Foggers first hst cycle , let's see the results!!

Thanks tdawg I will definitely do that in my next workout as I have no reason not to, but I have to postpone for one day which makes me angry after all the distractions I have had over the past 2 weeks, this is due to the fact that I'm getting sick again, so I will do my best to rest up and be better for tomorrow. Yes Grunt I realize that but because of my lack of will to actually seek out my maxes through physical testing instead of online calculators I feel like I have cheated myself out of some major gains. I mean at the moment I know my strength has increased a lot but as for the hypertrophy aspect there are little results compared to strength and I believe this to be because I did not research my maxes correctly. As of now it doesn't matter as this is only my first hst cycle and a big learning curb for me and I am grateful I made these mistakes so I can learn and correct them for next time :)
 
Just need a quick question answered.... I still am sick but I believe I am getting better an I should be ok to do a workout Friday night but because I am still 2 workouts behind would it be ok to workout on Saturday night as well as it will be only 24 hours is this ok to do for this one time as I really do not won't to delay my hst any longer and these are the only time I can do them. Any thoughts people please?
 
I'd say no. Its not a matter of getting your 6 workouts in before the deadline. Once you breakdown your muscle tissue, it takes 48hrs to repair (sometimes 72hrs). Now if you've already broken down the muscle on friday, breaking it down again on saturday is more then likely going to give you no added benefit and possibly put you in a decline and attack your CNS (not helpful to your progress). The programs made based upon how your muscles respond and recover to training not the other way around.
 
If you are still sick then lay off the weights. Lifting will only hurt your immune system. Also, if you are lifting at the gym, it is a serious faux paus to workout sick - other lifters consider it rude of you to expose them to germs and possibly compromise their progress. I would recommend waiting until Monday and then just restarting where you left off or starting that week of your cycle over completely - which would basically mean repeating the last workout you did.
 
Thanks guys, I am going to wait until Monday and repeat my first 5 workout, even tho I feel better today I do not want to jeperdise any more of my time by getting sick again so I think playing it safe is the way to go. I might do a light weights session either tonight or tomorrow as I feel like I'm doing nothing. I also have one more question for you. When do you see the best gains during a cycle? I know the answers are varied and I have read this question being answered in brians faqs, but I was just curious about this on a more personal level. Over ne training I have been doing around 10-15 reps at almost failure but I have never really done low reps at a higher weight to find out what affects it has on my body from a hypertrophic point of view. I also understand that these gains don't usually happen in a week but over a substantial period of time with dedication included and research to back this all up. Unfortunately my past workouts were just fad workouts ones I would read in body building magazines and I would tell myself the same thing that it was working but when it came to the mirror and scales nothing changed, and thanks so much for the support you guys give me that extra motivation to push myself towards my goals and stay focus :)
 
OK heres an update on my latest progress, I havent been on here that much updating as frequently as I would like over the past week but that was due to me getting over being sick. The good news as of today I have gotten over it, took longer than I thought but better late then never. On Monday I did my first 5 workout again I decided to take Totentanz advice and wait it out and repeat the workout again. Unfortunaltey I was still sick but I couldnt do nothing any longer so heres mondays workout:

Sumo dead lift 5 reps 1 set 58kg (bar weighs 6kg)
Military press 5 reps at 40kg 1 set (bar 6kg)
Weighted crunch 20reps 1 set bw + 5kg
Upright row 10 reps 1 set 12.5kg
BB tricep extension 5 reps 1 set 36kg (6kg bar)
DB chest press 5 reps 1 set 22kg
BB bicep curl 5 rep 1 set 36kg (6kg bar)
calf raises one leg 1 set1 bw + 20kg
pushups 10 reps 1 sets bw

I only did one set as I did not want to become any sicker and also after reading some people believe that there is no added benefit of performing multiple sets as one can still stimulate muscle growth ( provided correct form is used)

