How Many of You....

T

The Long Run

New Member
My joints are in the best shape of my life currently and I'm about 3 weeks short of completing my current HST cycle. If they stay in good shape during this cycle I was contemplating just skipping the 15s and 10s and going straight into the 5s again to see what happens.

How many of you have done this and does this diminish muscle gain?
 
No need to do 15's if your joints are ok.

Just go straight to the 10's and 5's.

Or forget HST all together and try something like max-stim if you really grow from the heavys!
 
Its no problem skipping the 15's from time to time. However, a steady diet of it and your joints will no longer be in such good shape.
 
I know too well about joints/ligaments not being in the best of shape and how long it takes to heal, sometimes plaguing you for years. When I was very young I had a bicycle accident which tore a ligament and left me on crutches for a couple of months and had a pain in my knee for years afterwards when I locked my legs straight. LOTS of heavy daily walking remedied that eventually, but I DO understand ligaments and joints are not to play with.

I also had not so wonderful elbows about a year ago but have been doing exercises for them and they're now in tremendous shape....not to mention I've ALWAYS done the 15s in every cycle I've done (this current one is my 4th).

I also don't plan on doing this consistently but you know like maybe every 3rd cycle or so, according to how my joints do.

Anyway I just wanted to get the opinions from you more experienced guys so thank you for the responses!
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I like the tens, personally. Then 8's, then 5 or 6's, then 3's...
I've often wondered if it would not be beneficial just to do one or two workouts of 15's before launching into the heavies...OR...to use a set of 15's for the warmups. Could it be that the 3x/weekly dose of lactic acid be beneficial enough to offset damages to the joints? Hmmmmmmm......
One thing about 15's for warmups tho would be fatigue. Might be better not to do the warmup set with the same exersize - maybe a complete alternate that just uses the same joints...like push/pull. Shoot, I might be on to something here...or it's just the flu talking....
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I never skip 10s. I would skip 15s if I was on a cut.

As Quad said, you could always do a high rep set as a warmup or just do a single week of 15s. However, although the first week of 15s is a relatively light week it does come immediately following a break, so it's a good way to ease back into a lifting cycle.

For me, there is something really special about the 15s; they offer a chance to push myself to new heights with weights that were once my 10RMs (or 5RMs). They are taxing in a different way to the rest of the cycle. I can't know whether I would have gained any faster by missing them out but I have certainly gained by keeping them in; my joints are happier than they have been in a long time.

My cycles are usually quite long so two weeks of 15s is only about 15% of my total cycle.
 
I might be the only one around here seeing gains on the 15's.  A slight variation is that I push to near-fatigue on every set rather than stopping at 15 reps, therefore probably offsetting load with volume.  Anyway, after 5 HST cycles, the measurements don't seem to lie so I've kept the 15's  :)
 
I rarely skip the 15's even on a cut. I enjoy the high rep work, and as far as joints are concerned - the real deal is stretching and warm-ups.
 
Another thing to consider (we've discussed before) is that glycogen can fill immediately...but real muscle growth is a slow process. How do you KNOW that you're growing in the 5's, when it just may be the TENS that did it? We glycogen and fluid fill right away and say "Awww Lookit, I'ma bigga boy now".
I think it's misleading.
 
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(quadancer @ Feb. 21 2008,09:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Another thing to consider (we've discussed before) is that glycogen can fill immediately...but real muscle growth is a slow process. How do you KNOW that you're growing in the 5's, when it just may be the TENS that did it? We glycogen and fluid fill right away and say &quot;Awww Lookit, I'ma bigga boy now&quot;.
I think it's misleading.</div>
^^ definitely!
 
I know its not growth during the 10s because I don't start getting a lot stronger and increasing in size until the 5s and I've gone up to a year between cycles and not lost the size for quite a few months.
 
Blasphemy!
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Wait 'till you're in your 50's and you may find yourself happy to be back. I've seen no other system that you can heal joints whilst gaining beef. Does it work forever? No, and I think that is the relevant question. If there is any reason HST doesn't work better than other systems, I'd venture to say that it's because of the time off in the SD. The cure? Longer cycles like my last one. It only got busted because of this flu.
 
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(colby2152 @ Feb. 21 2008,20:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Long HST cycles are the best.  Sci, keep in mind that Dan's Max-Stim is a specialized package of HST.</div>
Which I also don't follow.
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Sorry, I don't want to rock the boat. I'll shut up now.
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Most, if not all, of the principles of HST can and probably should be applied to  programs or routines other than those specifically suggested by Bryan.
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BTW, short cycles for me...no more than 6 weeks and preferably only 4 weeks.
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(The Long Run @ Feb. 20 2008,19:49)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">My joints are in the best shape of my life currently and I'm about 3 weeks short of completing my current HST cycle.  If they stay in good shape during this cycle I was contemplating just skipping the 15s and 10s and going straight into the 5s again to see what happens.  

How many of you have done this and does this diminish muscle gain?</div>
Calm the hell down and do things for the 'long run.'   Injuries slow guys down more than anything else, and if you start trying to rush your gains your ass is gonna be on the sidelines, whining about how you could have done this or that but you got injured.
 
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