Is it okay to do the HST workout 3 consecutive days? Thank you for helping.
- Thread starter sam617
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Thank you, Sci for responding. Means a lot.
I also posted this on my General Forum since it does not pertain to HST but if you could look at it and give me your input, I would really appreciate that. I do want to get started on some kind of routine. I have been eating healthier by substituting soda/fast food for better foods and I am pumped to workout but due to my schedule, I can only workout on Fri - Sun.
Here is the link
http://thinkmuscle.com/forum/showth...rkout-routine-Thanks-for-any-help-and-insight
Thanks so much and if you can't look at it, no biggie!
I also posted this on my General Forum since it does not pertain to HST but if you could look at it and give me your input, I would really appreciate that. I do want to get started on some kind of routine. I have been eating healthier by substituting soda/fast food for better foods and I am pumped to workout but due to my schedule, I can only workout on Fri - Sun.
Here is the link
http://thinkmuscle.com/forum/showth...rkout-routine-Thanks-for-any-help-and-insight
Thanks so much and if you can't look at it, no biggie!
Hey Alex, thanks for responding. Could you elaborate more on volume for each individual workout?
I am kind of confused on what you mean by 6x and 10-12x per week.
Thanks and sorry for the bother.
I used to do Mon-Tues-Wed-Thurs-Fri-Sat, so 6 workouts per week. I've also done more extreme training which was twice per day, 5-6 days per week = 10-12x.
Working out on 3 consecutive days is perfectly fine and after the first couple of sessions you will barely notice any DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).
The key is to not overload each workout, e.g. if you were planning on doing two days (Fri & Sun) with 4 sets each, instead for Fri-Sat-Sun (3 consecutive) cut it back to 3 sets each etc. There is no reason not to do weights on consecutive days, it doesn't inhibit your ability to gain or train in the slightest. In fact, 3-on, 4-off sounds pretty good to me and will have some real advantages to it w/regard to glycogen storage & depletion.
Working out on 3 consecutive days is perfectly fine and after the first couple of sessions you will barely notice any DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).
The key is to not overload each workout, e.g. if you were planning on doing two days (Fri & Sun) with 4 sets each, instead for Fri-Sat-Sun (3 consecutive) cut it back to 3 sets each etc. There is no reason not to do weights on consecutive days, it doesn't inhibit your ability to gain or train in the slightest. In fact, 3-on, 4-off sounds pretty good to me and will have some real advantages to it w/regard to glycogen storage & depletion.
Thanks Alex. You really are helping me out a lot and gave me quite a surge of motivation and hope. I will try to set up a workout routine and if possible, could you look over it? Thanks again.
EDIT: Should I still do the HST training method? 15s,10s,5s even though I'm doing it 3 consecutive days?
EDIT: Should I still do the HST training method? 15s,10s,5s even though I'm doing it 3 consecutive days?
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Thanks Alex. I am going to give it a shot this weekend. Tired as hell from work and school but excited to try this out. I have a few questions though, sorry! I hope these will be my last (I think lol)
1. What do you think about doing some light dumbbell complex training during the week for muscle endurance and cardio? For instance, say I work out Fri/Sat/Sun then on Tues/Weds I can do dumbbell complex training so that I can maintain muscle mass.
2. Should I still do 2sets per exercise for 2 weeks just like the way HST is designed? Since I am working out 3 consecutive days (Fri/Sat/Sun) I too am concerned about the volume of reps I would be doing. My concern is also, I do want to grow so my intensity needs to be high but since I am working out 3 consecutive days, I do not want to over-train.
Thanks A LOT for your time.
Not sure exactly what 'db complex training is' but you can just leave it and Mon-Thurs do nothing. I don't think it will contribute very much to hypertrophy, especially if it's light weight.
Do the normal 2 sets per exercise per workout.
If I had 3 consecutive days to train, I would make sure I squatted twice and did some heavy pulls on the last day as they tend to take longer to recover from.
I would perform three (main) compound exercises per session; something like this:
Day 1
Front Squat
Bench Press
Bent-over Row
Day 2
High-bar Back Squat
Weighted Dip
Weighted Pull-up
Day 3
Press
Clean (& Jerk)
Deadlift
If you want to add in a couple of sets of isos at the end of a session, that's up to you.
Do at least a couple of sets during 15s (easy to do at the start of 15s but brutally hard at the end); two-three sets for 10s; 3-5 sets for 5s.
During non-gym-training days I would do some stretching/flexibility and mobility work as well as some core exercises which tend to be easier to do with very little equipment. It's easy to add in a quick bodyweight routine at some point during the four days away from the gym. A session of air-squats, push-ups, pull-ups (if poss), burpees, sit-ups etc. will keep your muscles feeling full and will be good from a GPP perspective.
I've included cleans because they are such a great full-body movement. If you haven't experimented with front squats or cleans before, take the time to learn the movements properly. You will need to learn to hook-grip for the cleans too. It takes a couple of weeks to get your thumbs used to the experience but then you can also use it for deadlifting. If you can add jerks to your cleans that would add a good amount of beneficial work to the session.
At the end of the 5s, instead of negatives you can either move on to triples with your 5RM or higher loads (helps deal with fatigue) or change the movement slightly to allow you to handle heavier loads. Eg. you could push-press instead of strict press. Negatives are relatively straightforward for dips and chins/pull-ups.
High-rep sets and O-lifts are not a particularly good idea as your form will suffer as fatigue kicks in. However, with lighter loads you are unlikely to hurt yourself even if your form isn't great by the end of a set. Start with around 7-8 reps for the first two weeks; then work with 5s; then triples would be fine after that; and the last two weeks could be ~10 x heavy singles or doubles.
I would perform three (main) compound exercises per session; something like this:
Day 1
Front Squat
Bench Press
Bent-over Row
Day 2
High-bar Back Squat
Weighted Dip
Weighted Pull-up
Day 3
Press
Clean (& Jerk)
Deadlift
If you want to add in a couple of sets of isos at the end of a session, that's up to you.
Do at least a couple of sets during 15s (easy to do at the start of 15s but brutally hard at the end); two-three sets for 10s; 3-5 sets for 5s.
During non-gym-training days I would do some stretching/flexibility and mobility work as well as some core exercises which tend to be easier to do with very little equipment. It's easy to add in a quick bodyweight routine at some point during the four days away from the gym. A session of air-squats, push-ups, pull-ups (if poss), burpees, sit-ups etc. will keep your muscles feeling full and will be good from a GPP perspective.
I've included cleans because they are such a great full-body movement. If you haven't experimented with front squats or cleans before, take the time to learn the movements properly. You will need to learn to hook-grip for the cleans too. It takes a couple of weeks to get your thumbs used to the experience but then you can also use it for deadlifting. If you can add jerks to your cleans that would add a good amount of beneficial work to the session.
At the end of the 5s, instead of negatives you can either move on to triples with your 5RM or higher loads (helps deal with fatigue) or change the movement slightly to allow you to handle heavier loads. Eg. you could push-press instead of strict press. Negatives are relatively straightforward for dips and chins/pull-ups.
High-rep sets and O-lifts are not a particularly good idea as your form will suffer as fatigue kicks in. However, with lighter loads you are unlikely to hurt yourself even if your form isn't great by the end of a set. Start with around 7-8 reps for the first two weeks; then work with 5s; then triples would be fine after that; and the last two weeks could be ~10 x heavy singles or doubles.