My first try on HST, comments?

A

andydev

New Member
Hi,

I've been training for quite a while, and while having nice gains and staying at low % bf, I started to look for something to grow a little bit bigger.

I found HST and have read plenty about it, and I have decided to trying it out.

I'm going to do the usual 6 workouts per range, with sets of 15,10,5, (last one as 5, no partner for negatives :( )

Now I have two questions.

1. One set or two sets?

2. I'm going to do two full body workouts (A,B,A,B,A,B) and this are the exercises I have chosen. Is it too much?
(Body part=A,B)
Quads=Leg press,Back Squat
Hams=Deadlifts,Leg Curl
Chest=Incline Bench,Bench Press
Shoulders=Press,Lateral Raises
Lats=Pullups,Cable Pulldown
Biceps=Barbell Curl, Preacher Curl
Triceps=Cable Triceps Pushdown,Lying Triceps Extension
Calves=Standing Calf Raise,Standing Calf Raise

What do you guys think?


Thanks!
 
It is, by no means, to much. Might even state the opposite, and get rid of fixated ISO's like Preacher curls, leg Curls and small lifts like Lateral raises. I don't think they contribute much to size.

I would pick the best from each A/B day and just go for that, every workout.
Might I ask your reasons for going A/B split?

About the negs, I also train alone, but I am able to do some of the eccentrics anyway.
Couple of suggestions for you program:

Shoulders: Press: use your legs, like in a push press for the con. part.
Lats: Pullups: Jump or stand on a bench.
Biceps: Barbell Curl: Use Cheat Curls.
Triceps: Lying Triceps Extension: With a slight incline, it is easy to push the bar to the top, like in CG bench, for the con.
Calves: Use one legged raises, and help with the other leg for the con. part.

Thats what I do anyway. And then push for new 5 RM's on lifts, where ecc. are not safe.
Regarding sets I'd do 1-2-3 for my first cycle.
 
Hi,

I choose A and B just for variety and not do every time the same. But I understand the point of hard to find the RM's.

If I would go with only one, I would choose:
Quads=Back Squat
Hams=Deadlifts
Chest=Bench Press
Shoulders=Press
Lats=Cable Pulldown (I might add pullups)
Biceps=Preacher Curl
Triceps=Cable Triceps Pushdown
Calves=Standing Calf Raise

I'm still considering maybe doing different workouts, not to do the same alll the time
 
The other issue I'm having, is that I think that doing 2 sets for each workout (15,10,5) for all the exercises, will make my workout too long...
 
DeMello said:
look at my log i just started yesterday, took me less then 45 minutes
Click to expand...

Thanks mate.
I see that you did 115LB bench 15x3x3x2x2
You did 5 sets where the first one is 15 and the rest 3,3,2,2?
How many sets are your goal?

I just hope I'll be able to finish 2 sets of 15 for 8 exercises in less than an hour


I'll go today to the gym to check my 15rm
 
andydev said:
You did 5 sets where the first one is 15 and the rest 3,3,2,2?
Click to expand...
yes, with only 10 seconds inbetween each "set"
but its more like one continuous set then 5 sets
the first 15 reps activate the muscle and then you rest just long enough to do a few more reps, then repeat
 
I think your exercise selection looks good. I would run with that this cycle and see how it goes, then next cycle we can make some adjustments if necessary.
 
Thanks guys.

What's the best way to measure my RMs?

Currently I know my 8RM, should I calculate according to that, or hit the gym to find out?

If you recommend to hit the gym, then whats the best way to calculate them?
 
pick a day finding 15s, another day finding 10s, and another finding 5s
then take 9days off and start your cycle
 
Ideally you would take a day for each RM range. If you already know your 8 RMs, you could use a calcutor to find your 10 RMs. Generally most calculators aren't going to be that accurate at finding 5 RMs and especially 15 RMs based on your 8 RM, so I would at the very least go test the 5s and 15s.
 
Do you have any tips of a good way to try find the correct ways?
If I do bench 80kg 8 reps, then try 60kg for 15 and if I fail, rest a few mins, remove some and try again?

It will be a long day @ the gym :)
 
I would use your 8 RMs if you have them already and take a calculator to estimate your maxes, then go in and test them to see if those are accurate.
 
Totentanz said:
I would use your 8 RMs if you have them already and take a calculator to estimate your maxes, then go in and test them to see if those are accurate.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks, that's what I'm doing now.

I'm finding that reducing 5kg (11lb) from some of the exercises (even the compounds), like bench press, will make the start of my week, very very light.
Is that OK? or should I reduce 2.5kg (5.5lb) also for the compounds to make them more even (I will also have less zigzag)


[edit] What about pullups? I can do 15 with bg only, should I use an assisted machine when I start the 15 reps and then the last day of it do bg only?
 
Last edited:
Ok, here is my workout plan ready.

Hopefully I didn't missed anything.

Only difference than usual I made, is on pullups, I add 0 weight on the 15reps, 5 on the 10reps, and 10 on the 5reps, and for the sets, on each rep range (6 workouts total) I do,1 set on the first two workouts, 2 sets on the middle two workouts, and 3 sets on the last workout. That's to build a good progressive load.

Will gladly hear any thoughts/improvements.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4016679/HST Try 1.xls
 
Sorry it took so long to approve your last two posts. It was caught by the spam filter because of the links, and I was not able to check the posts held for moderation for the last 2 weeks.

Regards,
-JV
 
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