Mixing HST and Other Workouts

S

stevec

New Member
Okay I've established in some other threads that I'm an experienced lifter though I don't have any formal background, but I'm fairly new to HST.

I did my first cycles of HST over the summer--I did two four-week cycles (with one week of 15s/10s/5s/5s) not counting SD before each cycle. I got great results, gaining 13 pounds and an inch on both bicepts and almost two inches on both thighs.

I'm getting ready to get back into a bulking/HST cycle for the fall but I'd like to see if I can improve some things this time.

QUESTION:
Can I use HST for most of my workout but use other methods for different muscle groups? I haven't read about the specifics behind SST yet but since I'm assuming it's as good as HST I was thinking about trying to do an HST workout while using SST principles for my abs, lower back, and maybe my pecs. Would something like this work? Or even if I just did the old-school high-rep calisthenics for my abs, would that be okay? Are these going to detract from the success I get with HST? (Provided I take in enough protein/carbs to minimize risk of additional catabolizing muscle.)

Outside of that, what about other workouts during the course of the week? If I'm using HST but it's either not my HST time or not the day of my cycle how much of a negative impact will a different workout have on my muscular hypertrophy from HST? Does it make a difference if this workout is cardio or a lifting workout? I'm sure it's got to make some kind of an impact but I'm having a hard time reasoning through what it would be.

Thanks a bunch for the help.

Oh, no one ever answered--should I put multiple questions in a single thread or make a different thread for each different question? I just wanna abide by forum ettiquite.

 -Steve
 
I'm not sure a general answer is appropriate here. You would have to specify what you're doing to what muscle and when. I was going to do something different for my legs and biceps, but after thinking it out over several plans, they all interfered with the recovery times or I would be doing my HST using sore muscles that needed to be recovering. Pretty much all I found was the max-stim method or changing rep schemes or rests between sets would integrate with HST, but that's as far as I've gotten.
Someone else may have some other ideas. It would just seem to me that you have to manage failure training completely separately from the increased frequency of HST, and that's pretty hard to do, unless it's on a muscle you don't use in your HST.

You mentioned in your post that you got fantastic results from HST, especially for a veteran lifter. Here in the southern USA we have a saying..."If it works, don't fix it!"
 
I'll second Quad here, if it works don't fix it!

You're over complicating things, for now just do HST, once you got the hang of it and if you see the necessity then start tweaking!

In my experience tweaking does not always give results, fopr the best tweaking refer to "pimp my HST e-book".
 
if what you are thinking of doing affects the principals of hst then you can no longer say you are doing hst.
 
Thank you guys! This is actually a huge help.

For the record, I've been using HST principles for the following program:
- 2 sets curlbar curls (1 narrow grip, 1 wide grip)
- 2 sets upright rows
- 2 sets standing military press
- 1 set squats
- 1 set SLDL

Based on feedback I've gotten on this forum, I'm planning to switch out the curlbar curls for underhand, close-grip chin-ups and adding weighted dips (how did I forget about dips the first time?!). I also may mess around with the number of sets, because the more I think about it how can a 15/10/5 RM that you do for two sets really be your RM?

I train Brazilian jiu-jitsu and in there we do lots of high-rep ab work, push-ups, and cardio for warm-ups. I think I will probably continue to do that and make sure the ab workouts are on the days I'm not lifting. I'm going to attempt to take in enough protein and carbs to not catabolize the muscle I've been working so hard to build.

If this seems way off let me know. Thank you guys again! This forum is amazing.
 
I actually incorporate SS into my upper back program. I typically will do a set of chin ups at the prescribed number of reps with whatever added weight is necessary and then decrease the weight and do a second set of chin ups (drop set). Then I do one last rep with no added weight and do the slowest eccentric rep as I can (drop SS rep). I find it really stimulates both my lats and biceps and I am spent after that simple giant set and I have only taken about 3 minutes to complete my back program.

It may not be strictly HST but I find it works great for me.

CAUTION: Only do this if you don't mind walking around like a gorilla!
wink.gif
 
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(quadancer @ Sep. 13 2006,04:57)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Steve, I would drop the high rep pushups from the warmup, unless you want skinny arms. JMHO.</div>
Would that really take away from my arm mass even if I'm using HST for my arm workouts and taking in plenty of calories/carbs/protein?

That sounds a lot like unintentional spot-reduction, which I thought was impossible. How does that work?

I'm not arguing, I just like knowing *why* things work the way they do.
 
Steve

What quad is trying to say is that you will rob yourself of gains by doing high rep work before HST, because muscle essentially grows best from being forced to push heavy loads, by doing this you'll tire out your arms before handling the weight!

The results will be that you will not be able to take a heavier weight fi you do high rep work before hand, however if you are doing Ju-Jitsu on off days (HST off days that would be) what you need to worry about is enough rest.
 
Yah, what he said.
Also, I've found that the arm muscles have a lot of work to do in the workout, so going to the thread about arm iso's, the verdict was that you can either not do any iso's or keep them from excess reps or sets due to them overtraining easily... for most of us.
Iso's are additional work to what the arms are allready having to do, as opposed to your other muscles that are specifically exersized.
 
Yeah, upright rows cause impingement on one of the tendons in each shoulder. You might not have problems with them for a while but eventually they will cause you problems, particularly if you used them with higher loads like the 5s. Best not to do them.
 
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