Lol's New HST Log

Lol,

I'm tempted to point you towards the "Simplify & Win" thread (JK).

I've been thinking along similar lines, but making it more compartmentalized. By mixing HST and other work capacity or general HIIT type programs within the HST cycle I'm concerned that I'd be screwing around too much with the muscle environment. In other words, wouldn't that make it impossible to predict where the muscle response threshhold is?

What I was thinking of doing is concentrating mostly on fairly vanilla HST for a good while. But then when I start to see diminishing returns I thought I'd alternate cycles of strength, hypertrophy, and work capacity. But doing each with a certain amount of HST philosophy, i.e., hitting it every 24 to 36 hours, constant progression until linear progression is no longer possible, followed by SD.

For strength, a basic 3X5 protocol or maybe WB. For work capacity I really like the twist Rob has put on Crossfit at Military Athlete (http://www.militaryathlete.com/page.php?page_ID=52). He builds progression into roughly 6-week cycles that focus on work capacity, stamina and mental toughness and he's concerned with building and maintaining strength. Crossfit, in contrast, is arguably the antithesis of HST and is founded on the "muscle confusion" principle. Hardly anyone I know in the hard-core military community is still doing Crossfit anymore because of its randomness and the fact that it has caused most of them a lot of injuries (e.g., kipping pullups inevitably causing rotator cuff issues unless you're a genetic freak). Gym Jones is another great program that would seem to be a good HST compliment. I could even see doing something like a structured 5k prep cycle (without neglecting the weight room). http://www.runnersworld.com/trainingplans/intermediate5k/intermediate_5k.html Something like this would be good for someone like me who really needs to be in good functional shape--I'm not sure there are many people here who would want to risk the atrophy. For example:

8 weeks HST, repeat (includes SD)
7 weeks WB (6 weeks plus SD, etc...)
8 weeks HST, repeat
7 weeks Gym Jones
8 weeks HST, repeat
7 weeks 5k prep followed by a race (lifting squats, BP, Press and Power Cleans 3x5 twice per week to maintain strength)
etc...

John
 
Wed 21/04/10

Was away on family matters today so missed my regular w/o tonight. However, earlier in the day I did manage to do a quick metcon in the form of a C2 row.

C2 Rower:
Quick warm-up row then...
500m row
1:31s

This was very short but sweet - I was supposed to be getting ready to go out but sneaked in a quickie row on my pop's C2! Probably could have made a sub-1:30 (I kept up a sub-1:29 pace for most of the way) but wimped out because I didn't want to row to my death just before leaving. It was bad enough as it was - chest got all wheezy, similar to what happens after CF Fran attempt.

Never rowed a fast 500 before. Very cool distance. I like. Next time I'll push for a sub-1:30.
 
Hey twindeltatandem, thanks for dropping by and for your thoughts and ideas. I'll check out your links etc. tomorrow. Need zzzzs...
 
New HST cycle

Decided not to continue the Russian Peaking program. I think I have learned what I needed to know from the program. It would have been completed last week anyway if I hadn't reset my bench. I managed to increase my 1RMs by at least 5%, making a new squat PR and bringing my bench closer to where it was prior to my shoulder trouble. Both shoulders are so much better than they have been with no soreness in either AC joint. Progress in deads will have to wait until I have healed a bit more. Hernia still gets sore after a heavy dead session so I'm not going to push for new PRs just yet.

So, I haven't lifted since Monday and decided to start a new HST cycle tonight. Although my joints aren't really bad, there is some residual soreness in all of them. I hope a few weeks of 15s will help with that.

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
15 x 60kg, 15 x 90kg WU

15 x 110kg (242lb)
15 x 110kg (242lb) - last 5 reps paused.
10P x 110kg (242lb) - all reps paused ~ 1 second.

(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 4,400kg)

These felt great; massive pump and great burn.

Front Squat:
1 x 110kg (242lb) @ RPE 8.5
1 x 110kg (242lb) @ RPE 8.5

I did these to see how they felt with fatigued legs. Quite hard but not too bad. I have never cleaned 110kg but I really think I should be able to if I can front squat 110kg with tired legs. That's a goal for later this year.