Wednesday: (just a quick note I took Tdawgs advice and swapped my exercise order from largest to smallest fashion)
Chinups: BW
Sumo dead lift 5 reps 3 sets 60kg (bar weighs 6kg)
DB chest press 5 reps 3 sets 22kg
Military press 5 reps at 41kg 3 sets (bar 6kg)
Upright row 10 reps 3 sets 13.5kg
Weighted crunch 20reps 3 sets bw + 7.5kg
BB tricep extension 5 reps 3 sets 38kg (6kg bar)
BB bicep curl 5 rep 3 sets 38kg (6kg bar)
calf raises one leg 3 sets bw + 20kg
pushups 15 reps (5 wide,5 narrow, 5 close stance) 3 sets bw
the workout went for 54 minutes

Friday:
Chinups: BW
Sumo dead lift 5 reps 3 sets 64kg (bar weighs 6kg)
DB chest press 5 reps 3 sets 22kg
10 pushups
Military press 5 reps at 43kg 3 sets (bar 6kg)
Upright row 10 reps 3 sets 13.5kg
Weighted crunch 20reps 3 sets bw + 7.5kg
10 normal crunch
BB tricep extension 5 reps 3 sets 38kg (6kg bar)
BB bicep curl 5 rep 3 sets 38kg (6kg bar)
calf raises one leg 3 sets bw + 20kg
pushups 15 reps (5 wide,5 narrow, 5 close stance) 3 sets bw

this lasted 66 minutes
as it was my last workout on the last set of each exercise I added 1-2 reps extra and none of which were performed as clusters of failure.

My weigh in last tuesday was 80kg :D im pretty happy about that hit my target and ive still got 3 weeks left this tuesday I will weigh again and take new measurements of my waist to confirm that it is indeed mostly mucsle and not fat but seeing as the last few weeks have been chaotic and my exercise regime was all over the place I cant be too mad if i gained more in fat then i wanted to but looking at the mirror I seem ok :) anyway im off to enjoy my weekend hope everyone does the same :)
 
done 2 workouts and tomorrow is my last 5 I will post my progress another time, just a quick question I cant do negatives because I work out alone so I am going to do my max 5's for 2 weeks, with this one should I increase the weight at all during the last 2 weeks as I kinda feel this as boring and counter productive ( I mean 6 sessions with the same weight sounds to me like it wont do much good ) thanks in advance, and in 2 weeks time I will be posting my starting statistics before hst and my statistics after one cycle. I will most likely do another cycle as I find this challenging but I will stick to it a lot better then the first, mainly the frequency aspect as I really did nothing for a good 2 weeks due to upcoming events/ sickness.
 
You can do it several ways,but since you are so close to SD I say push yourself and see how strong you really are. You could roll with the current weight until you can complete 3 sets of 5 then add weight since it will take a few workouts before the Repeated Bout Effect kicks in. If you want to add weight now you can always switch to 5 sets of 3 until you hit your 3RM. You may consider dropping to just meat and potatoes exercises like bench,DL,Squat, Chins and really focus all efforts on reaching new strength levels. It has worked well for me. Hope this helps and good luck.
 
Right now I'm up to my last week of my first cycle and I am absolutely exhausted. I have cut down last weeks training I did tuesday and thursday hst style on Saturday however I couldnt push myself to do hst so I was mainly experimenting on new exercises especially with my shoulders, traps and lats. I need some good shoulder/traps workouts that I can incorporate into my next cycle. I don't care if there isolation exercises I just need to see some results, I'm sick of having a nice chest and arms followed by average shoulders that don't look big or defined. I was initially thinking to fit in a separate shoulder workout with my normal hst something that would last no longer then 30 min on my off day of hst so I'm not over training, what do you guys think? As for my weight I am 81kg as of last week but I will check in 2 days again, ran out of my bulking foods so I'm trying to make up the difference in my meals but it's not the same to me as I feel it's too much food in one meal ( my bulk foods that were quick and easy was usually nuts and organic peanut butter) I will post my stats sometime in the next 2 weeks not expecting super human differences but considering this was my first hst and there were obstacles that prevented my following all it's principles I think I did good but we shall soon see.
 
