Lol's New HST Log

HST Cycle: 10s, session 1

Mon 10/05/10

While making a cup of tea this morning, I sneezed and was treated to a sharp pain in the left side of my back. It hurt like hell to begin with. Couldn't breathe deeply without making it worse but shallow breathing was okay. Joy!

Got out my trusty tennis-ball-in-a-sock massager and lay on it, moving about until I got the spot. Wow! Painful or what?! Persevered with it for about half an hour until eventually the area went numb. That provided some relief and I was able to breath a bit more normally.

I tried a few movements that I thought would help me figure out which muscle was giving me the trouble; most forms of arm movement were fine but twisting and breathing were not. My guess is that it is part of my serratus posterior inferior muscle. The description of the function of this muscle on WikiP seems to fit perfectly with the cause of pain:

wiki said:
250px-Serratus_posterior.PNG


Serratus Posterior Inferior draws the lower ribs backward and downward to assist in rotation and extension of the trunk. This movement of the ribs also contributes to forced expiration of air from the lungs.
Click to expand...

So I guess I strained it a bit and caused some inflammation in the area.

It bothered me all day but, two tennis ball massage sessions later, I decided to do my workout and play it by ear.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg WU
10 x 110kg (242lb)
10 x 110kg (242lb)
10 x 110kg (242lb) @ RPE 8

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

Oly shoes; no belt.
Pretty uncomfortable to begin with, especially breathing deeply but things improved by the final set.

Dips:
15 x bw WU
10 x bw+20kg (44lb)
10 x bw+20kg (44lb)
10 x bw+20kg (44lb) @ RPE 8

These were okay.

Chins:
10 x bw
15 x bw - assisted with calves; focussed on the negatives.

Surprisingly little discomfort from these but didn't push it. Just wanted to get some blood flowing around the area.

EZ-bar Press:
25 x 24kg WU
10 x 44kg (97lb)
10 x 49 kg (108lb)
10 x 49 kg (108lb) @ RPE 8

EZ-bar Curls:
10 x 49 kg (108lb) @ RPE 8.5

After tonight's session, my breathing was easier so it definitely helped to work through the discomfort. Twisting to either side is still not pleasant but hopefully a good night's sleep will help.
 
Last edited:
Hi Lol,

Thanks for posting your log. I've been following it for quite some time and am sorry to hear about your latest injury.

A few questions for ya:

1) Just curious - Why 7 sessions of 15's?
2) I noticed a pattern of overhead pressing every other workout. Any reason you're not pressing every workout?
3) For 10's, I noticed you're doing 3 sets - except for chins and curls. Preference?

Thanks!
 
Lol said:
While making a cup of tea this morning, I sneezed and was treated to a sharp pain in the left side of my back. It hurt like hell to begin with. Couldn't breathe deeply without making it worse but shallow breathing was okay. Joy!
Click to expand...
Sorry to hear about that Lol. I think you should refrain from sneezing :)
 
The pull is very, very familiar to me - I'm so sorry to hear about this setback. The tennis ball massage sounds like a great idea, as well as increasing as much blood to the area as you can - perhaps some reverse hypers without weight or light SLDL's with high reps. I use a couple yoga poses as well for stretching:

http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/474
http://www.santosha.com/bala.html
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2467
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/2468
http://www.yogajournal.com/poses/479

Take a look at the poses and then try to do the first four in sequence, holding each for a count of at least 10. Breathe only through your nose, and focus all your thoughts on your pull as you stretch with a heavy focus on relaxing. The last pose is good all by itself.

Best of luck, Lol.
 
Crazy work over the past few days; all-nighters for the last two nights have left me feeling pretty tired. Nutrition hasn't been great plus I missed last night's w/o. Just caught 3 hours sleep so will try a workout later tonight.

Back was very sore the day after my little incident but it is much improved today. I'll give the tennis-ball massage therapy another shot after my w/o tonight.

@electric: I should have learnt to control my sneezing by now, esp. after all the pain sneezing caused me while my hernia op was healing up. I seem to take after my pop who has the most violent sneezes of anyone I know! :D

@Tim: thanks for the links; I'll check them out later.

@amdda01a:

1) Just curious - Why 7 sessions of 15's?
2) I noticed a pattern of overhead pressing every other workout. Any reason you're not pressing every workout?
3) For 10's, I noticed you're doing 3 sets - except for chins and curls. Preference?
Click to expand...

