Journey to the unknown

[Musclehead]

I`m in the middle of my HST cycle #1.Did 2 weeks of 10´s and am now doing 2 weeks of 8´s.I just did my 2nd workout of the 8´s yesterday.I am working out 3x/week MWF and my workout usually takes me 1hr 15min to complete.Here it is:

1.Squat 167
2.Dip BW supersetted with Deadlift 138
3.DB Shoulder press 35 supersetted with WG Lat-pulldown 121
4.Incline DB Bench press 52 supersetted with DB Bent-over row 35
5.Incline DB curl 26 supersetted with Lying triceps extension 26
6.DB shrug 66
7.DB Rear delt raise 17
8.Leg curl 77
9.Smith machine standing calf raise 275
10.incline sit-up 13

Any suggestions,comments and critiques are highly appreciated.In three weeks of cutting I went from 208ibs to 195,faster than I expected.I guess i didn´t lose any noticeable amount of muscle mass since my strenght has dropped only slightly.I am following a low carb diet eatng 6xtimes a day.

 

[colby2152]

Those are odd numbers for weights? I'm assuming the numbers are in pounds, but you work with plates that are kilogram denominated.

 

[Musclehead]

Yeah,I´m from Europe(country-Croatia) and we use kilograms here so when I multiply my weights by 2.2 i get strange numbers

 

[Musclehead]

Today was a bit hectic day.Been playing baskeetball and the low carb diet is taking its tool.I get exhausted pretty fast although I have a decent endurance.As a consequence I was pretty tired during my workout #3 of my 8s.Here it is:

1.Squat 176-2 sets
2.Dip BW supersetted with Deadlift 149-2 sets
3.DB Shoulder press 39 supersetted with CG Lat-pulldown 154-2 sets
4.Incline DB Bench press 57 supersetted with DB Bent-over row 39-2 sets
5.Incline DB curl 26 supersetted with Lying triceps extension 26-2 sets
6.DB shrug 70-2 sets
7.DB Rear delt raise 22-2 sets
8.Leg curl 88-2 sets
9.Smith machine standing calf raise 275-2 sets
10.incline sit-up 13-2 sets

Had to cluster a couple of sets becouse of low energy.I also forgot to mention that I do 2 sets of each exercise resting 90s between sets so I include it here.Here is my tipical diet:

Meal #1-400 grams 0.9%milk
Meal#2-1 protein bar
Meal#3-2 whole eggs and a banana
Meal#4-400 grams chocholate milk
Meal#5-2 steaks and an orange
Meal#6-100 grams cottage cheese

 

[Wildman]

Welcome to the logs MuscleHead. You asked for a critique of the layout so here it comes.

The good comments:

I like your choices for movements. You picked a nice set of effective movements that will certainly produce some great results for you.

I like the application of supersets in the routine and it is almost necessary with 14 movements like you have chosen.

The push / pull pairings are a great choice to keep the time down and to flush the muscles during athe rest periods.


The bad comments:

I typically work large muscles or muscle groups before I work the smaller accessory muscles. The larger muscles require much more energy, concentration, effort to work. So they are a better choice to work at the beginning of the workout while you are high on energy. Of course this is not a rule written in stone and there are some instance where one might wish to pre-exhaust a muscle. In this layout that does not appear to be the goal.

I suspect that your ordering is an attempt to pair up bigger lifts with smaller lifts to conserve time. I am going to suggest extending the push / pull pairing a little further to keep to this approach.

I would move my hamstring up in the list to be closer to the squats and deadlifts. If not you will probably need to warmup your hamstrings again after such a long rest. If you are warming them up expecting your squats and deadlifts warmups to last the duration you could be inviting trouble. Calves could also be moved for this same reason but I do not feel that they are as sensitive to strain as the hamstrings are, IMO.

Squats and deadlifts on the same day are a tall order. Deadlifts three days a week is a tall order. We are all individual and have different tolerances of course but I suspect that once you reach the end of the cycle and are pushing maximal weights that you will find this to be too much. You could consider an A/B split for these movements or simply perform Squats on Monday - Friday and deadlift on Wednesday only.

Now then, how would Wildman order this?:

Notes: The a and b denotes the suggested A/B split.
Supersets are denoted with an ss and a duplicate order number.
Giantsets are denoted with an ss and a duplicate order number.
You could avoid the Giantsets by supersetting the shrugs and rear delt work. Perform the DB shoulder press by itself.

1a. Squats - Monday and Friday
1b. Deadlifts - Wednesday
2 ss. Leg curl
2 ss. Smith machine standing calf raise
3 ss. Dip BW
3 ss. DB Bent-over row
4 ss. Incline DB Bench press
4 ss. CG Lat-pulldown
5 gs. DB Shoulder press
5 gs. DB shrug
5 gs. DB Rear delt raise
6 ss. Lying triceps extension
6 ss. Incline DB curl
7. incline sit-up


Not a lot different than what you have but that is my two cents.

 

[Musclehead]

<div>
(Wildman @ Oct. 10 2008,4:15)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Welcome to the logs MuscleHead. You asked for a critique of the layout so here it comes.

The good comments:  

I like your choices for movements. You picked a nice set of effective movements that will certainly produce some great results for you.

I like the application of supersets in the routine and it is almost necessary with 14 movements like you have chosen.

The push / pull pairings are a great choice to keep the time down and to flush the muscles during athe rest periods.


The bad comments:  

I typically work large muscles or muscle groups before I work the smaller accessory muscles. The larger muscles require much more energy, concentration, effort to work. So they are a better choice to work at the beginning of the workout while you are high on energy. Of course this is not a rule written in stone and there are some instance where one might wish to pre-exhaust a muscle. In this layout that does not appear to be the goal.

I suspect that your ordering is an attempt to pair up bigger lifts with smaller lifts to conserve time. I am going to suggest extending the push / pull pairing a little further to keep to this approach.

I would move my hamstring up in the list to be closer to the squats and deadlifts. If not you will probably need to warmup your hamstrings again after such a long rest. If you are warming them up expecting your squats and deadlifts warmups to last the duration you could be inviting trouble. Calves could also be moved for this same reason but I do not feel that they are as sensitive to strain as the hamstrings are, IMO.

Squats and deadlifts on the same day are a tall order. Deadlifts three days a week is a tall order. We are all individual and have different tolerances of course but I suspect that once you reach the end of the cycle and are pushing maximal weights that you will find this to be too much. You could consider an A/B split for these movements or simply perform Squats on Monday - Friday and deadlift on Wednesday only.

Now then, how would Wildman order this?:

Notes: The a and b denotes the suggested A/B split.
           Supersets are denoted with an ss and a duplicate order number.
           Giantsets are denoted with an ss and a duplicate order number.
          You could avoid the Giantsets by supersetting the shrugs and rear delt work. Perform the DB shoulder press by itself.

1a. Squats - Monday and Friday
1b. Deadlifts - Wednesday
2 ss. Leg curl
2 ss. Smith machine standing calf raise
3 ss. Dip BW
3 ss. DB Bent-over row
4 ss. Incline DB Bench press
4 ss. CG Lat-pulldown
5 gs. DB Shoulder press
5 gs. DB shrug
5 gs. DB Rear delt raise
6 ss. Lying triceps extension
6 ss. Incline DB curl
7. incline sit-up


Not a lot different than what you have but that is my two cents.</div>
Thanks for your suggestions.I´l definitely apply them except your advice on splitting deads and squats.I´ve always been doing them in the same workout and never had problems with them,even with higher weights.I am 18 so I have very good exercise tolerance.