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Yeah being sick can really impact your progress. I lost a lb of muscle in a week due to being sick. Then to continue on with your program would make things tough. For myself i was on my last week of the cycle so i called it early and began to SD so I didnt really notice any major problems. Altho my first workout of my second cycle was exhausting, so it must of been a good sd lol. So dont get discouraged. The main goal is increasing your muscle overtime, you'd be kidding yourself if your not going to have minor set backs in between. But aslong as your progressively getting bigger in lbm. Then thats awesome. I found that DB standing side laterals, really helped with the width of my shoulders and BB shrugs assisted with my traps. Maybe you could implement a variation similar to that for your next cycle. I'm not a massive fan of upright rows, they tend to put your joints in a dangerous position.

Goodluck with whatever you decide to do!
 
Thanks wobbles. Yeah I can imagine after being sick getting back into a new cycle would be quite challenging. In terms with my lean body mass, not 100% sure what I was at the start and what I am now but one of my main ways i find out is by looking in the mirror at every angle, measuring my waist and also the visibility with my abdominal muscles in comparison with my body fat. I have never had a 6 pack just a 4 only when tensing the muscles and it had not changed since I started even though I have gained 4 kg (8.8 lb) so I would count that as positive progress. Trust me if I had the time to do this all properly I would love to but unfortunately I am working anywhere from 60 - 70 hours a week plus I have other commitments so it is tough but it is why I started this thread because if I can do it with so much time restraints on me anyone can, no excuses.
I think I will incorporate db standing side laterals in my workout as you point out its good for width and this is probably one of the best isolation shoulder exercises out there with little equipment required. I will also give BB shrugs a go, I only experimented with DB shrugs but found I had to work harder to make the movement evenly distributed on both sides. I am not sure whether to do normal or do BB shrugs behind the back... I guess I will have to experiment and find out what I think works the muscle better. On another note i think I will scrap the standing BB triceps extension as I have noticed with the 5's my form is very sloppy and I think a better alternative would be close grip BB extensions lying down this my also help relive extra tension from my elbows. I will need to eliminate 1 exercise in my new cycle as it will look like this:

Chinups
Sumo dead lift
DB chest press
10 pushups
Military press
Weighted crunch
10 normal crunch
BB tricep extension* lying down
BB bicep curl
calf raises one leg
pushups
lateral raises
shrugs

I am purposely keeping most exercises unchanged as I think I can utilize them better when I get my true max rep ranges when I actually test them not guessing like my first cycle, I will maybe do a major change up of my exercises on my 3rd cycle.

I will also swap the 15, 10, 5, 5 to 12, 8, 5, 5. The reason being is from previous articles I have read based on 'best rep ranges for hypertrophy.' Not only that but I feel my body will respond better through this method, I can only test it out and see.

My last issue which I may look into fixing is my abdominal exercises and calf raises, due to the fact that I am not training them with HST principles because of a lack of equipment. They are not being worked with the same rep ranges aswelll as not progressively overloading in terms of the muscle. Any suggestions of other exercises that can assist with this dilemma? Maybe if I was to super set each muscle this would help? For example during the 15's I do weighted sit ups with roughly 15kg then do 20 reps of normal sit ups straight after, could this be a temporary solution? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Next Monday I intend to post previous measurements of my body and compare it to now to have an overlook of my progress, I will also take updated photos of myself for my own personal records. And no more getting sick or major distractions for my 2nd HST!!! :D Take care people :)
 
On abdominal exercises I found that just keeping a constant weight progression throughout the cycle worked better. I start BW each session and pyramid up till I get to where istruggle to do 8 to 10 reps with good form. I also alternate between weighted crunches/weighted lying leg raises.

