how many sets on iso's during 5's?

waray214

Member
i just barely started the 5's and i was wondering how many sets i should do on the isolation exercises? i only have 3 iso exercises- close-grip bench, bbell curls, and dbell shrugs. during the 15s and 10s i only did one set per iso exercise and on my first day of the 5s i did 3 sets on the compounds and only 1 set on the iso's. should i stick with the one set do something more like 2 sets on the iso exercises? hst ftw!
 
faz, thanks for the reply. i guess i'll go for the 2 sets just to keep volume more consistent. i've been really impressed with my gains during the 10's, i just dont wanna lose any of those gains due to a decrease in volume on the iso's during the 5's. either way it's not that big of a deal though since a good majority of my routine is comprised of compound exercises.
 
yeah your compounds should work your tris/bis good enough,infact most guys on here drop isos altogether in the 5s.
 
I like to add isos in at a higher rep range after the compounds when you get into the 5s. Doing isos with 5 rep range loads is too hard on the joints once you start to get beyond a certain level of strength. I've been doing this a lot lately for the arms and for the chest since my pecs and arms are my lagging bodyparts and it is working really well for me. Basically I do my compounds at whatever load I am using, then afterward I go and do an iso for each of the muscle groups I want to emphasize and I do 15 - 25 myoreps with around an 8 to 15 RM load. The only downside is that I get very painful, very swollen pumps in my arms doing this. I destroyed my ipod armband the other day because of this while doing 25 myoreps on tricep pushdowns. Anyway, try it out and see how it works for you.
 
ya i noticed a lot of guys drop the iso's when they get to the 5's. is the 5 rep range useless for bi's, tri's, and traps? if so, then why does bryan have so many iso's in his sample routine? i focus on compounds mainly anyway, no chest, shoulder, back iso's, etc, i'm just trying to figure out what is the best way to get the most out of hst, this is my first go around. thanks all you guys btw for the advice. i'm just trying to pick your minds and acquire as much hst knowledge as possible
 
ya i noticed a lot of guys drop the iso's when they get to the 5's. is the 5 rep range useless for bi's, tri's, and traps? if so, then why does bryan have so many iso's in his sample routine? i focus on compounds mainly anyway, no chest, shoulder, back iso's, etc, i'm just trying to figure out what is the best way to get the most out of hst, this is my first go around. thanks all you guys btw for the advice. i'm just trying to pick your minds and acquire as much hst knowledge as possible

sample routine is exactly that a sample,if he didnt put isos in,people looking at HST would say "HST is useless it doesnt use isos" they already take the sample routine as thats all HST is.
as tot said isos can be very hard on the joints with 5s loads,and often people tend to cheat,plus you are already getting a good workout from the compounds,doing what tot does isnt a bad idea if you want more tut.
 
ya i noticed a lot of guys drop the iso's when they get to the 5's. is the 5 rep range useless for bi's, tri's, and traps? if so, then why does bryan have so many iso's in his sample routine? i focus on compounds mainly anyway, no chest, shoulder, back iso's, etc, i'm just trying to figure out what is the best way to get the most out of hst, this is my first go around. thanks all you guys btw for the advice. i'm just trying to pick your minds and acquire as much hst knowledge as possible

Not sure why you would think it is useless for those muscle groups? Heavier loads would be more effective for growth. The only reason I recommend against isos in the 5 rep range is because of the chance of getting hurt or getting an overuse injury. Elbows are especially sensitive especially when you are curling over 135 lbs regularly during the 5s. At that point I would definitely recommend not doing those isos in the 5 rep range.

But if you have lagging arms and they need the extra work, then by all means do them during the 5s, but again, I recommend using a lighter load and doing it myo-reps or rest-pause style.
 
i didn't mean those iso's were useless in the 5's. i more said that to play devil's advocate a little and see what people said. useless was definitely an over-exaggerative word. i guess a better way to phrase it would be "less effective". i've just read a lot where people comment that a higher rep range i.e. 10-12 are better for iso's. not sure of the validity of this. but i definitely wouldn't think the 5 rep range for bi's, tri's, traps, etc would be obsolete.
how important is TUT btw? it's definitely harder to keep up TUT in the 5's due to the heavier loads. do you guys find that much of a factor? i can keep my eccentric motion decently controlled during the lighter part of the 5's so my TUT is probably around 20-25 sec per set. but as i get closer to my max, my TUT will inevitably continue to drop. I've heard the optimal TUT for hypertrophy is in the 40-70 sec range which is easily accomplished in the 15s and 10s but definitely near impossible for me during the 5s. Is TUT really that vital for hypertrophy?
again much props to all you hst experts out there
 
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