HST Newbie questions

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Datoyminaytah

New Member
What is the proper way to test yourself for a 15-rep max (or 10, or 5?) That is, how do you keep from tiring yourself out if you guess wrong the first time? Do you shoot high or low first? Or can you use calculations to correct a 14 or 16 rep max to 15?

Why is it important to specifically test each rep range? Why not just test 15 and predict 10 and 5 based on the formulas available to do this?

Suppose you underestimate your 15 rep max, so that by the end of the second week, on what should be the last 15-rep workout, you know you could do more reps? Can you extend the 15-rep workouts, adding weight in the same increment, until you're pretty sure you couldn't do 15 reps with any more weight?

E.g. you estimate your 15 rep max as 150, with 5 lb increments, so your workouts are:

15x125 15x130 15x135
15x140 15x145 15x150 <- not maximal effort

So next week you continue:

15x155 15x160 <- maximal effort

Then you drop to 10 reps because you know 15x160 was your max.
 
Its an interesting point you make, what I do is guess a weight, then increment by how ever many more/less reps I could do.

Eg. Say I can do 16-17 reps at 150, then I'd set my 15RM to be 160, and work backwards. May not be ideal but its close enough. By the time the two weeks are done you'll be stronger and it won't be your 15RM anymore. Conversly, if I could only do 13-14 reps of 150, I'd say my 15RM was 140.

I believe though that HST is supposed to be reps with perfect form, not to absolute failure. Not sure though.

You don't use formulas to work out your 10RM and 5RM based on 15RM, cause every one is different. Those formulas are just approximations, they give you an idea of what weight to try when you test your 10 and 5 RMs. You'll benefit more from actually doing it though, rather than guessing.
 
Sure there are calculators, but besides hypertrophy your 15 RM is influenced quite a bit by muscular endurance, your 5RM is much more influenced by CNS efficiency than endurance. So it might not be very accurate to predict one from the other, as two people with the same level of muscularity might have quite different endurance or CNS efficiency. If you just want to test one, maybe the 10s would be better. Less likely to be way off predicting 5RM or 15RM from your 10RM than predicting 5RM from 15RM or vice-versa.

Generally 10s and 5s are more productive, 15s more to prepare you for the heavier weights. If the final weight seems too light, I'd be more inclined to extend 10s, 5s, and negs than 15s. If you get stronger during the cycle you may not be quite at a maximal weight at the end of one of the mini-cycles anyway. Then you know that you can increment the weights a bit next time. It's also not necessary to be at absolute failure at the end but you should probably come within a rep or two.

If you test and you're not within a rep or two then rest a few minutes (whatever you need to get back to full strength) and try a different weight. If you start a test and after a few reps its obvious that you're way off, stop, rest, pick a different weight.

If you have even a rough idea, it shouldn't take too many trials to get reasonably close.
 
Once you've run a few cycles you'll know your maxes and can just add 10-15 pounds over for your next cycle. You can also estimate your 15RM and add weight every workout without regard to maxing on a certain day. The rep scheme is just a template, you don't have to do 2 weeks of 15's, then 2 weeks of 10's etc., what's important is progressive load over time.
 
Peak Power has just about got it right!

If you more or less know how much you can push

You try a weight that you "guesstimate" you could push for that many reps and then adjust slightly around it, by the time the 2 weeks are over you'll be stronger than your max anyway (kind of a safety level to avoid failure - niucely built in and all
laugh.gif
).

If you don't know how much you can lift in a set rep scheme

you have to adjust more, you will have to put a weight on the bench and try and from whatever reps you can get out, adjust up or down

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Then you drop to 10 reps because you know 15x160 was your max</div>

No you don't because by then it is not your true max any longer, and even if it still was, it will only be by the 13th, 14th or even 15th rep, and going to failure once every two weeks is ok, notice it is failure on the last rep or so, although I doubt you would be reaching failure by then anyway!

Calculating, yes it can work, but will lead to a bigger margin of error than trying it, as long as you are prepared to adjust as you go along I don't see what the problem would be.
 
I want to get started. I recently took a week off, just before I heard about HST. Calculated my 15rm on Friday. I'm tempted to just start the cycle this week and estimate my 10rm and 5rm when I get there, instead of testing them this week and then taking another whole week off. Would that be terribly bad? I just feel like I've had too much time off already.
 
I did that, because I misread the original instructions. If anything your 10RM and 5RM weights will be a bit higher cause your've become stronger in those weeks of training. But because the body adapts to specific demands I don't think the increase in my strength/endurance at 15 reps has affected my 10RM that much, so I don't think it matters at all.
 
Ok, for all time's sake, and for not loosing out in gym time add 20% to 15 RM and make it your 10 RM and another 20% to your 10 RM and make that your 5 RM.

If you short add, if your over drop some go by feel, but remember this is not the way to go really
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Or you could use my method, which puts me very close to my max, usually earlier in the game. You simply do your 15's, then when you get to the tens, either just keep adding by the same increments you were adding, or, if you feel that that is too light, bump it a bit. You should find that when you get to the max day, you may have had to repeat a workout weight to get there, but you WILL be at max for that minicycle. Then do the same thing for the next one. I've gained some fantastic strength this way without ever 'calculating' or doing rep maxes, save for the very first 15's.
Just remember that if you hit failure early, repeat that weight next workout. You'll almost always get it done, and can move on up after that.
 
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