I have never had much success with calves, but they grow slow and the best thing you can do is be consistant and be happy with whatever gains you get. You have to try and put as heavy load as possible on them as they are lifting your body weight all day long as it is. it's much easier with machines, but free weight exercises work as well although they require more balance. This worked for me while I was DC training

Whatever exercise you pick perform them as follows
Do an explosive contraction with a 2 second peak hold at the top with slow 5 second negative and stay down in the fully stretch position for 15 seconds (Not a typo!) then repeat for 12 to 15 reps. This is painful and takes forever , but it really worked for me. If you had access to machines it would really help. I was doing it single legged and it takes like 15 minutes or so. I believe I was doing this with 3 to 4 days rest between. I might have to do this on nontraining days again........ Anyway hope this helps
 
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Thanks Tdawg, I will take your advice on the pyramid sets for abdominals and I will probably alternate exercises with them to hit them from every angle.

I have decided that tomorrow I will end my first hst cycle one workout short of my original cut off date. I will take an 11 day SD even tho I didn't feel I pushed myself hard enough. For my last workout I will do all my maxes (exception being tricep extensions as the cause to much discomfort on my elbow joints and my form becomes very sloppy). I will then on my second set and increase the weight by approx 1-2 kg to finish it, I will not do a third set as I have said the time of this workout goes roughly to an hour on 2 sets, 3 will be too long.

I weighed myself today after a week and a half of no scales due to dead batteries and have found that i am around 80.5 kg roughly 500g less than my previous weigh in. My next goal on the second cycle is to reach 85kg, if I see I have acheived this with not much fat increase I will do another HST bulk cycle, if not however i will then go into a cutting phase after my second cycle. At the moment I will scrap and calves exercises due to a lack of gym equipment and also my calves are quite big and defined thanks to genetics :)

On Saturday i will take measurements of my body and compare them to before I started hst and post what results have arisen from this.

During my SD I will do research into some new exersices that will work better for my goals, I have already stated that some isolation exercises will be used to work on my shoulder growth as well as other aspects that are lacking in the hypertrophy department.

My lack of motivation can be blamed for this cycle ending quickly as I did not do the proper research prior to this and then just got lazy and distracted, This will NOT happen in my second cycle, I will make every workout count and I understand that some things may stop my routine but I will proceed.

I will post my results in 3 days not expecting much change but 7lb have to be on some part of my body, just hope its not all in th waist :P My strength has surpassed what it was at the start which is an added bonus :) Thanks everyone talk soon :D
 
Strength gains are a good sign so I hope your measurements show some improvement.

One thought on your weigh-in. I know people often say to only weigh yourself once a week but even a slight change in hydration can change your weight a few kg. I’ve found it’s better to weigh myself every day but rather than focus on each day just look at the weekly average and the overall trend. I feel this gives me better feedback on whether my diet is correct than relying on a once a week weigh-in.

Also as to making every workout count I found that it’s more important to make every rep count. I know that sounds cliché but by doing Myo-reps and using Max Stim it’s really taught me the importance of getting the most out of each and every rep rather than just making sure to hit the right set/rep count for the day.
 
Yes I normally check everyday just for curiosity sake like yesterday I was 80.3 and this morning I was 80.6 so I agree looking at everyday then working out the average for the week. Would you also please explain what you mean by myo-reps and max stim? I may have heard of this before but not entirely sure. Even tho I have been doing weights for 4 years I am still learning when it comes to the research and different methods used in creating and stimulating muscle hypertrophy. Kind regards :)
 
Essentially Myo-reps and Max-stim reps are programed ways of doing clustering and singles respectively. They are both great at helping manage fatigue allowing for more efficient workouts and overall more intensity than might otherwise be possible in the long run. The best way for me to explain how to use them is to link to better explanations than I can give.

http://www.clutchfitness.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9363

http://www.clutchfitness.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6130

Several of us here use or have used them and I’ll be happy to help explain anything if you have any questions.
 
I think of myo-reps as HST + clustering. The load progresses when you reach the top end of a rep range on your activation sets, and the myo-reps themselves are there to get a few extra "fully activated" reps in.

