Is HST appropriate for me as a tennis player & swimmer?

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pepperr

New Member
Hi all,
I have two goals in mind and want to know if this program is appropriate for me: 1) improved performance in tennis and swimming(total immersion style) and 2) a physique like GSP(been done before many times, I know).

Background: I'm a 6'1" lanky-ish fella sitting at 166lbs and 6-7% BF(according to my professor's calipers). I play tennis 3x a week, not always singles matches, meaning it doesn't always get intense, but I'd say the drills make me sweat a ton. I will swim again on the off days for 30mins each.

I have some questions in addition the the two above:
1) what is my caloric intake looking like during this whole program?
-I read in a cardio thread in the FAQ that I should eat at maintenance; I don't know if this was in reference to SD phase or not.
But if my goal is to increase muscle mass, won't I need to eat with a slight caloric surplus?

2)My cardiovascular health is very poor. I want to start HIIT again in addition to what I'm doing now. Is all this cardio going to hinder my progress taking into consideration the program's design?

I'm a complete beginner. The only lifting I ever did was because of P90X, but I want to gain mass before I lean out again.
If anyone could link me to something that will help explain this, I will buy your supplements for a whole month(unless I find it first of course).

All informative input is appreciated. I'm still in the process of reading how to actually start this and calculating Rep Maxes so I'll ask more questions if I can't find answers.
 
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Hi Pepperr. Wow, that's a lot of questions. I'll just have a shot at some of them.
pepperr said:
Hi all,
I have two goals in mind and want to know if this program is appropriate for me: 1) improved performance in tennis and swimming(total immersion style) and 2) a physique like GSP(been done before many times, I know).
Click to expand...
Don't know much about Tennis or swimming and tend to think, this question is better asked in Tennis/swimming forums. Seems resonable that strenght training (for explosiveness) would help you hit harder in Tennis. Since HST does not emphesize this per se, I think you could do better, with other approaches.

If by physique you mean appearance I think most would be able to obtain the size/%bf you're looking for. The rest is specific to your genes.


pepperr said:
I have some questions in addition the the two above:
1) what is my caloric intake looking like during this whole program?
-I read in a cardio thread in the FAQ that I should eat at maintenance; I don't know if this was in reference to SD phase or not.
But if my goal is to increase muscle mass, won't I need to eat with a slight caloric surplus?
Click to expand...
The required caloric intake depends on more than weight/height and activity level. Someone here might be able to estimate it, with a litle more details. (ie age etc). But there are a lot of calculators out there, that would do just as well. To know for sure, you might want to go with what is estimated and adjust. (observe weight gain/loss)
And yes, eating at maintenance is just for SD. You need more, to gain weight. (obviously)

pepperr said:
2)My cardiovascular health is very poor. I want to start HIIT again in addition to what I'm doing now. Is all this cardio going to hinder my progress taking into consideration the program's design?
Click to expand...
Yes, to some degree.

pepperr said:
If anyone could link me to something that will help explain this, I will buy your supplements for a whole month(unless I find it first of course).
Click to expand...
What is there to explain? It's just some rutine, nothing special about it.
 
Are there stickies about eating patterns during this? I saw the sticky labeled "Diet and Nutrition" but it talks about losing fat, which I don't want to do right now.

Also, I need some clarification on this:
"And another way (the way I am using, and probably the simplest), is to repeat workout #6 of the 5s for 2 weeks (M/W/F). Now your cycle will have looked like this..." referring to weeks 7&8.

Does that mean train to failure 6x for 2 weeks?
Can I still play tennis and swim during SD?

Can I use Lyle's Baseline Diet for this program?(My understanding so far, is eat more during blocks, and maintenance during SD)

Last one: Is there a list of "Do not do's" in this thread?
 
pepperr said:
Also, I need some clarification on this:
"And another way (the way I am using, and probably the simplest), is to repeat workout #6 of the 5s for 2 weeks (M/W/F). Now your cycle will have looked like this..." referring to weeks 7&8.

Does that mean train to failure 6x for 2 weeks?
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Don't think training to failure for two weeks is recommendable, and i'm sure that was not implied.
I think the advise would have been, to use your 5 RM for every session in week 7/8.
However, my advise is to add weight to the bar, whenever you are able to, durring the last 2 weeks. (if not using negatives)


pepperr said:
Can I still play tennis and swim during SD?
Click to expand...
Any form of training/cardio will make your SD less effective, especially at high intensity.
It would be hard to say, to what degree this is true, in your case.


pepperr said:
Last one: Is there a list of "Do not do's" in this thread?
Click to expand...
Not quite getting this one. You want a list of everything you're not supposed to do?
Think a list like that, would be endless.


About your diet questions. A short and generic answer would be:

- Addding weight: Eat above maintanace (i.e. 500 kcal) while training.
- Loosing weight: Eat below maintanace (i.e. 500 kcal) while training.
- SD: Always eat at maintenance. Consider eating a bit above the first couple of days.

A longer answer would include macronutrient distribution etc.
 
Lateralus said:
Don't think training to failure for two weeks is recommendable, and i'm sure that was not implied.
I think the advise would have been, to use your 5 RM for every session in week 7/8.
However, my advise is to add weight to the bar, whenever you are able to, durring the last 2 weeks. (if not using negatives)

Any form of training/cardio will make your SD less effective, especially at high intensity.
It would be hard to say, to what degree this is true, in your case.
Click to expand...

1) What if my 5 rep max is failure? Isn't RM defined as failure or going really close to it?
2) I no longer swim using HIIT, as I've lost the ability to swim like I used to, it's mainly just balancing in the pool and learning to get a sense of the water as if I've been doing it my whole life like walking. Heart rate is very close to extremely low cardio levels. Tennis on the other hand is moderate intensity.
 