Bench:
15 x 40kg, 15 x 50kg WU

15P x 77.5kg (171lb) @ RPE 10 - paused reps
19 x 77.5kg (171lb) @ RPE 10
15 x 77.5kg (171lb) @ RPE 10

I pushed these to the point where I knew I would fail on the next rep. At these loads (~ 60% 1RM) pushing this hard doesn't seem too much of a drain but I will be careful not to keep doing this for the rest of the cycle.

Chins:
15 x bw
15 x bw
10 x bw

These were tough and all taken to RPE 10. I gripped the bar really tightly with a hook grip. It seemed to help me focus.

Good workout. Feeling depleted. Food required.
 
BAX67 said:
Awesome squatting Lol. I know you have been wanting that for a long time. Congrats on some great lifts!!
Click to expand...

Cheers Bax. I started to wonder whether I would ever make it to 400lb. I guess it's a case of slow and steady wins the day! No new injuries of late or ops to hold me up and old injuries continuing to heal. So far this is a good year.
 
Long-term Lifting Goals

As it's always good to set out long-term goals, I thought I'd note down some of them here.

Currently, my strength goals are:
+500lb deadlift - this one will depend on how my hernia repair fares.
+450lb squat - could be manageable this year if I focus on squatting for a few cycles.
+300lb bench - should be possible this year if AC joints stay solid.
+200lb press - I think this one is going to be the toughest
bw+bw dip - this is really long-term. It would be great to achieve it but it may never happen.
bw+bw chin - ditto!
+250lb C&J - I know I should be able to do this but my technique needs serious work.

GPP goals are:
~3:30 CF Fran
~6:30 2k row on C2 erg

I ought to run a 10k race sometime too. ;)
 
HST Cycle: 15s, session 2

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10 x 60kg, 10 x 80kg WU

15 x 110kg (242lb)
15 x 110kg (242lb)

(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 3,300kg)

Volume dropped back a bit from Friday as these sets felt harder today.

Bench:
15 x 40kg, 10 x 60kg WU

15 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 9
15 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 10

Chins:
15 x bw
15 x bw - partials
10+3,2 x bw - MyoRep set

All taken to RPE 10 again.

Press:
15 x 40kg
15 x 40kg

Dips:
25 x bw

Volume dropped off for bench but added a set of dips. I'll normally do dips on Wednesdays.

I could definitely still feel the effects of Friday's session. Top level strength is down a bit but that's ok and to be expected as I went slightly heavier in the first session than I should have. It's no biggie as I'll still get a decent progression. At the end of the cycle I'm going to do negatives for dips and chins as well as push-press and then add in a set of 15s for each to stimulate some MAPKerk1/2 activity.
 
I'm getting caught up on all the logs...

First - many congrats on what was a very successful peaking program. The lessons learned and the progress made is quite impressive, Lol. Congratulations on the new PRs!

Second - HST after peaking has to feel amazing, going from such low volume to higher volume (per set). Great idea!

Third - the new goals. Have you thought at all what you're going to do program-wise to give you the chance to hit the right load progressions relative to goal? I'd imagine you will have relatively little trouble hitting the squat, deadlift and bench numbers easily by the end of the year, all things being equal. Pressing... Well, that's a different animal. I cannot wait to see how you get to 200.
 
_tim said:
Have you thought at all what you're going to do program-wise to give you the chance to hit the right load progressions relative to goal? I'd imagine you will have relatively little trouble hitting the squat, deadlift and bench numbers easily by the end of the year, all things being equal. Pressing... Well, that's a different animal. I cannot wait to see how you get to 200.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the congrats Tim. Even though I messed around with the program a little it was great to finally break through the 400lb squat barrier, and with room to spare too.

Peaking in strength is one thing but now it's time to grow some muscle! I think it'll come pretty slow now though so I'm hoping for modest gains over a few cycles this year. My test level probably isn't great; I hit 45 the other day and, whilst I don't feel old yet, I'm now on the slippery slope downwards and will soon be trying to hang on to what I've got for dear life! Quadman knows all about that.

I do thinks deads might be a problem this year from the perspective of injury. I won't push them hard if I feel twinges again. It's just not worth it.

