Few question about HST (beginner)

[texmeister]

Hi everbody i got a few questions about hst:

I've always read that to make hypertrophy works you had to make 8-12 repetitions in a set why in HST we only use 5 repetitions in a set for a few weeks?
I begann HST a few days ago and i got 2 problems:
-I must add about 5 pounds each workout but with abs it's very hard to use
-When I'm in the second set sometimes I can't make the last repetion what does that min? IS my weight too heavy?

Thx for your answers (soory if my questions are silly)

 

[style]

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">'I've always read that to make hypertrophy works you had to make 8-12 repetitions in a set why in HST we only use 5 repetitions in a set for a few weeks?'</div>

We use 5 rep sets (and then negatives) because we're interested in subjecting the muscle to as much load (weight) as possible. 5 rep and negative sets allow for a greater load than 8-12 rep sets.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">'I must add about 5 pounds each workout but with abs it's very hard to use'</div>

You need to increase the weight gradually between workouts. There is no specific increments you 'have' to use. What is important is that the rate of in increase is fast enough so that the muscle has to continually grow to adapt but slow enough so that you can complete your desired reps for the cycle. You could probably still increase the weight by 5 pounds each workout and if the weight was too heavy for you to complete the desired count in one go, you could stop a couple of reps shy of failure, wait, and then complete the desired number of reps. This is known as 'clustering'. You could also increase the weight by a smaller increment each workout. A weight increase of 5% works well as an estimate.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">'When I'm in the second set sometimes I can't make the last repetion what does that min? IS my weight too heavy?'</div>

Make sure you rest long enough between sets. Alternatively you could 'cluster' the second set. Make sure you are eating enough carbs. Creatine would help too.

 

[FaintReality]

I just do my normal situps, not adding any weight (basically not applying the HST routine to my situps).

On my second set, I usually fall short on both my bench press and my curls, in which I just do a 3rd set w/ the # of reps I fell short on my 2nd set. For instance... The other day I fell short of my 15 reps on my 2nd set of curls, in which I was only able to do 9 reps. I then did a 3rd set of 6 reps, since that is how many reps I fell short to complete all 15.

Its not that we calculated our RM's wrong, its just that we calculated for 1 set, not 2.


Dave

 

[style]

Thanks Dave. Thats called 'clustering'.

 

[texmeister]

Thx for your answers my first question wasn't very good asked. I'd like to know if thers's hypertrophx with the 5rep or if it's for strengh? And is it ok if my 5rm with bench press is 95 lbs and my 10rm 85lbs did I make anything wrong when I calculated my max?

 

[style]

Tex,
Yeh 5 reps is good for strength. Whats most important for hypertrophy is the load applied and whats of lesser importance is the TUL (Time under tension) with a 8-12 rep set, the load will be less which is significant but the TUL will be greater, which can be overcome if desired by adding more sets or another higher rep 'metabolic' set. The function of this set is to increase the TUL and to increase blood flow to the muscle and increase nutrient flow.

Supposedly a good rough guide is 15 rep max x 1.2= 10 rep max x 1.15= 5 rep max.

For you 85x1.15=97.5 so 95 seems like a good figure!

 

[Fausto]

Hi

Welcome to HST!

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I'd like to know if there's hypertrophy with the 5rep or if it's for strength.</div>

I am going to include an extract of the HST-Faq E-book, which too a while to find, so I suggest you download it and readt it thorugh! It is worth it!

30.3. But why is HST organized into 2 week blocks and the 15/10/5 rep ranges - I don't understand it...

Keep in mind that you have to consider the tensile strength of the tissue itself. Lifting weights to induce hypertrophy is a very much a mechanical process.

You are causing physical stress to the protein structures of the muscle tissue. A given amount of load is going to be required regardless of the number of repetitions, to induce hypertrophy.

So, please try to think outside of reps and sets. The purpose of every workout is simply to apply an effective stimulus by providing an incremental increase in tension from the last workout.

Just arbitrarily picking a certain number of workouts before you change isn’t going to ensure you are applying an effective stimulus. That’s more akin to periodization, rather than hypertrophy-specific progressions.

Muscle tissue does not distinguish between rep ranges. There is not a special number of contractions that &quot;triggers&quot; a hypertrophic response. The only thing that triggers hypertrophy is sarcolemma distortion and subsequent microtrauma and to a MUCH lesser extent, metabolic activity.

Metabolic activity is more anticatabolic, then anabolic. These pathways of mechanotransduction have been mapped and are not in question. Yes, there are always more details to be ironed out, but the pathways are now established that go from mechanical load to muscle cell growth.

In order to adhere to the principles of training induced muscle hypertrophy we must have progressive load. Progressive load sufficient to cause hypertrophy will limit the number of times the muscle can successfully contract against the resistance.

There are several old studies that narrowed it down to a range of perhaps 20 reps (if the muscle is deconditioned) all the way up to 120% of your 1RM. So, depending on how conditioned the muscle is, you can use any rep range between 20 reps and negatives.

While using HST, your reps decrease over time simply because the load is constantly increasing. It's that simple. There is no magic number, though others might have you believe there is.

Why 6 workouts in 2 week blocks? Because it takes about that long using decent increments to reach your specified RM.

The whole purpose of HST’s organization is to give you some idea of what that stimulus needs to be on that day’s workout.

SD is kind of like a reset button. It gives you some place to start, where you are pretty sure about the condition of the tissue when you begin.

Hope this helps some, in the mean time keep in mind that the higher the load the lower your reps should be (for safety) but also because you won't be able to do any more reps!

Then again, the higher load produces more hypertrophy because the micro trauma is greater therefore the repair work results in bigger muscles.

With negatives, there is reasearch proving that a contracted muscle when stretched produces hypertrophy, which is essentially what happens with negatives.

Cheers