How to train when goals have been reached?

R

Renky

Member
This may sound like a dumb post, but for years and years and years I have always trained to gain muscle. Now that I am stretching shirts and feeling I have reached my goals, I am wondering how to tackle training. HST has done what it proclaims in my opinion. You just have to get a plan and be consistant. I experimented with the five day routine and that boosted my results, but I feel it took a toll on me.Any opinions on how to train now for maintenance?Thanks,
 
I believe you need to set new goals to keep you motivated. The risk is you just plod along without feeling any sence of achievement. Set a new long term goal: strength or size and split it up inte mini-goals. Even if youre nearing your genetic limit theres always room for some type of improvement.
 
In general, once you have reached a point where you feel no further improvement is necessary (which is very rare) and, assuming you attained your muscularity without chemical assistance and you are not shredded down to contest BF, maintenance is surprisingly easy. Basically 6-8 exercises of one set each for a total body workout close to but below your rep max in the 6-8 rep range should do it. Twice per week may even be sufficient. Keep your diet clean and you should have no problems. Switch up the exercises every couple months or so and take a week off every 3 months to let your CNS recover. Progressive load and SD are not necessary.

If your gains were chemically induced, there is no drug free program to just maintain.
 
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Yep, I feel that I have achieved enough muscle. I have never taken steroids, so any muscle gained has been naturally. Most of my shirts stretch now, my chest/back measures 50", arms are nearly 17-3/4" and I am tipping the scales at 220lbs. I feel that for me, getting any bigger is not practical. If anything, I would like to work on trimming out the body fat some more and bringing the waist down just a bit more.

I LOVE bodybuilding and have worked out (off and on) since I was 15. It was the only sport I was ok at, so I embraced it. I do not plan to ever give it up.

I floundered many years with sub-optimal training programs and then came across HST. HST absolutely accelerated my results. I kept track of some measurements since I started HST and found my chest/back grew 4". Fastest responding body part for sure. As I got into HST, I found that once I settled on what exercises suited me and was consistent, the results just came. If I were younger, it would be interesting to see where my genetic limits would be.

One other thing to add... For me, the higher frequency just boosted my results along even faster. I did end up crashing and burning to a degree though due to my body not handling it for sustained periods. I ended up getting sick and just wore out, which is not like me. Maybe the younger guys can handle the higher frequency better? Not sure?

Anyway, it will be a new chapter for me. As mentioned in my first post, I have always trained like a crazy man trying every which way to gain an inch here and there. Now I am where I want to be size wise. I may just recalibrate and work on maintaining and refining the muscle.

Thanks!
 
Im glad for you. I feel Im not quite where I want to be. I turn 37 next week and have been working out for 12-15 years but both diet and technique/routines have been sub-optimal too. Ive been doing HST for a year now and Ive gained quite a bit of strength and pure muscle. I still feel Id like another couple of kg´s of lean mass. My plan is to continue the bulk/cut until Im 40. Hopefully Ive reached the mass-level I want to be at by then and just like yourself, maintain what I have and perhaps do a little more gentle bulk/cut in the future.

How do feel about OG´s advice, regarding less volume?
 
Once or twice a week is sufficient for maintenance. One day a little heavier, one day a little lighter.
 
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