How are most of you training now?

J

Joe.Muscle

Active Member
A lot of the regulars here I am sure are pretty aware of all the research so that being said how are a lot of you training now?

Are you still doing HST 3 days a week?

Are some of you doing the 40-60 reps per bodypart twice a week training per the research ( upper / lower 4 day split).

Or...are some of you doing MYO-REPS (Blades routine)....or any other type of routine?

I am just curious of what you guys have been doing and what your results are looking like?
 
I've been doing Starting Strength routine - which is (as many of you know it), 3 sets of 5 repetitions, with progressive load every session if possible, with the purpose of strength. When I get strong enough (that will take some years), I MIGHT (if my vanity is willing) to go for hypertrophy - and then I will use a more standard HST routine.

For now, I am happy to eat a lot and get strong overall and I wish to keep like that until it begins to reach my genetic limits.
 
For me, I have been alternating between Vanilla HST and Max-stim for about 18 months. However, for either "method", I've gone to a one on and two off routine. This seems to help my older body handle the loads better without pains.

When I do a MWF routine, I'll have joints hurting before the end of an 8 week cycle. in fact, I always end up cutting a cycle short. The last two cycles I've done on a 1X2 schedule, haven't produced pains and my gains have been good too.

As for reps, when doing HST, I do 1 set during 15's, 2 sets during 10's and then 2 or 3 during my 8's. I don't do a 5's cycle because the loads hurt my body any more. For max-stim, I do the one warm-up set and then one working set of 20. I do one movement per body part, except back, where I do 2. Doing the one on, two off cycle seems to allow me to do heavier loads too.

There's my two cents!
 
just twice a wk in the gym now,some kettlebell work at home.
still following HST principals,but also using myo-reps style sets.
 
I really like MYO-REPS!!!!
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Like MasterCFI, I have some fatigue and soreness problems, but I've been training for powerlifting. And having a 19 year old partner with thighs like tree trunks doesn't help either, so I'm considering another program called Growth Stimulus Training - uses most of the HST principles, but is set up differently, somewhat similar to the 531 of Wendler's. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=121353501&page=1
I like the idea of blowing out one major compound and following it with a couple assistance exersizes that use alternating rep schemes. Four workouts/week, one-month mesocycles.
I'm trying to get strength up and simultaneously find a program that won't wreck these old bones.
 
DeFranco Badass (think Gym Jones styly) - I know, sounds gimmicky. It does have a real good mix of exercises, and rep ranges although he does tend to favour the higher ranges 10-15 & 20-25. It is however geared towards Athletes/MMA and performance: making you tighter and 'quicker.'
Some times you get 'the dumb' and just need need a program where you plug in the weights, commit and go. It's only 12 weeks (36 workouts)
 
Joe, I'm going to be doing a combination of HST type training along with CrossFit type metcon workouts. I am also going to be working on more skill related lifting (C&J and Snatch) and some gymnastic skills as part of GPP work. I'm taking the cue from Crossfit for metabolic conditioning but applying what I know works for size and strength.

HST alone was a brilliant way for me to get to where I am now but I am not keen on getting any heavier and I don't want to have to continue to eat the large amounts of food required to do so. I want to improve my general fitness and my athletic ability while maintaining or improving my strength. I still want to get a 500lb deadlift, 400lb squat and 300lb bench but it may take me longer to get there than if I just focussed on those lifts and ignored GPP and metcon work.

I too, have experimented with Børge's Myo-Reps but I haven't stuck with them long enough to know whether they produce any more potent a stimulus than several sets of 5. They certainly let you get the job done swiftly, so on that basis alone they have been very useful when I've been short on time.
 
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(Lol @ Jan. 18 2010,10:22)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I want to improve my general fitness and my athletic ability while maintaining or improving my strength.</div>
This is were I am at.

At this point in my life I am trying to actually be healthy....vs looking like I am healthy!

As we all know bodybuilding is fun ....but its has it times when its not the healthy sport in the world...with all the overeating and stuff.
 
as both posts above,i think when you get to a certain age,and after all the aches and pains of heavy lifting,fitness comes into it.
 
So, I think for most of us, our goals dictate the type of training that we do.

Coming from a background of HIT and with a general lack of knowledge, switching to Bryan's HST was great for me because it enabled me to start making progress again; I was able to develop a good foundation of size and strength in a relatively short time with PRs in all my lifts coming cycle after cycle.

When I first found HST I thought it was going to be the way to get really big through training and diet alone; but then I read up on the subject and discovered that I'd also have to add great genetics and chemicals into the equation. So at that point my goal changed from purely size, to size and 'strength at whatever size I could attain'. I still have room for improvement in both departments but 'bigger and stronger' are no longer my only goals.

Personally, I'm glad I worked on hypertrophy and strength first before becoming more interested in lifts that have a higher element of skill and general fitness training. I have more goals now than when I started. I also have a much better understanding of the biomechanics of movement, physiology and the dietary side of things too so I'm better placed to attain any new goals I set (because my goals are, I hope, more realistic than when I started lifting).

I can't thank Bryan enough for explaining the principles behind HST and providing all the knowledge for free. How I'm training now is very much down to what I learnt here even though my main focus is no longer hypertrophy.
 
