I'm New, Please help me get started on to the HST Program

Z

Zeebodybuilder

New Member
I have read some info on the main HST site and it makes kind of sense but really have to try it out and find out for myself. I want to build more muscles and strength. Is this possible wile using this HST program.

Could reps or any friendly people on this forum give me a few links or help me get started as I really dont have a clue on what to do first and what to follow etc. All your help will be dearly appreciated and in return I can log my training On Bodybuilding.com/forum and this forum. I am a memeber of Bodybuilding/forum aswell.

I have used a feq programs in the past the only 1 I can honestly say which helped increase my strength was the Mas Cows 5x5 intermediate Workout plan.

U await your replies..

Thanks
 
Zeebodybuilder said:
I have read some info on the main HST site and it makes kind of sense but really have to try it out and find out for myself. I want to build more muscles and strength. Is this possible wile using this HST program.

Could reps or any friendly people on this forum give me a few links or help me get started as I really dont have a clue on what to do first and what to follow etc. All your help will be dearly appreciated and in return I can log my training On Bodybuilding.com/forum and this forum. I am a memeber of Bodybuilding/forum aswell.

I have used a feq programs in the past the only 1 I can honestly say which helped increase my strength was the Mas Cows 5x5 intermediate Workout plan.

U await your replies..

Thanks
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There are many posts on this forum that cover the basics, but I'm bored at the moment so I'll give you a quick rundown:

Entire program is 8 weeks, broken down into 2 weeks of 15 rep sets, 2 weeks of 10 rep sets, 2 weeks of 5 rep sets, and finally 2 weeks of negatives/drop sets/continuation of 5s.
You train 3x a week, full body each session; or 6x a week, alternating lower and upper body
Pick your exercises. Common lifts for HST: squat, deadlift, bench press, overhead press, row, pullup, dip. You can choose whatever exercises you want, but make sure you are hitting every muscle.
Test yourself to see what your current 15, 10, & 5 rep maxes are for the exercises you have selected.
Set up each 2 week block starting at a weight approx 75% of your max and work your way up to 100% max.
Do the program. Eat a lot. Sleep well.
Finish the whole 8 weeks, take off 9 – 12 days and start over with an increase of 5 – 10 lbs per exercise

Here's a good thread for the basics: http://thinkmuscle.com/forum/showthread.php?14491-HST-For-Dummies
 
Thanks for your reply above mate..

Test yourself to see what your current 15, 10, & 5 rep maxes are for the exercises

For example how do I test myself to find out what my current rep max on bench press is at 15, 10, & 5 rep.. In 1 workout.. could you give me a exaple please.. Thanks
 
Zeebodybuilder said:
Thanks for your reply above mate..

Test yourself to see what your current 15, 10, & 5 rep maxes are for the exercises

For example how do I test myself to find out what my current rep max on bench press is at 15, 10, & 5 rep.. In 1 workout.. could you give me a exaple please.. Thanks
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Don't test all those rep ranges in 1 workout. Spread it out. I'd probably do 15s on Monday, 10s on Wednesday, and 5s on Friday.

How you go about testing your maxes depends on how much experience you have lifting. If you have a lot of experience, you probably have a general idea what you can lift. Test yourself based on what you feel you can do. If you have little to no experience lifting, put half your bodyweight on the bar and see how it feels - go up or down from there, accordingly - but try to find you max weight within 4 or 5 sets. You don't want to burn yourself out on just 1 lift when you have to test others during the same session.
 
whistledixie said:
Don't test all those rep ranges in 1 workout. Spread it out. I'd probably do 15s on Monday, 10s on Wednesday, and 5s on Friday.

How you go about testing your maxes depends on how much experience you have lifting. If you have a lot of experience, you probably have a general idea what you can lift. Test yourself based on what you feel you can do. If you have little to no experience lifting, put half your bodyweight on the bar and see how it feels - go up or down from there, accordingly - but try to find you max weight within 4 or 5 sets. You don't want to burn yourself out on just 1 lift when you have to test others during the same session.
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Hi can you help me break this down..

So first I need to choose my exercises right..?

I have alot of experienec on lifiting so should I be doing guess work for example u know i can bench press 90kg easy for 10-11 reps so what i say im done on that i dont need to test myelf on bench for 10 reps finding out this weight?

Also abit confused why do you want to find out you 15 rep 10 rep 5 rep max in 1 week. wouldnt that be over training the muscles again and again all in a 1 week?

also what kindo of warm up sets reps are we supposed to do before hitting the main rep mark set example 15 or 10 rep?
 