Bench and press will both be tough goals; I'm just naturally crap at both due to my less than stellar upper-body genetics. If I make either of them I'll be pleased. I think if my bench does go over 300, my press will not be far off 200. It's greatly encouraging that Quad is still pressing out the heavy iron - and with a problematic shoulder too. I have more than a few years on him (around 9 or 10 I think?) to give me a chance to reach his level.

Anyway, all the best with your healing up. Looking forward to seeing how you manage in that 10k race of yours, you crazy fool you! :)
 
HST Cycle: 15s, session 3

Not feeling great today. Not sure whether it's a lack of sleep or what? Had to start late tonight too (11:30pm) so decided to squat instead of cleaning and deadlifting -- it's quieter!

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg WU
15 x 115kg (253lb)
15 x 115kg (253lb)

Oly shoes; no belt; momentary pauses.
(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 3,450kg)
These were fairly tough. Massive quad pump after the first work set. I was trying to think of a good reason not to have to do the second set but I couldn't.

Front Squat:
2 x 1 x 115kg (253lb)
I must be able to clean this weight if I can front squat it with tired legs.

Dips:
15 x bw WU
15 x bw+10kg (22lb)
15 x bw+10kg (22lb)

I'm getting back into these nice and carefully to see how my left shoulder fares. Slowed the reps down and really went for the burn.

Kroc DB Rows:
15 x 36kg WU
15 x 46kg (101lb)
20 x 46kg (101lb)

Slower tempo than I would usually use in order to feel the burn. Great pump.

Handstands against wall:
Several 30 sec holds.

My balance is improving to the point where I can now hold a handstand away from the wall for about 10 seconds.

Weighted Jump Rope:
100+50 x bw+10kg

I decided to try doing jump rope wearing my weight belt with a 10kg plate attached. Had to keep my legs pressed together to stop the plate from swinging about. Awesome! Mega calf burn. I'll see if I can continue to increment the load for these whilst maintaining or increasing reps.

All in all a pretty good session. Felt pretty washed out afterwards. I'd forgotten how tough 15s are. That's why I love 'em.
 
HST Cycle: 15s, session 4

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 8P x 90kg WU
15 x 120kg (264lb)
15 x 120kg (264lb)

No belt; Oly shoes.
(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 3,600kg)

Knew these were going to be fun tonight. Great quad pump. No problem with form even at the bitter end. :)

Front Squat:
1 x 120kg (264)

Still okay even with fatigued quads.

Bench:
15 x 40kg, 10 x 60kg WU
15 x 82.5kg (182lb) @ RPE 9
12+2,1 (M-R) x 82.5kg (182lb)

Decided to do a MyoReps for the second set. Good burn and pump following that.

Chins:
15 x bw @ RPE 9
15+5,3,3,2 (M-R) x bw

Press:
15 x 42.5kg (94lb) @ RPE 8.5
15 x 42.5kg (94lb) @ RPE 8.5

Handstands against wall:
Several 30 sec holds.

Good workout. Squats were doable so, unfortunately, I still have some more to come.
 
HST Cycle: 15s, session 5

Up all night helping my eldest with some coursework that had to be handed in today! Not best pleased but got the job done. Frustratingly, it didn't leave me time for my full workout but at 2:30 am this morning I did some squats whilst I made a snack for us both. I'll try to get time to catch up with the rest tonight, assuming I can get some sleep beforehand.

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10 x 90kg WU
15 x 130kg (286lb) PR - New 15RM!
12 x 130kg (286lb)

No belt; Oly shoes.
(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 3,510kg)

First set was tough. Breathing like a steam train afterwards. Probably could have made it to 20 though -- if someone had a gun to my head and with more pausing for breath! Stopped at 12 for the second set rather than push for 15 and 'enjoy' the extra CNS hit. Entire legs well sautéed.
 
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HST Cycle: 15s, session 5

Continuation from last night.

Very tired tonight. In need of some sleep. Legs pretty sore.

Bench:
15 x 40kg, 10 x 60kg WU
15 x 85kg (187lb) @ RPE 9
10+2,2,2,1 (M-R) x 85kg (187lb)
With wraps. MyoReps for second set.