1) Just because I started my new cycle on a Friday. Haven't done 15s in a while and wanted to give them a good airing!

2) My left AC joint has been problematic for a long time but right now is much better than it has been. Benching and dipping hits my shoulders hard so pressing every other session makes sense while my AC joint stays happy.

3) 10s will usually be around 3 sets as I'm doing so few exercises; sometimes I'll do more, sometimes less. I use RPE to help prevent me from hammering my CNS too hard too soon. I'll be progressing loads for chins over the cycle but my total reps might well be more than for other upper-body exercises. Arms get hammered by most upper-body movements so I don't bother with direct arm work much. If I do decide to do some curls, it's usually because the bar's loaded and sitting there waiting to be used! :)

Right, time to get to it...
 
HST Cycle: 10s, session 2

So, as per my previous post, pretty tired tonight but wanted to get something done and get back on track.

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

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

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

It's interesting to me how my evaluation of RPE alters with exercise. That last set of squats was hard but I know I could get four more reps (at least) if I really had to. RPE 8 for squats (or deads) is a lot more of a drain on my CNS than RPE 8 for upper-body exercises.

Bench:
10P x 60kg WU
10 x 80kg (176lb)
10 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 8
13 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 9

With wraps.
No problems with these. Just feeling generally tired and less than strong tonight.

Kroc DB Rows:
15 x 36kg WU
15 x 46kg (101lb)
10 x 56kg (123lb)
10 x 56kg (123lb) @ RPE 8.5

No twinges or pain of any kind doing these which was a very welcome surprise.

Called it quits there for tonight; glad to get something done. To get back on schedule I have a session to do tomorrow, but I might carry it over to Saturday. I want my CNS to recover as much as possible this week.
 
HST Cycle: 10s, session 3

Sat 15/05/10

Training late again tonight.

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg WU
10 x 130kg (286lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 130kg (286lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 130kg (286lb) @ RPE 8.5

No belt; Oly shoes.
(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 3,900kg)

These felt pretty good. Last set might still have been an RPE 8 but it was harder than the other two so I've marked it as an 8.5.

Bench:
10P x 60kg WU
10 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 80kg (176lb) @ RPE 8

With wraps.
Left shoulder felt a little iffy after the first set so didn't increase load but did more total reps instead.

Chins:
10 x bw
10 x bw
10 x bw
10 x bw
10 x bw @ RPE 10

Sets got progressively harder. Last set was RPE 10 but I recovered pretty quickly afterwards. Forearms were blasted.

Tonight I weighed 217lb in training gear.
 
Just for fun I did some grip work and some curls this evening whilst waiting for some food to cook.

Body Weight Bar Hangs:

1 minute
1 minute
30 secs
30 secs
30 secs
30 secs

Regular grip (no hooking). Didn't push to failure but just until I got a good forearm burn. Short'ish' rest between holds. Actively squeezed the bar with each hand in alternate pulses. Great pump.

EZ-bar curls:

14 x 49 kg (108lb) @ RPE 9
10 x 49 kg (108lb) @ RPE 9

Did a few chest-to-bar pull-ups and found my lats were actually quite sore form yesterday's chins although I hadn't realised it.
 
HST Cycle: 10s, session 4

Mon 17/05/10

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Cleans:
10 x 60kg WU - 5 power cleans + 5 full squat cleans
5 x 80kg (176lb)
5 x 80kg (176lb)

Full squat cleans for both work sets.

EZ-bar Press:
10 x 31.5kg WU
10 x 51.5kg
10 x 54kg (119lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 54kg (119lb) @ RPE 8.5

Kroc DB Rows:
10 x 36kg WU
10 x 56kg (123lb)
10 x 61kg (135lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 61kg (135lb) @ RPE 8.5

Bench:
10P x 60kg WU
10 x 85kg (187lb)
10 x 85kg (187lb)
10 x 85kg (187lb) @ RPE 8.5

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10 x 90kg WU
10 x 135kg (298lb) @ RPE 8.5

Good session. Great to get back to doing some cleans again. I hope to get over a 100kg sometime soon.
 
HST Cycle: 10s, session 5

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg WU
10 x 130kg (286lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 137.5kg (303lb) @ RPE 8.5
10 x 137.5kg (303lb) @ RPE 9

No belt; Oly shoes.
(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 4,050kg)

Deep feeling of strain in my quads after these. Hams nice and pumped too. I think that may be my heaviest sets across to date.

