Quote[/b] ]HST Guidelines
With all that out of the way, let's talk about how to set up your own HST program.
Determining weights for each workout
Find all your RMs (repetition maximums) for each exercise you're going to use. You'll need to know your 15 rep max, your 10 rep max, and your 5 rep max for each exercise, and you'll need to know these numbers before you start the first HST cycle. Your maxes will determine what weights you'll use throughout the entire cycle. For the second cycle, simply add 5 to 10 pounds to all lifts where necessary.
(This may sound complicated, but I'll provide charts and examples later on in this article.)
There's an obligatory increase in weight in increments of 5 to 20 pounds each workout from beginning to last. Your last workout of each two-week block will be your max weight. This means that at times you'll be working with less than your maximum weight for any given rep scheme. This is by design. You'll reach max poundages for a given rep range on the last workout of each two-week block.
Assign your max weights to the final workout of each two-week block. Then, in 5 to 10 pound increments, assign weights in decreasing fashion starting from the last workout working backward to the first. So, for example, if your 10-rep max on a given exercise is 200 pounds, assign 200 pounds for the last workout of the 10-rep block, then assign weights that build up to your max in six workouts (two week's worth of training sessions). For our example, using five pound increments, the weights for the whole two week block of 10 reps would be 175,180,185,190,195, and 200. Do this for each exercise and for each rep scheme.
Reps
Repetitions will decrease every two weeks in the following order: 15 reps for two weeks, 10 reps for two weeks, 5 reps for two weeks, then continue with your 5 rep max for two weeks or begin two weeks of negatives.
The decrease in reps simply accommodates the increasing load. However, the high-rep workouts serve an important purpose. Higher rep sets that really burn benefit the tendons and muscle by both increasing resistance to injury (i.e. promotes tendon healing) as well as increasing functional capacity respectively.
Here's an example of what your weights might look like for your HST cycle. This particular chart is just a sample of a 10-rep block of HST. Keep in mind that your choice of exercises and maxes might be different.
[refer to graphics under the 'HST' tab]
If necessary, you can adjust any of the weights for each workout as you go, but try to stick with a constant progression in weight from workout to workout. Sometimes, due to lighter weights for high reps (e.g. lateral raises), it might be necessary not to increase the weight every workout, but instead use the same weight for two consecutive workouts.
There will only be a few exercises that will be appropriate/practical to use for negatives. For those exercises that aren't practical to use for negatives (like squats, legs presses, and the like) simply continue an additional two weeks using your 5-rep max each workout for those exercises.
Sets
Sets will be limited to one or two work sets per exercise. There's no problem with a single work set per body part as long as the frequency is sufficiently high and the progression in weight is consistent followed by an appropriate period of strategic deconditioning. There's nothing wrong with doing more than one or two sets, it's just more taxing on the central nervous system without significantly contributing to growth.
Frequency
Each muscle group should be trained three times per week. This adheres to the frequency principle. A loading stimulus for hypertrophy must be frequent enough to create a consistent "environment" for the muscle to adapt to. This frequency is also based on the time course of acute anabolic effects of training (see "High Frequency Principle" above).
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday are rest days. Light cardio (20 to 40 minutes) may be performed on rest days. Incline treadmill (brisk walk) should be your first choice. Adequate rest is important. Although it's fine to experience some accumulation of fatigue, adequate and regular rest is important to avoid injuries and control central fatigue.
Other
• Complete each workout using designated poundages, even if your muscles are slightly sore from the previous workout. It's important to know the difference between an injury and ordinary muscle soreness. Never train a muscle that's at risk of injury. Always warm up sufficiently and use correct form to avoid injury. Listen to your body.
• Following each 6 to 8-week cycle, a nine day period of strategic deconditioning should be taken during which no training should be performed.
• The whole workout can be split into a morning and afternoon session if you want. It can likewise be doubled, performing the same workout morning and evening. Keeping volume (number of sets and exercises) low is critical if doubling the workout.
To summarize, you'll do fifteen reps per exercise the first two weeks and train the entire body three times per week. You'll only be performing one or two work sets per exercise in this full body workout. In the second two week block, you'll increase the weight and drop the reps to ten. In the next two week block you'll do the same, only this time dropping the reps to five. Finally, you perform only negatives where appropriate (continue using five reps where not appropriate) and then take nine days off for the strategic deconditioning period. During this off time, you can perform light cardio.