Zeebodybuilder said:
Hi can you help me break this down..

So first I need to choose my exercises right..?

I have alot of experienec on lifiting so should I be doing guess work for example u know i can bench press 90kg easy for 10-11 reps so what i say im done on that i dont need to test myelf on bench for 10 reps finding out this weight?

Also abit confused why do you want to find out you 15 rep 10 rep 5 rep max in 1 week. wouldnt that be over training the muscles again and again all in a 1 week?

also what kindo of warm up sets reps are we supposed to do before hitting the main rep mark set example 15 or 10 rep?
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Yep, choose your exercises first.

If you are certain you know your max on a particular lift for a particular rep #, use that. But you say you could do 90kg easy. If its easy, it is not your max.

I tested my maxes in 1 week before I started my cycle. No overtaining issues here.

Warm ups are a matter of preference. I like to jump rope to get my core temp up and then do a set or two of the main lifts (press, squat or dead) ramping up to the weight I'm lifting on that day. The heavier the load, the more I warm up.
 
whistledixie said:
The heavier the load, the more I warm up.
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Yup, me, too.

Don't worry about overtraining in only one week. However, if you'd prefer, you can just find either your 5, 10, or 15 rep max then use a calculator to estimate the others. I don't necessarily recommend that, but yeah, finding all those maxes for each exerise can be a lot of work.

Keep in mind that, after you find your rep maxes, you are going to do a Strategic Deconditioning for 9 to 14 days. That entails a lot of sitting on your butt and resting, so you'll be well recovered from the labor of finding your maxes.
 
Please see below and have a look if iv covered every muscle/bodypart.

Iv taken most of the exercises and the way they rae laid out from the HST site the example routine for HST.

My exercise selection:

Legs
squat,
Stif legged dead

Back
Pull ups
Barbell rows

Chest
bench press,
Incline dumbell press

Shoulders
overhead press,
Side lateral raises

Traps
Shrugs

Biceps
Barbel curls

Triceps
Tricep extensions

Calves
Seated calf raises

Abs
Rope crunches

So what do I do Now? I have to find out my 15 rep,10 rep and 5 rep maxes for all the above exercises right?

Ok so how do I start this. Plaing etc. Should I break the baove exercises into 3 days workout to work out the maxes or do I do it in 1 day. example what I mean is If im working out the maxes for bench press at 15 reps. and I ahve just found that out then immediately I should increase the weight and go for a weight which allows me to do 10 res and then take a break rest and go to the 5 rep etc. Is this method rigth as it sound quite energy depleting?
 
Ok I found my answer to my question above:

Please see..

For example, on Monday you would find your 15 rep max for every exercise, Wednesday you would do the 10s, and Friday the 5s. After you figure out your maxes, take 9-14 days off from any training. This is called Strategic Deconditioning.

What you guys think this is the rigth way huh?
 
As I have been training heavy 3 days aa week full body workouts.. Should I take a week off from gym before I start to work out my maxes for each exercise. Or will it be ok to take 2 days rest and start working out the maxes on HST?

The reason I ask this as Im still trying to understand this program and until I fully dont understand it by heart I will not start it. I need to know it so That I can explain it to any1 else. Also makes me more confident at what I do.

Everything makes sense and is coming togther in the picture but still abit unsure on how many warmup sets should I be doing for each exercise?

For example monday I go in to find out all my 15 rep maxes.

So I start off with Squats

set 1 warm up empty 20kg bar 5 reps
set2 40kg 5 reps
set 3 60kg 5 reps
set4 80 kg 5 reps
set5 90kg = 15 reps my 15 rep max etc

If I do it like above of how i do it normally on a typical aqauat warmup then that would mean Iv already done 4 sets before my main working set and Iv done 20 reps which mean nothing apart from warm up but will have a effect on tiring me out before I get to my working set. I hope you understand what Im trying to say..


Also I f this is the way I have to do it then this also means it will take alot more then 1.30mins to fully complete the whole exrcises and finfing out the rep maxes for each day. As there is alot of sets to do, roughly is there is 8 exercises x 5 warmup sets each = 40 sets each for 1 days workout.. That all i was thinking about Couldnt it be classed as overtraining or over load to the body..

The body will also be very sore I think So im guessing it will be even hard to complete the next workout which will be finsing out the 10 rep maxes.

Lets se what you have to say about what I wrote above..