For HST we define RM something like: The last rep with proper form. Near failure is OK. Occational failure is OK too. But going to failure every time will most properly, not allow you to recover fast enough, for your next session.. You'll get a feel for it.

I think the level of acticity you're planning durring SD, is OK.
 
Thank you very much for your help, Lateralus. I'm going to go figure out my RM's tomorrow. May you achieve the gains you are working towards!
 
Lateralus,
one quick question: will doing pushups during SD affect my development? I'm talking about 150+. I view them as training for endurance but HST principles may view it otherwise.
 
Yes, I think it will and would advise against it.
I'd do them at the end of, or at some point after my training sessions. Not durring SD and preferably not on off-days.
 
Would you say the same to training my core? High repetition(not volume). I'm replacing the "ab" slot in my routine for a 15 min thing I've made for tennis and want to do it during SD.
 
If you define core as the underlying ab/back musculature, I think that would be fine. In this case strenght is important. Hypertrophy is not.
High rep, would add more to endurance though. But for Tennis, maybe that is what you are looking for?

But at the moment, I don't see a way around, using a sigificant amount "non-core" muscles, during such a session.
What would one of these core workouts look like?
 
For best results, do not do any training during SD. Remember, after 9 days of no training, you get a huge spike in satellite cells on the 10th day, so returning to training at that point should conceivably increase your potential gains. Of course if you train during SD then you probably don't get that spike.
 
Lateralus said:
If you define core as the underlying ab/back musculature, I think that would be fine. In this case strenght is important. Hypertrophy is not.
High rep, would add more to endurance though. But for Tennis, maybe that is what you are looking for?

But at the moment, I don't see a way around, using a sigificant amount "non-core" muscles, during such a session.
What would one of these core workouts look like?
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@ Totentanz:

Planks, Side planks, bicycles, and the like. I am mainly going for endurance as you said to prevent myself from getting tired during long matches.

What if I don't care about adding size to my core, would this be okay taking this into account?
 
The information you just gave me above would not change my answer.

Also, I don't understand the point in training endurance in the core. Why not just do them HST style so they are stronger? It is unlikely that you will experience significant hypertrophy in core muscles. However, you can increase the strength significantly which would go further toward improving performance than improving endurance.
 
Lack of hypertrophy is a relie to hear. I'll do that then. What is thebest exercise to prevent distended abdominals in your opinion? I don't want to go for a beach body look; I prefer an athletic one.
 
The best way to prevent distended abs is to not gain much visceral adipose tissue - that's the main cause of the pregnant belly look that BBs get, along with certain drug usage. For you, assuming you are a natural, it is not something you need to be concerned about.
 
Totentanz,
Is 15 exercises too many? The reason I have many more than 8 is because I want to target the pectoral and tricep heads more equally(I am overly concerned about not developing muscle imbalances, especially since I any stoppage in my tennis time will drive me nuts). I have no idea what the "INC" in the 2nd column means on the chart that Brian provides(http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_calc.html); is it increments?

Some reason it won't let me upload my screenshot of the chart.

Here is my routine:
Barbell Squat Machine x2
Stiff Legged Deadlifts x1

Incline Bench Press x1
Standard Grip Dip x1
Wide Grip Dip x1

Pull Up x2
Seated Row x2

Shoulder Press(Anterior) x1
Shoulder Fly(Lateral) x1
Rear Delt Raise x1

Bicep Curl x1
Hammer Curl x1(for tennis)

Overhead Tri Ext. x2

Calf Raise x2

Hanging Leg Raise x2

I'm actually quite confused about the abdominal exercise: what kind of exercise would I need to use to have a 15,10 and 5RM?

I read the HST for Dummies again and I have found out I am a dummy. As I increase the load of each training session, do I try to lift at max 15 reps? Wouldn't I have to really test out what my the lowest threshold of weight I am using?(e.g. 15RM for bench is 150. Day one I do 100. Wouldn't I have to test if 100 is too easy to max out at 15 reps?)
 
Totentanz,
Is 16 exercises too much? I want to develop the pectoral and tricep heads properly and am overly concerned about muscle imbalances by doing the same exercises over and over. If I am injured and can't play tennis or swim, I'll go fantastically crazy.

I read HST for Dummies again and have found myself to be a dummy, indeed.

This is my current routine:
http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/nn303/txmpepper/1stHSTRoutine.jpg (I realized I put shoulder press 2x just after hosting the image.)
I'm doing no more than 2 sets per exercise; in fact, the only ones I do for 2 are Squats, pull ups, Triceps, and calf raises.

One question I had when looking at a person's log is that how would I find the lowest weight threshold needed for day 1 of any of the 3 blocks? For example, day 1 of the 15 Rep Block. My max bench is 200. Wouldn't I have to actually test out the minimum weight to see if it is sufficient to reach 15 reps? I guess I'm confused on the increments: How many reps am I doing for each exercise up until the 6th day(which I've read is maxes)? What if the weights available at the gym don't allow for certain increments?


What kind of exercise would I have to do to have increments for abs? Hanging knee raises?
 
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Weighted crunches or situps, pretty much any ab exercise you can do on a machine with resistance or where you can hold a dumbbell or plate to add resistance.

16 exercises is definitely a lot. Why do you feel the need to target different heads of the triceps? I would focus on building some strength and size in those areas first and only if you find that you are getting an imbalance, then you may have to correct but odds are they won't grow imbalanced unless you have screwy genetics or bad form on your lifts.


With the hst calculator, INC means increment, it is if you want to define a specific increment to use
 
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