Impression after first week of HST.

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FadeIntoBig

New Member
Just finished my 1st week of 15's tonight. I have some questions later if you'll bare with me for some background. To sum it all up, I'm very pleased so far.

Ok, it maybe a bit early to make that judgement, but I swear I've already made some gains. Over the prior two weeks, this time of night I'd hop on the scale and it would always be in the range of 184 to 186 (@ 5'5"). Tonight I was 191. I follow the paleo diet principles, but with the balance generally tilted in favor of animal protein and fat over some carbs compared to the strict paleo recommendations. I don't record macros, but basically eat pretty clean (lean meats, non-starch veggies and low-glycemic fruits) until full - that's my gauge.. This week I've probably eaten more just because I've had a bigger appetite, which to me is a great sign that training is effective. Some of the weight gain tho could be related to switching the "type" of creatine I'm using - question on that below.

Originally I started 'powerbuilding' for high-school and college (american) football then messed around bouncing in and out of "serious" training over the course of about 20 years after college athletics ended. A year back I tried HIT style training and had some pretty good muscle-memory results but then hit the wall, so looked around and found HST. Bryan's explanation of the principles just made a lot of sense.

Anyhow, here are some more comments and some questions..

1) I'm pretty much following the "vanilla" routine outlined in the HST information pages and doing two sets of 15 for all exercises with 10 lb increases for the most of the exercises. The first set feels very strong but by the end of the 2nd set, I'm doggin' big time. I've gotten all my reps thus far (and felt stronger each workout) but by the end of the 2nd week, I may well not get 15 on the 2nd set. What should I do if I don't get those reps?

2) This week I switched from a "ph-buffered" creatine product (3g / day) to creatine monohydrate (5g / day). Any opinions on doing a pre-load (20g / day) over next week to maximize the speed of the results from creatine? I felt the buffered product was at least somewhat effective for me but would like to avoid a pre-load of CM if it's not needed. What's the science say for pre-loading CM and/or for the effectiveness of buffered creatine?

3) Where can I buy the HS:Pro products?

Thanks.
 
1) I'm pretty much following the "vanilla" routine outlined in the HST information pages and doing two sets of 15 for all exercises with 10 lb increases for the most of the exercises. The first set feels very strong but by the end of the 2nd set, I'm doggin' big time. I've gotten all my reps thus far (and felt stronger each workout) but by the end of the 2nd week, I may well not get 15 on the 2nd set. What should I do if I don't get those reps?
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Either:
a.) Do the set until failure and call it good (for example, ending the second set at the 13th rep after you can only go halfway through the motion and you can't get it to go any further despite grunting and gritting your teeth)
b.) Stop short of failure, rest a minute, then finish the remainder of the set.

Either way will work fine. At the end of each 2-week cycle, since you are actually at your 15RM, it is expected you will encounter failure.


Can't comment on #2.

#3 - The online store has been closed for a few years. I do not know if ordering is still possible, but Bryan will be able to answer that. He'll likely see this thread in 24 hours and reply.
 
No need to load CM. A study shows that one week of loading at 20gr/day equals 5 grams for 28 or 30 days if I remember correctly. If you plan to use it for a while (no reason not to if your stomach can take it), than I just wouldn't be bothered with the loading.
 
jvroig said:
Either:
a.) Do the set until failure and call it good (for example, ending the second set at the 13th rep after you can only go halfway through the motion and you can't get it to go any further despite grunting and gritting your teeth)
b.) Stop short of failure, rest a minute, then finish the remainder of the set.

Either way will work fine. At the end of each 2-week cycle, since you are actually at your 15RM, it is expected you will encounter failure.


Can't comment on #2.

#3 - The online store has been closed for a few years. I do not know if ordering is still possible, but Bryan will be able to answer that. He'll likely see this thread in 24 hours and reply.
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Thanks for the reply and for putting up with the newb questions.. I have read quite a bit but unfortunately the amount of info on here (and some seemingly conflicting advice) makes it hard to sort the wheat from the chaff so I just asked..

I just read a thread on Myo-Reps that was linked to elsewhere here, and may try an abbreviated version of that to finish the reps if I hit failure (kind-of like b I think) unless people recommend against it here.. Myo-Reps sound very interesting to me in that it uses rest-pause but doesn't go to failure (like DC training does). One of the "HIT" style routines I tried was DC, but hit the wall too quickly with that and the standard DC split was too infrequent.. Worst of both worlds really - overtrained on one hand and not training frequently enough on the other - I think DC may be "geared" towards those on "gear", haha.

For #3, I have some whey for pre-workout and egg protein for post on hand that I can use for the time being. The HST site is really a wealth of info. on the science behind protein and creatine supplementation. I've always thought I was wasting time in the gym without a post workout protein meal, but did not know the importance of pre-workout protein - great info.

Kenneth said:
No need to load CM. A study shows that one week of loading at 20gr/day equals 5 grams for 28 or 30 days if I remember correctly. If you plan to use it for a while (no reason not to if your stomach can take it), than I just wouldn't be bothered with the loading.
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Thanks! Just so I understand, one week of loading @ 20g/day will bring creatine levels up to the same levels as taking an even 5g/day for a month, so basically it would take 3 more weeks to "saturate" the muscle @ a level 5g/day? I do plan on taking it a while and 5g/day doesn't bother me, but 20g/day might so I will probably skip the loading. Like I mentioned in the first post, that 5 lbs. in one week had to come from somewhere other than just a week of training, so it was probably some water retention from just 5g/day (so I think I'm "loading" quickly enough in any case).

EDIT: BTW - I've tried CM in the past, recently tried an esterfied creatine and now have tried ph-buffered creatine.. For me, good old (and cheap) CM seems to be much more effective at least when each is taken as directed.
 
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FadeIntoBig said:
3) Where can I buy the HS:Pro products? Thanks.
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Yeah, HSN shut down 5 or 6 years ago...I just haven't rebuilt the website. This website is a non-profit endeaver so to speak. :D I do have plans to redo the whole thing when I get a chance (and some money) here in the not too distant future though.
 
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