There are some principles that I plan on incorporating into future setups such as the idea that you should get the most out of a certain weight before moving on to a higher weight. For instance, if your activation set target is 11-15 reps, and you rep out 12 times, you don't progress to a higher weight until you reach 15 reps at that weight. As far as I understand, that still qualifies as progressive overload.

This is particularly important for someone like me whose max lifts are pretty low and could really use the extra time to perfect form while figuring out how to activate all of the required muscles during a lift. What grunt said is very true - you need to get the most out of every rep. I can't even count how many reps I've wasted trying to press and pull with just my arms...
 
Thanks Grunt I am quite interested in giving myo-reps a try and using them in my next cycle I have not read it all however but from what I can see it seems very worth while. I just have one question about how to utilise it. For example lets say I am doing bench press and its druring my 2 weeks on the 15's and I can only do one set, how would I use this in myo reps while progressively overloading? If my my max RM is lets say 100lb so normally I would start with 75lb for the first workout how could I use it to involve myo reps and get through to my 15 rm at my 6th workout? Wouldnt I be too tired from my activation set to continue with another set? or have I got this all wrong and maybe I should read it fully first.

As I promised i finished my first cycle of HST on Thursday :) I did 2 sets for my 5RM which I am repeating as I cannot do negatives by myself. My first set I aimed to do all my exercises to my predicted 5RM from over 8 weeks ago. My second set I called my 'almost failure set' this is where i increased the load on each exercise by roughly 1-2 kg and pushed out as many reps as possible without failure. Just a quick note some of the exercises i cannot increase the load due to me not having enough weight plates I will mark those exercises with a *. I am planning on buying some more on monday for my next cycle so this does not become an issue. I also did not do any tricep extentions or calf raises. This is what happened:

Last HST workout 17 Nov, Thursday night 5RM set 1

Sumo deadlift: 74kg
Pullups: 5 reps bw
chest flys: 21kg*
half pushups: 5 reps ( I do this after chest flys as this exercise i cannot increase the load)
Military press: 52kg
upright rows: 15kg
weighted situps: 15kg 11 reps
BB bicep curls: 42kg
Perfect pushups: 5 wide, 5 normal and 5 narrow

set 2: almost fatigue set

Sumo deadlift: 76kg 9 reps
Pullups: 8 reps bw
chest flys: 21kg* 15 reps
half pushups: 15 reps ( I do this after chest flys as this exercise i cannot increase the load)
Military press: 54kg 7 reps
upright rows: 15kg 10 reps
weighted situps: 15kg 22 reps
BB bicep curls: 44kg 5 reps
Perfect pushups: 10 wide, 10 normal and 10 narrow

So not only did i achieve my 5 RM I was also able to increase the load and reps in most of my exercises :) I have never done any deadlift or any lower body compound movement I was very happy with my results and my technique is getting better making my lifts even stronger. My shoulder and upper body strength have increased a lot. My first workout I could barely do 5 chin ups with good form now after a set I can do 8 pull ups with good form. Considering pullups are a lot harder than chins i think this is a great success :D I will be now taking my SD even though I feel I do not deserve it but I need the time off to properly analyise my exercises and all aspects of hst before I jump into the gym again, I dont want to guess what my maxes are I want to know them so i will be doing them instead of online calculators.

Now for the big news my body stats !!! I just would like to note a few things before I write my results. My original measurements were taking with a tape measure that i was struggling to use by myself, halfway through the cycle I bought one that I can use with ease by myself and I like this one much better but tho only thing is most of these measurements will not be 100% accurate as I may have been holding the measure too tight, too loose etc. The position of the tape measure was not in the same place for some of the readings, I will fix this problem next time. Anyway heres what happened:

The 10th of september 2011

weight: 77.2 (170 lb)

forearms: 10.5 inch same on each
upper arms: 12.5 inch left and right. 13.5 flexed
chest: 40.5 inch
calves: 15.5 inch
thighs: 20.5 inch
waist 34 inch

