Girlfriend on HST

A

akash

New Member
Hello, I am new to this forum, been reading about HST and convinced my girlfriend to try it (I am starting it myself as well)

She competed in 2004 and been on and of from training until 2008, then she did a typical one body part per week routine Mon (biceps&chest), Tues (legs) wed (of) Thu (back), Fri (Shoulders& triceps) and Sat + Sun of.  She  did an AM/PM split with 4 sets and 12/10/8/6 rep progression.
her progress on that routine has platoed for the last 2 month only some strength gains, minimal size gains and some injuries started to happen from prolonged lifting of heavy weights.


She is a natural bodybuilder, 5'4' and 157 lb with around 20% body fat.  She is eating 5-6 meals around 2500 cal per day 20% fat, 30% protein, and 50% carbs.  She is currently of season and plans to compete in late September at 130-135 lb (her goal weight).  She plans to start her diet a month from now.

Her weak areas are shoulders, quad sweep.

So this week we started 15s, I found Brian's routine for the AM/PM split. So please critique it

Mon
AM EXERCISE
Squats - 1-2 Warm-Up Sets + 2 Sets x 15 Reps
Incline Bench Press - 15 Reps  
Rows - 15 Reps  
Calf (standing) Chin-Ups - 15 Reps  
Lateral raises - 15 Reps  
Bent over laterals - 15 Reps  
EZ curl - 15 Reps  
Triceps extension -15 reps

PM EXERCISE
Leg Curls   2 Sets x 15 Reps
Leg extension - 15 Reps  
Military press (lowering no further than top of head)- 15 Reps  
Assisted Chin-ups - 15 Reps  
Assisted Dips - 15 Reps  
Lateral raises - 15 Reps  
Lying rear delt raises (lie on bench on your side)- 15 Reps  
DB curl - 15 Reps  
Triceps extension -15 reps
Calf raise (one leg)


Wed
AM EXERCISE
Leg Press - 1-2 Warm-Up Sets + 2 Sets x 15 Reps
Flat  bench - 15 Reps  
Machine rows - 15 Reps  
Calf (standing) - 15 Reps  
front raises - 15 Reps  
Machine rear delts - 15 Reps  
Preacher curl - 15 Reps  
Triceps pushdowns -15 reps

PM EXERCISE
Lunges   2 Sets x 15 Reps
Stiff deadlifts - 15 Reps  
Machine shoulder press 15 Reps  
Pulldowns  - 15 Reps  
Assisted Dips - 15 Reps  
front raises - 15 Reps  
Barbell curl - 15 Reps  
Close grip bench  -15 reps
Calf raise (one leg)

Friday
Same as monday

next week switch days.

next two weeks same for 10 reps

next two weeks am/pm split becomes am-legs pm-upper body, possibly going to 3 reps per set?


Any comments welcome, will keep you posted of her progress, as she is fairly strong (85lb dumbbells for flat bench and 8 reps, 10 with help), so I am curious how her bench will improve.
 
Welcome to HST Akash.

Just so I have this straight: your gf intends to start cutting a month from now ie. she's only going to get to the end of 10s before restricting cals?

You do realise that it is highly unlikely that your gf will make any lean gains once she starts dieting (she's not carrying a lot of excess bf and she's a well trained individual) unless she gets some chemical assistance. That leaves only four weeks for lean gains and, to be honest, not much can possibly happen in that time.

I'm not trying to be smart or anything. I just want to be sure we're on the same wavelength.
 
Hi Lol, well the cutting date is not set in stone and even then she only plans to start cleaning up her diet more, not go on a severe caloric restriction....originaly her trainer told her to leave 4 month to diet down, but she wants to start sooner. She is already quite big for a natural show (actually she does not like the way she looks now, says she is too big /fat and wants to see more definition)
From what  I read HST helps to hold on to muscle while dieting...of course the end goal is to increase her LBM over the next 6 month.
 
OK. Losing a pound a week is a good goal but a bit more than that is definitely possible. Four months should allow her to trim off around 20lb without too much lean mass loss.

At a bw of 157lb she has around 31lb of bf if she is at 20%. She's probably going to need to get down to around 138lb to get to ~10% bf, depending on lean mass loses and hydration levels. So, four months could do it but I would recommend an extra week for a diet break (where she eats at maintenance) after the first two months plus a couple of weeks to fine tune things at the end before the contest. So that would be almost five months prep time.

HST is primarily for mass gains (strength gains will come too although that is not the primary focus) which, in most cases, will require a caloric excess. HST will work while dieting down (caloric deficit) but you would probably want to make some changes. If I were to use HST for contest prep I'd skip 15s and focus on 10s and 5s. Loads in this range will help keep your lean mass around because the tension on the muscle tissue will be higher enough to trigger all the right myofibrillar growth responses. This is essential if you are a natty lifter.

Seeing that your gf is going to be primarily concerned with dropping bf, may I also suggest that you spend some time over at Lyle McDonald's http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/.

Lyle knows his stuff, as far as training and dieting are concerned. He has lots of good things to say about HST but his primary focus is on helping folks to get their bf levels down. I'd recommend that your gf joins the bodyrecomposition forum (http://forums.lylemcdonald.com/) and the Monkey Island forum (http://monkeyisland.lylemcdonald.com/ although see the * below). Lyle often chimes in to personally answer questions, especially if they are non-retarded.  
smile.gif
 The bodyrecomposition forum is primarily for Lyle to support his various diet books, but you can ask any diet related questions there too (do make a search of past threads).

*The Monkey Island forum is a more comprehensive resource; it has more members and is very well supported. However, it is also known as the 'mean forum', so be warned that 'foolish' comments, however well meant, are often given a pretty harsh treatment. If you have a thick skin and are not easily offended it is a great place to research diet and training plans.

All the best.
 
Thnk you very much for the info Lol, will definitely check out those forums...for now how does her routine looks? Is it too many exercises, should we leave some out to maximize gains? Should we skip 2nd week of 15s?
 
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