By the way have a got my exercises worng.. As in the template there are like 2 exercises for a bigger body part chest/back/legs and 1 exercise for smaller body parts like biceps /triceps. Sorry just confused..

Thanks for your help guys nearly there now..
 
As I have been training heavy 3 days aa week full body workouts.. Should I take a week off from gym before I start to work out my maxes for each exercise. Or will it be ok to take 2 days rest and start working out the maxes on HST?
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I think you’ll be fine just taking 2 days off and then on Monday test your 15RM, Wednesday your 10RM and Friday your 5RM or something similar. Since you’re already lifting heavy 3 days a week this would be like doing a Light/Medium/Heavy split which should work out great for testing your maxes.

set 1 warm up empty 20kg bar 5 reps
set2 40kg 5 reps
set 3 60kg 5 reps
set4 80 kg 5 reps
set5 90kg = 15 reps my 15 rep max etc
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I tend to cut back on the warm up reps as I get closer to my working weight. I find it’s less tiring and faster since I don‘t need any more recovery time between warm up sets than it takes to change the weights. So it would look something more like this.

Air Squats x 10
Bar x 8
135 lbs x 5
185 lbs x 2
205 lbs x 1
225 lbs x 10 working set

The body will also be very sore I think So im guessing it will be even hard to complete the next workout which will be finsing out the 10 rep maxes.
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I am sore every day because I workout 6-7 days a week. But because my volume (number of sets and reps) is no more than if I were doing 3 full body workouts a week my body seem to handle it. I suggest that you set the volume for your first cycle to be close to what you are already doing each week since you know you can already handle it and just divide it up into 3 or how ever many weekly sessions you want.
 
grunt11 said:
I think you’ll be fine just taking 2 days off and then on Monday test your 15RM, Wednesday your 10RM and Friday your 5RM or something similar. Since you’re already lifting heavy 3 days a week this would be like doing a Light/Medium/Heavy split which should work out great for testing your maxes.



I tend to cut back on the warm up reps as I get closer to my working weight. I find it’s less tiring and faster since I don‘t need any more recovery time between warm up sets than it takes to change the weights. So it would look something more like this.

Air Squats x 10
Bar x 8
135 lbs x 5
185 lbs x 2
205 lbs x 1
225 lbs x 10 working set


I am sore every day because I workout 6-7 days a week. But because my volume (number of sets and reps) is no more than if I were doing 3 full body workouts a week my body seem to handle it. I suggest that you set the volume for your first cycle to be close to what you are already doing each week since you know you can already handle it and just divide it up into 3 or how ever many weekly sessions you want.
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Perfect reply thanks man..

Is there a specific rest time you should take between sets while working on the 1-2 weeks of the program..
 
Zeebodybuilder said:
Is there a specific rest time you should take between sets while working on the 1-2 weeks of the program.
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No, not really. The principle of HST is chronic, progressive load -- not fatigue. So wait a minute or two, perhaps even more, until you are ready to go again. No need to rush into your next set. Being tired doesn't help.

Sometimes, if I'm toying with a rep max, I might wait even four or five minutes before the attempt.
 
TunnelRat said:
No, not really. The principle of HST is chronic, progressive load -- not fatigue. So wait a minute or two, perhaps even more, until you are ready to go again. No need to rush into your next set. Being tired doesn't help.

Sometimes, if I'm toying with a rep max, I might wait even four or five minutes before the attempt.
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Ok.. what to you guys think about the exercises I ahve chosen. Are they ok or do you think choosing the bog 3 squats , deadlifts, bench are too much in 1 wokrout..?
 
Is there a specific rest time you should take between sets while working on the 1-2 weeks of the program..
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To add to what TR said sometimes the first 1-2 weeks can seem to easy so one of the things I do is focus on each and every rep. My rep speed is usually very fast on the concentric and fairly slow on the eccentric. I think this not only helps me get a better workout, but also helps me practice better rep technique rather than just blasting through the set to get it done when I use to do standard reps and sets.

Ok.. what to you guys think about the exercises I ahve chosen. Are they ok or do you think choosing the bog 3 squats , deadlifts, bench are too much in 1 wokrout..?
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I think your exercise selection is fine. As far as doing to much in one workout it really depends on you and how much you can handle at one time and how fast you recover. I personally divide my Squats, Dead Lifts, and Flat Bench on separate days so I can focus on each lift with as much as possible, but then I am 50 years old. ;)
 
grunt11 said:
To add to what TR said sometimes the first 1-2 weeks can seem to easy so one of the things I do is focus on each and every rep. My rep speed is usually very fast on the concentric and fairly slow on the eccentric. I think this not only helps me get a better workout, but also helps me practice better rep technique rather than just blasting through the set to get it done when I use to do standard reps and sets.