The 19th of November 2011

Weight 80.2 (176.8 lb)
forearms: unchanged ( could be the wrong place where I measured but not 100% sure)
Upper arms: 13 inch both. 14.5 inch flexed
chest: 41inch
calves: 16 inch
thighs: 20.5
Waist: unchanged ( thankgoodness haha :D)

with all the distractions I had i consider this very good cant believe my arms are 14.5 when flexed seems unbelieveable haha. Next cycle I want to this all right from workouts through to dieting. I am also going to post a thread in the dieting section about roughly what my maintanance diet looks like on a daily baisis now that im 80kg I would greatly appericated if anyone can give me tips on what I can eat toi help me through my next cycle and my goal of 85 kg. anyway hope everyones well and please feel free to contact me or comment or whatever. I will be writing on here soon to give updates on new exercises and also about myo reps and what my plan will be for my next cycle. Take care people.
 
When using Myo-reps get the idea of regular sets/reps out of your head, that includes 15s, 10s etc. . . . Instead plan to reach a set number of target reps for each body part. You can follow the guidelines on what number of reps in the post on Myo-reps or shoot for 40-60 total per body part. I recommend using about 70% of your 1RM or about the same as your 15RM to begin your cycle though you can start heavier though I wouldn’t go lighter.

For the activation set you keep doing reps until you feel like you will fail on the next rep or two. This is key you must go close to failure to get full activation, but don’t go to failure or you cause too much fatigue which defeats the purpose. So if you are using your 15RM but get to 15 and feel like you can do more, then do more. If the bar starts really slowing down at 13 and you feel like you won’t make the next rep then stop. When you stop take a quick timed break. I have a clock but you can count just by taking deep breaths (most common). How much time you take depends on you the body part and the weight. Generally you take anywhere from 10-30 seconds, no longer, using less time for lighter weights and more time for heavier ones, but it also depends on what body part you’re working and how quickly you recover energy. When the time is up, do the next set (probably better to call it a cluster). Again you keep doing reps until you feel like you’ll fail on the next rep or two. Here’s an example:

Using your 15RM say you actually get 15 reps without failing. Stop for about 10 seconds and then do as many more reps as you can without failing. At this weight you should reach around 4-5 reps if you timed your break correctly. If this is one of several exercises for that body part like Flat Bench, Incline Bench and Chest Dips then you can now stop the set or do one more Myo-rep set. So for this first exercise you do only 20-25 reps. The activation set of about 15 reps and one or two Myo-rep sets for an additional 5-10 reps for a total of 20-25 reps and you are done with that exercise

Say instead you’re using a weight that you can only get 12 reps with on your activation set. wait about 15-20 seconds and do more reps, about 4 at this weight, and then do one or two more times for a total of 20-24 reps. This also assumes you have multiple exercises for this body part otherwise you would do more Myo-rep sets.

This whole process is called auto-regulation. The idea is to push yourself to the limit w/o actually crossing it. This ensures you can get the most out of each set, activation and Myo-rep. I also find that it helps me get the most out of each rep because I’m no longer worried about reaching a specific rep number goal on each set so I concentrate on making each rep the best I can w/o cheating or holding back so I can get a certain number of reps.

I may take a few weeks to get used to this since It’s likely very different from anything you’ve tried before. It’s now so second nature to me that I don’t even have to think about it. IMO it really is a great way to get the most out of each rep you do which means you’re saving more energy for growth and recovering faster/better for the next workout.




[FONT=&quot]P. S. Great job on your strength and size improvements[/FONT]
 
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foggers said:
As I promised i finished my first cycle of HST on Thursday :)

So not only did i achieve my 5 RM I was also able to increase the load and reps in most of my exercises :)

I have never done any deadlift or any lower body compound movement I was very happy with my results and my technique is getting better making my lifts even stronger.
Click to expand...

Congrats on your first HST cycle. It's nice to see you increase some strength and some size.

Squats and deads really help to add body mass. They are far and away the most effective exercises -- each is nearly a full body workout, all by itself.
 
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