Chins:
10 x bw @ RPE 9
10 x bw
8 x bw
8 x bw
7 x bw
5+2,1 (M-R) x bw

First set felt really hard so I knew I couldn't manage 15 reps for these tonight; did multiple smaller sets instead until I'd had enough! Short rests between sets.

EZ-bar Press:
15 x 31.5kg WU
15 x 41.5kg (92lb) @ RPE 8.5
15 x 44kg (97lb) @ RPE 8.5

Decided to use my EZ-bar for these tonight as I couldn't be bothered to unload the O-bar and get it out of the rack. These actually felt pretty good for all reps. I think I prefer pressing with the EZ-bar bar; shoulders feel happier with my hands in less of a pronated position. Left shoulder definitely felt less like it was lagging; no twinges either.

Knees to Elbows:
10 x bw

Did these wearing shoes -- yes, it makes a difference! :)
 
HST Cycle: 15s, session 6

Abbreviated w/o tonight because still feeling the effects of yesterday's session. Mostly repeat loads except for dips which I increased a little.

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg WU
12 x 130kg (286lb)
5P x 130kg (286lb)

No belt; Oly shoes.
(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 2,210kg)

Got to 10 and decided not to push for 15. Definitely carrying more fatigue than last time and don't want to make it worse. Even 12 was tough tonight. Finished up with a paused set of 5. Both vastus medialis muscles particularly pumped afterwards.

Dips:
15 x bw WU
15 x bw+10kg (22lb)
15 x bw+15kg (33lb)

Increased load slightly for second set. Left shoulder still felt good.

Kroc DB Rows:
15 x 36kg WU
20 x 46kg (101lb)

Lats pretty sore from yesterday's chins but these felt easier than last time. Weird. Slower tempo again in order to feel the burn.

No extra shoulder work tonight.

I'll do a final 15s session on Friday so hope I've recovered a bit by then.
 
Whilst I was checking up on some numbers for tonight's workout, it came to my attention that I PR'ed the other night when I squatted 130kg for 15 reps. I had only ever done 14 reps prior to that. Only a single rep improvement but I did it in the middle of the night and on very little sleep from the previous night. I hope there's still a little more to come this cycle but now I won't complain if there isn't. :)
 
HST Cycle: 15s, session 7

Sat 08/05/10

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10 x 90kg WU
16 x 130kg (286lb) PR - @ RPE 8.5
10 x 130kg (286lb) - last few reps paused; incredibly intense reps (in the sense of burning sensation).

Oly shoes; no belt.

More in the tank even though this was a PR but I would be heading into CNS destruction territory and wanted to avoid that. 16 reps was bad enough; took a good few minutes to start to feel normal again. Second set was awesome for burn.

Bench:
15 x 60kg WU
16 x 85kg (187lb) @ RPE 10
10+3,3,3,3 (M-R) x 85kg (187lb)
Without wraps for first set; with wraps and MyoReps for second set.

Called it a day there as it was late and needed to get something to eat before bed. Will finish up with chins and press tomorrow and then start 10s on Monday evening.
 
HST Cycle: 15s, session 7, pt. II

Assisted Concentric Pull-ups:
20 x bw
15 x bw
10 x bw
10 x bw
5 x bw - regular reps

This was more of an experiment with the technique than anything else. I used just enough calf drive to get each rep started. I then pulled up to chin-over-bar for a brief hold, adducting scapulae hard, then lowering under control to full stretch - to accentuate the negative. By the third set I was feeling a deep strain in my lats. These seem to be an ideal way to approach pull-ups for 15+ reps. The trick is to give just the right amount of assistance at the start of each pull. They are also kinder on the shoulders than kipping pull-ups. I tried a set of regular pull-ups to finish up and by 5 reps my back and arms were toast.

EZ-bar Press:
15 x 34kg WU
15 x 49kg (108lb) @ RPE 8.5
15 x 49kg (108lb) @ RPE 9
15 x 49kg (108lb) @ RPE 9

Fairly comfortable.

Knees to Elbows:
10 x bw

EZ-bar Curls:
15 x 49kg (108lb) @ RPE 9

It is a rare event that I do arm curls but the bar was there so...

10s start tomorrow.
 
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