Dips:
15 x bw WU
10 x bw+25kg (55lb)
10 x bw+25kg (55lb)
10 x bw+25kg (55lb)
10 x bw+25kg (55lb) @ RPE 8.5

These felt good too. No left shoulder twinges. Gripped bars tightly throughout. I think I forget to do this sometimes but it definitely helps me drive up from the bottom position.

Chins:
10 x bw WU
10 x bw+10kg (22lb) @ RPE 9
10 x bw+10kg (22lb) @ RPE 10
10 x bw

These were tough, as always. Second weighted set took me to RPE 10 so I thought I'd call it a day there, but then decided to do another unweighted set to keep the volume up.

That's it for tonight.
 
_tim said:
Hey Lol - Out of curiosity, what's your current 10RM for low-bar squats?
Click to expand...

I dunno, Tim. My guess, based on how I'm squatting right now is that it's around 145kg. The problem with trying to gauge actual RMs when doing an HST cycle is that there's usually a fair amount of fatigue being carried due to the frequency. If I had a week off and than made an attempt at a new 10RM it would most likely be an improvement on what will happen tomorrow (or Saturday). Still, the general trend is upwards which is what matters. :)
 
HST Cycle: 10s, session 6

Fri 21/05/10

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg WU
10 x 140kg (308lb) @ RPE 8
10 x 140kg (308lb) @ RPE 8.5
10 x 140kg (308lb) @ RPE 9

No belt; Oly shoes.
(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume = 4,200kg)

3 x 10 x 140kg is a PR for sets across so I'm pleased with my effort tonight. Definitely took some life out of me.

Bench:
10P x 50kg WU
10 x 80kg (176lb)
10 x 87.5kg (193lb) @ RPE 8.5
10 x 87.5kg (193lb) @ RPE 9

With wraps.

Chins:
10 x bw
10 x bw+11.25kg (25lb) @ RPE 10
8+2,2,2,2,1 (M-R) x bw+11.25kg (25lb)

Darn, these were hard tonight.

Dips:
10 x bw+30kg (66lb) @ RPE 10

Added a set of dips to see if I could manage 10 reps with 30kg. Just made it.

Will try to get time to do some shoulder press tomorrow when I'm fresh.
 
HST Cycle: 10s, session 6 (continued)

Sat 22/05/10

EZ-bar Press:
15 x 36.5kg WU
10 x 46.5kg
10 x 56.5kg (125lb) @ RPE 8.5
10 x 56.5kg (125lb) @ RPE 8.5
10 x 56.5kg (125lb) @ RPE 9

No shoulder twinges so I'm happy with that effort.

EZ-bar Curls:
20 x 26.5kg WU
10 x 36.5kg
10 x 36.5kg
10 x 36.5kg

Not heavy for curls (so these were more like 15s again) but I really focussed on maintaining good form throughout with a conscious contraction at the top position to really bring on the hypoxic stress. At the end of the final set I did 10 partials at the top part of the movement while consciously contracting as hard as possible. What a great burn!


So that's the 10s out of the way. 5s next week. Yipee! (BUT, I must remember to do metabolic sets too. Bah!)

I have to say, I'm really enjoying getting back to an HST cycle again.

Last night's squat PR for sets across made me realise that I'm probably not that far off from a single set of 10 with 150kg. If I can manage that next cycle I might be able to crack 200kg for a single. That's what I'm aiming for next.

Although HST is primarily about hypertrophy, I find that it always works really well for strength too, at least for me at any rate. At this point in time, I don't really notice much in the way of hypertrophy each cycle but I do notice strength improvements (hypertrophy is still happening but it's slow now).
 
HST Cycle: 5s, session 1

24/05/10

Let the 5s begin!

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Paused Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg WU
5P x 130kg (287lb) @ RPE 8
5P x 130kg (287lb) @ RPE 8
5P x 130kg (287lb) @ RPE 8.5
5P x 130kg (287lb) @ RPE 9
15 x 90kg (198lb) - metabolic set

Oly shoes; no belt.

The paused sets of 5 with 130 were tough going; it seems hard to imagine that I managed 15 non-paused reps with the same load. The final high-rep set was a real 'set your quads on fire' burner.

Paused Bench:
15P x 40kg, 5P x 90kg WU
5P x 90kg (198lb)
5P x 95kg (209lb)
5P x 95kg (209lb)
5P x 95kg (209lb) @ RPE 9
15 x 55kg (121lb) - metabolic set

Work sets with wraps. Shoulders felt these a bit more than I would have liked but all reps felt solid. Final set was evil!

