with the most overall body improvement in this month wins.

What do they win? Nothing... but pride
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I thought I'd give HST a good showing, but this contest just happened to fall in the exact wrong spot timing wise.

I was hoping someone might have a solution...

Let me explain:

I'm just about to max out on my 5's at the end of this week, that would make me due for an SD.

So I should be on my SD from the 10th through the 19th.

After that I should start up on the 15's.

That should last me from the 19th through the 30th.

And that would be the end of the competition.

SO I'm really looking at just the end of the 5's an SD and then 15's to build any muscle mass.

I guess my real question is:

Can I/Should I skip the 15's?

Basically, will the 15's help at all with hypertrophy? And if not, what's the best way around this situation?

Or does anyone just have an alternate solution to this predicament of placing a competition right in the middle of a new cycle for me.

Thanks for the insight and help!
 
My suggestion will work but it carries a bit of risk.

The 5s are a heavy load and the body can grow just fine for weeks on end with such loads...so in this situation I would suggest to continue the 5s for several weeks, postponing the SD period until after the contest is over.
This will give you maximal growth results, the only risk being more likely to develop strains/minor injuries from a prolonged period of heavy, frequent lifting.

On the last day of the 5s in your HST program, jot down all the weights you are using and continue to use those loads each workout. If you are feeling strong and able you can even increase the loads slightly each week to insure sufficient overloading of the tissue.
 
Assuming your contest is for aesthetics and not strength, you could also keep the same weight and increase reps when possible or, alternatively, keep the same weight and accentuate the negatives with a slower tempo. In any scenario though, for a short period of time such as a month, the most change will come from diet and not just tweaking a routine.
 
Contest details please? Are you trying to lower bodyfat%, increase LBM, increase weight, decrease weight? Nevertheless, SD doesn't help for cutting purposes, and you can deload for the contest purposes as Sci prescribed.
 
Good points from everyone.

Assuming you want to get bigger and not leaner, eat like a horse and keep the 5s going. If you start to feel burnt out, drop back the loads slightly at the start of each week and then build them up again through the week. Utilising fatigue management techniques eg. doing sets of 3 with your 5RM to get all your reps in can really help. Max Stim is fantastic for this as well, especially for exercises like dips and chins. If you can continue to push your loads up without dropping your volume off you should get some good results.

By 'eat like a horse' I mean get a good 500 cals over maintenance each day and make sure you are getting at least a gram of protein per lb of body weight.
 
a.) what are they judging 'improvement' by? bulk, cuts, general change?
b.) what is your height/weight/bf?
c.) consistent years in gym up to now?
d.) how many cycles of HST have you done?

With this info we could assess better. All these factors could be regarded for a more concise answer, and Grandpa's statement rings the most true: diet will make the most change in a short time.
Sci's suggestion could bear well by adding in a deload in the middle rather than SD. That way you surpass your former maxes and spare the body from CNS burnout a bit longer. Or do it weekly as Lol suggested, but the real question here is, what is your body showing to respond best to? It's a bit different for each of us at different times.
 
everyones info is
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personaly i would stick with your 5s maxes as sci said but IMO drop cals so you retain the muscle but lose the fat that way you look bigger than you are,just like bbrs do.
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One of the things nobody has said yet, and I just realised, is that if the compo ends at the end of Nov you have very little time to do anything (3 weeks). If you cut you could perhaps lose 5lbs of body weight but you might lose a bit of muscle dropping that quickly. Or you could gain two or three pounds if you can get enough calories to support your training. Either way you have to know what you are being judged on and then which option is best.
 
We still need to know the specs of the contest. What it truly comes down to is the diet. However, the best routine may indeed be HST with very high frequency.
 
Wow guys! Thanks for the support, that’s a ton of replies!
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*NOTE: The contest deadline has been extended to December 16th 2007. (Gives an extra 2 weeks.)

The contest is the largest bulk with the least amount of bodyfat. Basically, the most effective "aesthetic" bulk.

I've been in the gym consistently for about 5 years.

This will be the end of my 3rd HST cycle I believe.

I'm 5'7 163 pounds, bodyfat around 12% (estimation)

Pics below from last Monday for reference.

ProgressPic11-05-Front.jpg


ProgressPic11-05-Back.jpg


I feel like I'm really topping out on my lifts, so I'm kind of liking the whole deloading idea once I completely hit a wall.

Again, thanks for the help, it's very much appreciated!
 
<div>
(colby2152 @ Nov. 08 2007,21:19)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Lol's post #5 + increased frequency</div>
x2 + get 9-10hours of sleep at night... every night.

Oh yeah and if you are only worried about winning take vitamin S. I hear it works wonders with nutrient partitioning. How are they going to know?
 
Shave your head , it makes the body appear bigger + begin tanning now - it's cheap , and you have enough time to build a good enough one to accentuate musculature . Posture can seemingly add/subtract enough to be worth becoming concsious of- work on standing , walking , sitting with the best possible posture ... these things may seem silly but I'm actually being quite serious.
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Go to a thrift store and invest a couple bucks in shirts a size or two smaller than what you are wearing now , make sure to always be wearing one of these &quot;psychological warfare&quot; shirts whenever around your competitor - never waste the opportunity to grumble about how your clothes are getting to tight and that now you'll have to buy all new clothes as a result of your incredibly successfull bulk - make sure to offer to give the too small clothes to your competitor as you do this &quot; these are getting to small for me now , but it looks like they'd fit you just fine - want them?&quot;
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Wow,

Again, thanks for the support and awesome replies!!
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bgates1654,

No vitamin S for me, sorry man
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RUSS,

HAhahha hilarious man! I actually am outgrowing quite a few shirts at the moment, it's kind of fun, but I'm thinking... man that could be a little spendy, ahh well it's fun!


colby2152, Lol, and quadancer,

Thanks for the advice as well!

Lol,

I agree with you on keeping the 5's going and then decreasing the load at the beginning of the week if I get burnt out.

My workout is a little weird though to make that work in my mind... maybe someone has a solution.

I do A, B, A, B, A workout's

So:

Monday A

Wednesday B

Friday A

Monday B

Wednesday A

Friday B

As you can see, that alternates, (Some Monday’s are an “A” and others are a “B”) and I can't just decrease the load at the beginning of the week and then work back up.

Should I just decrease the weight over 2 weeks and then work back up and rinse and repeat?

Thanks again for the help!

Lot's 'o smarts here on this board!
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If, and only if, you feel the need to do so, just drop the loads back a bit for the Monday workouts (whether A or B) compared to the previous similar workout. If you still feel drained by the next workout then drop some volume off on the Wednesday (but keep the loads up) and then give Friday everything you've got. If you are eating well and getting lots of carbs on training days that should help.

If you can keep the volume and loads up the whole time (and you are able to increment a bit too) that would be ideal. Don't forget to cluster reps if you are finding it tough to get the volume you want.

Oh, and in line with Russ' comments, get a copy of Pumping Iron and check out Arnie's play on psychological warfare.
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Hey guys thanks again!

I just thought I'd let you know that I'm taking the approach of reducing weights and building back up over a 3 workout period.

Basically workout &quot;A&quot; - 30 pounds (average) and then work back up to 30 pounds and maybe try and push it up past my original starting point.

I'll just keep cycling this over and over until I hit December 16th.

This seems pretty sustainable.

You guys rock!
 
Oh yea, and I forgot I was going to throw you guys that beta version of the nutritional calculator program.

If you want a copy feel free to PM me.

Thanks!
 
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