HST room for speculation

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russell8301

New Member
After reading thru the HST program i realize i dont thing i will enjoy walking into the gym 5/6 times to not be doing my max reps to postive failure. what i mean is i only get to reach positive faliure in my workouts one in every six workouts, the rest seem like they will be half assed.

But is says:

"Of course, you could adjust your reps every week (e.g. 15,12,10,8,5,etc), but this is more complicated and people might not understand. Often times, in order to communicate an idea you must simplify things, even at the expense of perfection."

Does this mean that it would be better to work you way up to your max weight every week (friday) and lower your reps every week 15 12 10 8 5 , this way one in every three workouts you get to go for max weight and only 2/3 are half assed.
This also means that you dont have to start soo far from your max weight since you only have two workouts leading up to max weight.

could this be better, i would like the idea of "maxing out" every week on friday.

Also i would like to hear from anyone doing or has done HST. What were your resluts? and what did your workout plan look like?
 
You mean just repping out? You could do that, I guess, as long as you can recover in time to do your next scheduled workout, and keep upping the weight.
 
What do you mean exacly by "repping out"?

what i mean is say 200 is your 15 rep max, monday you do 190, wed-195 friday 200

then the very next week would be 12 reps

your 12 rep max is 300 the next week would be mon-280, wed-290, friday-300

then 10, 8, 5 rep weeks

does that make sence?
 
No. I thought what you meant was you wanted to rep out (do as many reps/weight as you can, until failure) on fridays. So your max is 100, you'd do:

70x15 75x15 80xrep out
85x15 90x15 95xrep out

Something like that. As long as the weight is going up, the reps don't matter so much, at least that's what I have gathered from doing some reading.

BTW I don't know what you are portraying in your second post.
 
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(russell8301 @ Mar. 18 2006,22:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">what i mean is say 200 is your 15 rep max, monday you do 190, wed-195 friday 200

then the very next week would be 12 reps

your 12 rep max is 300 the next week would be mon-280, wed-290,  friday-300

then 10, 8, 5 rep weeks

does that make sence?</div>
I doubt your maxes are that far apart but anyway, sure you can do it this way.

The object is to progressively overload the muscle, your example would accomplish that.

However I would advise, especially in lage loads use a larger jump in increments. IE 180-190-200 or even 170-185-200
 
Yep, Dan is right!

Main thing is to progress, and also agree that if you are using shorter time to get to max, then increase your progression.

I must say though that if you take a good SD (which I doubt you will at first and then come comaplin that HST does not work)
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you may find the original 15/10/5/5 quite attractive and producing good results, however at HST we don't demand anything of anyone, just stick to the principles.
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I have actually just did a half cycle expiermenting with new reps for fun. Still followed the principals of load and frequency.

What I did was 4 sets like this.

12 reps 1st set
10 reps second set
8 reps 3rd set
6 reps 4 set

just used traditional rep range in one workout 3 times a week and I would repeat the weights for 2 workouts then increase weight by 5 to 10 pounds and had great results.
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Yeah, that will work, if you went up/dopwn I'd say you were doing the pyramid scheme.

I often do that with bench, eventually building up to my load for 2 sets, I find it to be quite enjoyable and produces good results, the only issue is that close to the max it might make one fail before reaching desired reps, buty either than that (and if you have a partner to get you to target reps) it is OK!
 
I've tried numerous workouts over the years. Full-body. X-day splits. Max-OT. And now, HST. Now, I'm only into the 2nd week of 15's, so it's still early in the cycle – and this is my first cycle. Like a lot of people, I really wondered about this program, especially after determining my max reps, then backing down the weight for them for each day's workout. When I looked at the first couple of days of 15's, I thought, &quot;That's it!? That's all I'll be lifting!?&quot;

Well, I got over my pride, re-read the HST-FAQ, did the correct strategic deconditioning, and then started the cycle. I can say that in that first week, I've worked and sweated more in those 45 minute workouts than I have in a long time. (And I tend to be very strict in my lifting. I watch my rest intervals, pay attention to form, lifting tempo, no BS'ing, etc.)