Chins:
10 x bw WU
5 x bw+15kg (33lb)
5 x bw+15kg (33lb)
5 x bw+15kg (33lb)
5 x bw+15kg (33lb) @ RPE 9
15 x bw - assisted chins for metabolic set

All sets were hard. For the final burn set, I used my calves a little to help get me to chin-over-bar position then lowered under control. Nasty medicine!

Handstand Push-ups:
5 x bw
5 x bw
5 x bw
5 x bw @ RPE 8.5
15 x 31.5kg (70lb) - EZ-bar press for final metabolic set

For HSPUs, lowered head to floor with feet against wall. Decided to do these because shoulders were a little uncomfortable after bench and thought HSPUs were slightly kinder than presses because of the reduced ROM. Still not easy though.

It felt good to be back at the 5s. Just hope I can eat enough to make the most of all this work.
 
HST Cycle: 5s, session 2

26/05/10

Coming into this feeling tired and underfed. Had to work last night and only snatched 3 hours kip this evening prior to training. I think I will reduce volume tonight but keep the loads moving up as planned.

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Paused Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg, 5P x 110kg WU
5P x 135kg (298lb) @ RPE 8
5P x 135kg (298lb) @ RPE 8.5

Oly shoes; no belt.

Forgot to do my metabolic set. Legs definitely sore and tired from Monday; 135kg felt heavier than I would have liked. Hope Friday is better.

Paused Bench:
15P x 40kg, 10P x 60kg, 5P x 80kg WU
5P x 100kg (220lb)
5P x 100kg (220lb) @ RPE 9
15 x 60kg (132lb) - metabolic set

Work sets with wraps.

Kroc Rows:
10 x 46kg WU
5 x 61kg (135lb)
5 x 61kg (135lb)
5 x 61kg (135lb) @ RPE 8 plus 5 second hold after final rep.

EZ-bar Rows:
15 x 79kg (174lb) - metabolic set

EZ-bar Press:
10 x 49kg WU
5 x 59kg (130lb)
5 x 59kg (130lb)
5 x 59kg (130lb)
5 x 59kg (130lb) @ RPE 9
15 x 49kg (108lb)

Definitely need to get some good sleep over the next couple of nights.
 
HST Cycle: 5s, session 2 (cont.)

Thu 27/05/10

EZ-bar Curls:
10 x 49kg (108lb)
5 x 49kg (108lb)
5 x 49kg (108lb)

Plus some partials for 'burns' at the end of the last set.

Toes-to-bar:
10 x bw
10 x bw

These start out easy and end up being really hard.
 
Last edited:
HST Cycle: 5s, session 3

Feeling a bit more rested tonight.

Lunges and dislocates for warmups.

Low-bar Squat:
10P x 60kg, 10P x 90kg WU
5P x 110kg (242lb)
5P x 140kg (308lb) @ RPE 8
5P x 140kg (308lb) @ RPE 8.5
5P x 140kg (308lb) @ RPE 8.5
15 x 90kg (198lb) - metabolic set

No belt; Oly shoes.
(For comparison purposes - Work Set Volume + Met set = 4,000kg )

I think 5P x 140kg is a PR for paused squats and therefore also for 3 x 5P x 140kg.

Paused Bench:
15P x 40kg, 10P x 70kg WU
5P x 100kg (220lb)
5P x 100kg (220lb)
5P x 100kg (220lb) @ RPE 9
20 x 60kg (132lb) - metabolic set

All work sets with wraps.

Chins:
5 x bw+20kg (44lb)
5 x bw+20kg (44lb)
7 x bw+20kg (44lb) @ RPE 10
5 x bw+20kg (44lb) @ RPE 9

Pull-ups:
15 x bw - assisted chins for metabolic set

As before, for the metabolic set, I used a small jump to help get me to chin-over-bar position then lowered to full extension under control.

Power Cleans:
10 x 60kg WU
5 x 80kg (176lb)
5 x 80kg (176lb)
5 x 80kg (176lb)

Power cleans rather than squat cleans this time. Will have to switch to squat cleans once the loads are higher.
 
Last edited:
Your work of late has been incredible, Lol. I gotta ask - why don't you measure RPE when doing the metabolic sets? Is that something that goes against the whole RPE ideology?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top