Establishing maxes and general routine.

S

SameOldSameOld

New Member
hello guys,
I have trained for years but not never got far. I had not been training properly for quite a while up until about 3 months ago. I have been doing the Rippetoe 3x5. I am coming to the end of this now though as I have deloaded a couple of times. I'm going to do HSt principles, I have done it before quite a while ago but did not finish the cycle for personal reasons.

Anyhow, basically when establishing maxes, do I establish a max for only one set or for multiple sets.
Example. My 5 rep max for bench is 190. Because, when I have been doing the 3x5 routine I have got the 3 sets as:
190x5
190x4
190x3

Thinking of keeping number of exercise quite low, probably: Bench, squat, press, row, chins, sldl


So, I am thinking of doing a first cycle as: 1 set of 15 reps for 2 weeks, 2 sets of 10 for 2 weeks, then 3 sets of 5 for 2 weeks. Then continuing the 5's for a week or two as I can't do negatives.
So for the 5's should I go for 6th workout for 190, or reduce it to say 185 and aim to get 3sets of 5 reps.

However, I am a little confused becasue I have been reading the forum which seems different to the main pages. I seem to be finding people concentrating on keeping the reps constant throughout the whole cycle. As in 30 reps. meaning something like 2 sets for the 15's, 3 sets for the 10's, and that would mean 6sets for the 5's.
I maybe understanding this wrong but that seems a little too much really in the 5's esp. Like I say I have been doing the 3x5 routine which means I really only hit bench for example for 6 sets in a week, whereas I would be doing 18 sets a week if keeping to 30 reps.

any help would be appreciated. thank you
 
The number of sets depends a lot on your conditioning to volume and lifting experience. If you have been lifting for a long time and used high volume you'll need the additional sets to provide your muscles with enough stimulus to grow. So there is no right and wrong here, it will vary from person to person just like the load. Yes doing 6 sets of 5 is a lot but remember that most of the time on HST you are lifting sub-max loads. When you are reaching your maximum loads you can do less sets or cluster some of them. Taking the 30 reps suggestion/example and applying it without adaptation is like getting a 100lbs load example and using it. Like load, total volume should be used based on your abilities, needs and experience. Try the 1x15, 2x10, 3x5 and see how it goes. If you feel you need more volume change things accordingly.
 
thanks for the reply. I shall see how the first cycle goes.

What about the maxes? Is it the max for 1 set or for all sets? i.e in the 5's should I establish 1 set of 5 or the maximum I can do to achieve all 3 sets?
 
Your actual, single-set RM for any rep range. Also, bear in mind that your RMs vary from day to day because RMs are affected by various neural issues. They are there as a guide to loading increments. You should always be aiming to increase your RM loads cycle-on-cycle. This should happen as a matter of course if you are growing even though you are not training for strength; a muscle that has undergone hypertrophy will be able to produce more force given the appropriate neural stimulation.

Many find that by the time they reach their RM workout they have increased in strength as a consequence of hypertrophy and are therefore able to complete the reps for a few sets across. If this isn't the case for you (various factors could play a part in this, eg. accumulated fatigue masking strength gains), cluster reps following the first set. ie. If you planned on doing 3 x 5 but the first 5 reps had you hitting RPE 10 then do something like 5,3,3,2,2 to get the required reps.
 
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