Getting Started Again..

S

shields88

New Member
OK so I used to do HST some time ago and stopped for some reason or another.

As a bit background, I was 225 lbs or more at my heaviest at 5 foot 10. Quite a bit of this was fat; I'd say I was about 25-30% bodyfat or so. I dieted for my wedding and got to like 175 and then within the year was back up to 195.

I've now dieted down to 160 lbs or so, and would like to regain the muscle I had when I was at my heaviest and I've decided HST is going to help me with that! For anyone that has came back to HST after losing significant amounts of muscle, how easily did you find you regained size? I'm hoping it comes back quite easily.

I'm going to spend the next week or so working out all of my maxes. Do you all work out your 15, 10 and 5 rep maxes individually or would you work out your 5 rep max and then use calculators to find out your 10 and 15?

Also, I'm going to start the 15's next week but start the first week just below maintenance. I'm doing this as I've put on a bit weight over the last week or so due to being out 4 days in a row. I'd like to get rid of the bloat etc before I start this properly.

I'll get my routine and measurements up within the next couple of days.. Hoping some people get involved in the thread for a bit motivation to keep going.

Oh, one further question. A friend and I signed up to a half marathon in September and I'm going to take 12 weeks to train for this. A period of that 12 weeks will be in the middle of a HST cycle. Am I right in presuming that as long as I'm consuming the extra calories that I'd be burning through running I should still be able to grow muscle?

Thanks,
J
 
Welcome back to the world of HST,

shields88 said:
OK so I used to do HST some time ago and stopped for some reason or another.

As a bit background, I was 225 lbs or more at my heaviest at 5 foot 10. Quite a bit of this was fat; I'd say I was about 25-30% bodyfat or so. I dieted for my wedding and got to like 175 and then within the year was back up to 195.

I've now dieted down to 160 lbs or so, and would like to regain the muscle I had when I was at my heaviest and I've decided HST is going to help me with that! For anyone that has came back to HST after losing significant amounts of muscle, how easily did you find you regained size? I'm hoping it comes back quite easily.
Click to expand...

Congratulations on the weight loss.

In respect of regaining muscle can you advise if you have done any lifting while during your weight loss journey? If you haven't been training at all then muscle growth should be quite noticeable over the next 6 months.

shields88 said:
I'm going to spend the next week or so working out all of my maxes. Do you all work out your 15, 10 and 5 rep maxes individually or would you work out your 5 rep max and then use calculators to find out your 10 and 15?

Also, I'm going to start the 15's next week but start the first week just below maintenance. I'm doing this as I've put on a bit weight over the last week or so due to being out 4 days in a row. I'd like to get rid of the bloat etc before I start this properly.

I'll get my routine and measurements up within the next couple of days.. Hoping some people get involved in the thread for a bit motivation to keep going
Click to expand...

In respect of finding your rep maxes you can do it either way, I think it would be better to find each individual rep max rather than using calculators.

I would suggest once you have established your maxes to take a week off and start your HST protocol on a proper footing.

shields88 said:
Oh, one further question. A friend and I signed up to a half marathon in September and I'm going to take 12 weeks to train for this. A period of that 12 weeks will be in the middle of a HST cycle. Am I right in presuming that as long as I'm consuming the extra calories that I'd be burning through running I should still be able to grow muscle?
Click to expand...

I am not a lover of lots of running (or lots of any cardio) while training to gain muscle, been there and found that its very detrimental to muscle gain but YMMV, however now that you have signed up just make sure you eat more to grow.
 
Mick, yes I have been lifting during this period, but not consistently. My muscle are considerably smaller than what they used to be. I used to fill out L/XL shirts and I now only just fill out a M.

I'd just like to know more out of convenience than anything else. But thinking about it, I guess the best thing to do is just to get it done rather than worrying and questioning the minor details.

I'll come back over the weekend and update with my maxes and then outline my plan.
 
shields88 said:
Mick, yes I have been lifting during this period, but not consistently. My muscle are considerably smaller than what they used to be. I used to fill out L/XL shirts and I now only just fill out a M.
Click to expand...

I know the feeling, was also sitting ~220 lbs six years ago (sedentary fat slob) and dropped to 160 in 2016 (keto), was great having abs but too much muscle loss on my arms in particular (at least I thought so) and was getting gaunt in the face. I look my best at 168 still with abs (a bit burry mind) but look fuller everywhere.
 
OK so here is the plan. I'm going to spend the next 9 days (including today) in a deficit. I want to get just below 160 and get rid of all the bloat off the last couple of weeks. Depending on how I feel I might extend this another week but I highly doubt it. After that I'm going straight into a calorie surplus and going to do my best to regain all the hard earned mass I have lost.

My workout will be:

Squats
Romanian Deads
Flat Bench
Seated Row
Military Press
Hip Thrusts
Weighted Chins

I'll also throw in some accessory work at the end of each session.

Im going to do 2 sets of 15's, 2 sets of 10's and 3 sets of 5's. I think I will superset the exercises so I'm not spending too much time in the gym.
I'm just going to follow a basic template to start and then after a couple of cycles I'll switch exercises depending on how I see fit.

I also plan on extending the 5's as long as my lifts keep progressing.
On rest days I will be doing stretching and some skill work such as handstand etc.

If anyone has anything they feel they could chime in with then I'm all ears!

Really looking forward to getting back involved again now.
 
mickc1965 said:
I know the feeling, was also sitting ~220 lbs six years ago (sedentary fat slob) and dropped to 160 in 2016 (keto), was great having abs but too much muscle loss on my arms in particular (at least I thought so) and was getting gaunt in the face. I look my best at 168 still with abs (a bit burry mind) but look fuller everywhere.
Click to expand...

Do you plan on getting bigger than 168?
I always thought I'd get the abs and then keep them but I think I've realised I prefer to have a lot more flexibility in my life. Really don't want to have to miss out on social occasions etc each week just for the sake of vanity.
 
shields88 said:
Do you plan on getting bigger than 168?
I always thought I'd get the abs and then keep them but I think I've realised I prefer to have a lot more flexibility in my life. Really don't want to have to miss out on social occasions etc each week just for the sake of vanity.
Click to expand...

I am hoping that the very slow bulk (4-5 months at 1lb per MONTH), fast cut (4-6 weeks at 1-1.5lb per WEEK) approach that I currently do will nett me 2 hopefully 3 lbs of muscle per phase (2 phases per year) so assuming that happens then the aim would be gradually increase my lean weight.

I still let rip occasionally, have had two heavy drinking weekends this year and a few heavy single nights. Another one planned for this Friday coming and probably another heavyish weekend at the end of May, so I don't go without just don't do it every weekend, can't get away with that in my fifties
 
That looks like a good program to me. Good exercise choices and good amount of volume.
 
Back on the train.

I decided to refrain from weight lifting for a period of time. I was training for the half marathon I done and just didn't have any desire in the gym. I did do one HST run and I'm currently weighing 166 or so. The last HST cycle wasn't with proper intent so lets see what happens this time round.

Same routine as above. Worked out some rep maxes the other day. I'll update at the end of the week with my lifts etc..
 
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