My eyes are bigger than....my muscles lol (question)

[jackgurnick]

Hey guys,After a good 4 years of lifiting, im 20 years old, 198 pounds 5'11 and a half (not legit 6 foot...(n)), with around 14% body fat. I feel good with the way I look but after being the same weight for around a year and a half maybe 2 years (between 190-198 depending on how much water ive drank, creatine etc...). I figured it was time for a change, so i started HST rather than doing my usual 4 workouts a week; high exercise counts, one muscle a day, 3 sets a day, 10 reps. Also, my goal is to gain a little more weight, I do not manage a strict diet however... I eat normally so its not like Im eating high cals or anything.

Its going great, I figured out all my maxes and what not and im about to begin the 4th workout of 15s (doing vanilla hst). My question is:

1.) Ive started my 15s routine doing TWO SETS of 15s per exercise instead of the more common one... I figured since i was an experienced lifter and that im used to much more frequency that it shouldn't be an issue especially considering the light weight...im being proved wrong lol.... Coming onto my fourth workout of 15s (I only took a one day rest instead of the typical two after the third workout, i hope that isnt an issue? or do you suggest I chill and take another one?).. Can I switch back to only doing ONE set per exercise even though i was doing TWO the prior 3 workouts, or do I have to stick to the TWO for the remaining 3 workouts of 15s because of the progressive load concepts etc.

*Note: Obviously since ive worked out pretty consistently for such a long-time, i didnt properly SD before my first workout of 15s because its just too hard when something becomes as common to you as brushing your teeth (imagine not brushing your teeth for like 9 days)... So i just took a 4-5 day break instead and figured that was good enough..so maybe thats a hinder as well.Thank You

 

[grunt11]

*Note: Obviously since ive worked out pretty consistently for such a long-time, i didnt properly SD before my first workout of 15s because its just too hard when something becomes as common to you as brushing your teeth (imagine not brushing your teeth for like 9 days)... So i just took a 4-5 day break instead and figured that was good enough..so maybe thats a hinder as well.Thank You

You likely shortchanged yourself by not doing a full SD especially since you had already been working out for so long. You are going to get less growth stimulus out of the lighter loads. I know SD sucks I go crazy if I don’t workout at least every other day but I can say from my experience SD works and is worth the “effort.”

I don’t see a problem switching back to 1 set each for the rest of the 15s. In the long run it’s not going to make much difference since you’ve done it for such a short time with the lightest weights of the cycle.

As long as you aren’t suffering or prone to overuse injures then working out every other day without taking the two day weekend off shouldn’t be any problem.

 

[Totentanz]

The minimum allowable time for SD is 9 days, returning on the 10th day. In reality, this would mean that your last week, you lift Mon-Wed-Fri, take that weekend off and the entire next week off, returning to the gym on Monday. The reason for this minimum is not only to decondition your muscles to the loads you will be using, but due to the spike in satellite cells that occurs after taking 9 days off specifically. This effect can help you bust through plateaus. Many of us here can attest to how it has helped us if you need anecdotal evidence.

 

[jackgurnick]

Hmm, yeah I have thoroughly read all the science between SD and other HST principles and I agree with them, I do believe they work. I understand that a muscle gets as tough as "shoe leather" and it only can get bigger if you decondition it so you can produce "microtrauma" etc etc. However, I couldn't mentally take that much time off so hopefully that isn't a make-or-break decision that I got wrong that will make HST not do anything for me in terms of gains.

P.S. I did go yesterday after only a one day break between the 3rd and 4th workout, I felt fine. (I couldnt wait till the monday so my cycle actually started on Friday...Friday, Sunday, Tuesday)