Critique My HST Program

J

JLCain

New Member
I'll keep it simple. On M/W/F I do the follow lifts.

Squat
Stiff Legged Deadlift
Calf Press
Bench Press
Barbell Bent Over Row
Standing Barbell Overhead Press
Supine (Underhand) Grip Pull-down
Face Pull

I'm on the second week of 15s. So far, so good.

What do you guys think?
 
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Looks perfect for a first routine to me. Add in rear delt raises; that's all I'd recommend, perhaps other than turn SLDL's into conventional deadlifts the next time around.
 
Hm...

I assumed that face pulls would be sufficient for rear delt development.

I actually debated alternating squats (+ hamstring curls) with conventional deadlifts (+ front squats). But I wanted to keep things as simple as possible.I didn't want to alternate lifts. And I thought doing conventional deadlifts 3x per week would be too much. I also tend to think that the SLDL is the best lift for overall hamstring movement. And given that I'm doing squats and bent over rows, I don't think that my lower back development will suffer.
 
Don't your pull downs and face pulls overlap the muscles worked? Also +1 to conventional deadlifting.
 
JLCain said:
Hm...

I assumed that face pulls would be sufficient for rear delt development.

I actually debated alternating squats (+ hamstring curls) with conventional deadlifts (+ front squats). But I wanted to keep things as simple as possible.I didn't want to alternate lifts. And I thought doing conventional deadlifts 3x per week would be too much. I also tend to think that the SLDL is the best lift for overall hamstring movement. And given that I'm doing squats and bent over rows, I don't think that my lower back development will suffer.
Click to expand...

Agreed: I don't think your lower back development is in jeopardy. However, I would still bring in deadlifts at some point in the future. Deadlifting thrice weekly using (at most) a 5RM load for 10 or so reps isn't going to cause you any problems.

Re: rear delt work - the DB works tends to utilise the rotator cuff muscles more, and improve their strength (important because benching is going to make them unbalanced, generally speaking). It's a little bit of a case of 'horses-for-courses', some people train without attending to their rotators specifically//without them in mind, and have no troubles whatsoever.

adpowah said:
Don't your pull downs and face pulls overlap the muscles worked? Also +1 to conventional deadlifting.
Click to expand...

Face pulls should not involve the lats at all beyond minor and unavoidable contraction; http://exrx.net/WeightExercises/DeltoidPosterior/CBRearDeltRowStirrups.html
 
I have done conventional dead lifts for the past year. (I did Stronglifts 5x5.) In fact, one of my reasons for wanting to do SLDLs is that I think they will address some of the weaknesses in my conventional DL. So, I do plan on doing them in the future. Specifically, after running HST for a while I plan to train specifically for strength.

I was under the impression that face pulls were an excellent lift for the rotator cuffs given that the way I preform them involves a great deal of external rotation near the end of the movement (sort of like "outies"). I don't do them like they're shown in that link.
 
Fair enough.

We're talking the minor details here. The routine you've nominated is quite good, as I said initially.
 
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