I do HST in a 6 day upper/lower split.

I will alter the emphasis from session to session depending on my goals and/or &quot;sore joint of the day&quot;. For example, I might emphasize chest and back on Monday, arms on Wednesday, and then chest and back again on Friday. I still hit everything during a given workout, but I will put in an extra set and/or exercise for whatever muscle group I am emphasizing that day.
 
Having done some intuitive work in between programs, or due to not being able to stay on a program, I've come to the conclusion that I might make some gains in strength and possibly size due to the principles at work, BUT...I find that I plateau sooner.
It's amazing at how many guys here and on Clutch and elsewhere are turning to programs that focus a little more on fitness training along with the other. Like Lol, I'm seeking better GCC and VO2max - especially since my last workout with sets of 18 and 20 reps almost floored me! I actually believe that my condition may be what is holding me back, it's been so long since I was in &quot;fit&quot;.

But I STILL hate cardio.
 
i never looked into the science behind any type of training i did untill i came on the HST board,unless you count what i read in the HIT books (but that isnt really sceince
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) alyhough thats what got me to look into more scientific methods which brought me on here.

all my weight training is based on HST principals,but the myo reps helps me make it more of a cardio type workout now,and i also do some cardio,plus kettlebell/stepper/punchbag, work.
 
Im no scientist or labcoat ....still far from it.

But thanks you all you guys and HST...I know WAAAAY more than I ever did about training.

I remember the first couple of months here at HST back in 2004 ...I couldn't never understand these science guys....LOL....
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I'm still on a vanilla type HST program. 3 X week, wholebody workouts plus 20mins cardio afterwards.

Still does the trick for me.
I dont get bored from it.

I occaisonally change an exercise or something each cycle, but otherwise just dont bother messing with the original formula... if it aint broke, dont fix it!

Over they years - and I've been on this site, and training HST since 2002 - I have looked at and - sort of - tried tweaking and the like, but, at the end of the day, I couldnt find much advantage, and just confused myself more, so went back to the basics, and have been there ever since.

5 exercises, usual HST protocol of 1 set of 15's, 2 sets of 10's and 3 sets of 5's...

Still feel good from it, and I'm sure it helps in slowing down the aging process!

Brix
 
Very different than previously, I am using Dorian Yates' 4 way split set to a six day cycle:

Chest (incline, flat)
Bicep (BB curls)

Quads (front squats)
Hams (Romanian dead-lifts + dead-lifts)

OFF

Delts (overhead press, upright rows)
Triceps (close-grip bench)

Back (chest supported rows, Yates rows)
Rear delts (face-pulls)

rep ranges are all over the map, the lowest is using singles for my conventional deadlift and progressing reps (ala Doug Hepburn), highest is 12's on front squat (5 sets ramped), most are done for 6-8 reps.

I have been going through some personal life devastation since last June and found myself unable to deliver the focus and personal intensity needed to continue my usual low rep, high set, high %age 1RM workouts so I lowered the intensity, raised the volume and ate a LOT less. I have gone from 265 on June 2nd 2009 to 207.5 (this mornings weigh in before workout).

I have lost considerable strength but have kept a surprising amount all things considered (nutrition and sleep have been very spotty and stress levels have been off the charts - It's a divorce thing...) but I actually lifted much more frequently than before (4 days in a row at times) and muscularity is the highest it's ever been. I do sometimes feel &quot;small&quot; and weird as I'm used to being much bigger but other times I'll flex my quad in the mirror and get a kick out of how &quot;body builder&quot; it looks.

Life is slowly reaching some level of stability for me and I will begin the slow process of re-building SOME of the size but I'm kind of enjoying lower BF %age for right now and have kind of gotten into the &quot;beach body&quot; mind set to some degree.
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I have been doing Crossfit for almost a year now.
It suits my needs much better. My job requires me to be fit and strong. Just strenght doesn't cut it and i was getting sick of doing the same stuff over and over.

Thanks to HST i discovered my body grows better on the 15's then the 5's. I love doing 5 's and other heavy stuff like Starting strenght, westside and Iron Addicts simple power based routine.
But in the end HST tought me that high reps is the way for me.
So the Crossfit mix of metcons, endurance and raw power is perfect for me.

Lol and anyone thinking of trying it i really strongly would advise you not to mess with the programming.
I would just try the mainpage WOD's without any altering or additions.
I know it looks like not enough power work but you really have to experience it to feel it.
Speaking for myself i have made gains like nothing i have seen before.

Also check out www.crossfitfootball.com
wich is crossft metcons combined with strenght work.
That sort of is exactly what your thinking of doing.
But i recommend doing the mainsite first. Don't forget to scale!! Don't jump in trying the max workout.
Go to the scaled workouts at BrandX and pick one you can do.

If i can help out with anything just let me know.
 
What are your stats? What were they before? I know CF is good for conditioning, but I've not seen droves of guys saying they built MUSCLE mass on it. For me, powerlifting broke through where I was stuck, although I've lost conditioning that I'm working on regaining with GST and possibly another HST cycle.
 
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