What I think is important when deciding to do this workout are the following:
- Read the basic info and the HST-FAQ several times, and then read them again. Make sure that you understand what you will be doing, and WHY you will be doing it. Strategic Deconditioning (SD) is probably a difficult thing for many to swallow. Let's face it, we don't see anything more than a day or two out of the gym as beneficial. But, just like you can't run an entire marathon at sprinting speeds, you can't continuously lift at max effort. At some point, you have to take a break to let your body rest. This is planned as part of the cycle.
- For your first cycle, follow the basic workout. That's: Squats; Deadlifts; Bench; Rows; Pull-ups (or Lat Pull-Down); Military Press; Tri (skull crusher; press-down); Curls. Come on! You mean you don't have 6 – 8 weeks to give towards trying something new? What's the worst that could happen? It's not like you'll be wasting your time. You'll be working out, so give it a try! There are a lot of posts by people who have never done the program wanting to &quot;tweak&quot; the program. I don't get it.
- Accurately identify your RM's. That's three separate RM's. 15's. 10's. 5's. That's three days of hard lifting. Those, by themselves, should be good workouts and cause for a week's rest afterwards. When in doubt of the weight, err on the side of caution and use the lighter weight. Again, what's the rush? In a hurry to see the doctor / therapist because you strained / pulled something?
- Watch your lifting tempo. This is a big deal, in my opinion. When you see the weights you'll be lifting in the first week of each rep, it can be tempting to lift too quickly because they are &quot;so light&quot;. Don't do it. Go slow. Move deliberately. Concentrate on your form. I've read that a 4-2-4 tempo is good for the 15's. I challenge anyone who doubts that this is effective to do it. I guarantee you will be hot by the 10th rep and burning by the 15th. You can always pick up the tempo towards the end of a set to get to the target number of reps.
- The HST FAQ suggests the following rep scheme for weeks 1 – 6: 2,2,2,1,2,1 That's what I'm following and think it will be a good starting point. I don't have a basis for knowing how well I'll do, so I'll follow that guiding principle. After a couple of cycles, I may change it, but not 'til then.
- See my first point, but don't suffer from &quot;analysis paralysis&quot;. That’s where we try to formulate &quot;THE perfect&quot; workout. In the process, we waste a lot of time not working out. Read the program. Read the FAQ. Determine your maxes. SD. Then start the cycle.
- Don't over-analyze or over-complicate this. I happen to have a shoulder injury right now. I'm not doing pull-ups or lat pull-downs. Not the end of the world. I'll get 'em next time or whenever. But I'm not exasperating the problem and I'm continuing to work out. Not rocket science.

We'll see how this turns out for me, but I'm giving it a whole-hearted effort. It may be a bust. It may be the best thing for me. But I won't know until I've actually tried it. So, here I am.
 
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(Chuck L Head @ Mar. 21 2006,13:18)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">The HST FAQ suggests the following rep scheme for weeks 1 - 6: 2,2,2,1,2,1.</div>
Just clarifying.... didn't you mean SET scheme?
 
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(Enigma66 @ Mar. 21 2006,14:17)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(Chuck L Head @ Mar. 21 2006,13:18)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">The HST FAQ suggests the following rep scheme for weeks 1 - 6: 2,2,2,1,2,1.</div>
Just clarifying.... didn't you mean SET scheme?</div>
Darn...I tried to make sure I nailed that whole post! Yes, you are correct. I meant set scheme.
 
Chuck

Excellent post, this should be pinned to the &quot;forum wall&quot;, for newbies to read carefully and follow to the T.

I agree 1000 % that all should try at least once to do the Vaniall method, unless you are very experienced and even then, I'd still recommend it!
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