I think your exercise selection is fine. As far as doing to much in one workout it really depends on you and how much you can handle at one time and how fast you recover. I personally divide my Squats, Dead Lifts, and Flat Bench on separate days so I can focus on each lift with as much as possible, but then I am 50 years old. ;)
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I dont under stand I thought you have to train each body exercise chose above 3 times a week so how can you split to another day?

Using my chosen exercises can some show me how my 3 day training plan would look like:

Legs
squat,
Stif legged dead

Back
Pull ups
Barbell rows

Chest
bench press,
Incline dumbell press

Shoulders
overhead press,
Side lateral raises

Traps
Shrugs

Biceps
Barbel curls

Triceps
Tricep extensions

Calves
Seated calf raises

Abs
Rope crunches


I mean after working out my rep maxes for 15,10,5.. I would have to do all the above exercises 3 days as listed above. That will easily take 2 hours opr more right?

I have a question.. If using lighter weight for weeks 1-2 hitting 15 reps on each exercises listed above , what Impact can that bring interms to muscle mass . As I was told using maximum weight you can handle for 6-8 reps will allow the best mass you can gain. I know every1 works differenet but this is just for my own knowledge.

Then moving on to weeks 2-4 I will be using the same exrcises above and doing 10 reps each exercise again what impact interms to gains can this bring..

Moving onto week 5-6 I know this can help with strength gains mostly?

I have a great image as What I have to achieve now starting from finding out my rep maxes for 15,10,5 first in 1 week? I know I will be sore but I know I can do it. I only think of 1 thing if body feels sore I might not be able to handle a weigght which i probably normally could for 10 reps. But this is just a thoght..

Ok So my main concern right now is the exerc ises above. Why are there 2 exercises for legs chest back and 1 for the rest. I copied them from the sample on the HST site. Shouldnt it just be 1 exercise for all parts.

How many sets should I be doing for bogger parts like bench squats deadlifts and how many for smaller body parts?

I know I sound very confusing this is because I dont see the exercises I have chosen in a plan yet.. I mean i dont feel im looking at them in the right way, something seems missing..

Plesae some1 help answer the above question.. I will appreciate your tym.. and help...
 
Zeebodybuilder said:
bump >>>>>>>>>

Can any1 please help answer the above questions?
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Hey man, I think you've got it well enough - go ahead and get started. If it feels like too much, cut out some stuff - if it doesn't feel like enough, do a little more. If it takes 2 hours and you don't have 2 hours to spend training, cut some stuff out. As far as gaining mass, just start the program and see how your muscles react. You'll never really know the answers to these questions unless you jump right in. My 1st experience with HST was a learning experience. I learned a lot and made changes when necessary.
 
Ok I think IM jumping in too deep and im confusing myself with so many exercises. As Im just doing this first time round I will keep it ver basic and take some exercises off from the list above. I really dont understand why I have to chose 2 exercises for legs and back and 1 exercises for all other parts. Plesae see my new list of exercises below. Like I said im going to keep it simple as this is my first time round and i will be learning mostaly on how to do this?

So how does this look for week 1-2

Legs
squat,1x15

Back
Barbell rows,1x15

Chest
bench press, 1x15

Shoulders
overhead press, 1x15

Traps
Shrugs,1x15

Biceps
Barbel curls,1x15

Triceps
Tricep Skull Crushers,1x15

Week3-4

Legs
squat,1x10

Back
Barbell rows,1x10

Chest
bench press, 1x10

Shoulders
overhead press, 1x10

Traps
Shrugs,1x10

Biceps
Barbel curls,1x10

Triceps
Tricep Skull Crushers,1x10

Week5-6

Legs
squat,1x5

Back
Barbell rows,1x5

Chest
bench press, 1x5

Shoulders
overhead press, 1x5

Traps
Shrugs,1x5

Biceps
Barbel curls,1x5

Triceps
Tricep Skull Crushers,1x5

So there you have 6 weeks plan above. I know its a a 8 week program. so for the remeining 2 weeks will do weeks 6-8 again. Could You just seen if the sets for all weeks are correct as i worte them 1x15, 1x10, etc .

As I did read somewhere in weeks 3-4 you do 2x10 and weeks 5-6 you do 3x5 Is this correct?


 
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