My Second Cycle!!

T

TrapsOfSteal

New Member
Hi,

I am in SD right now after a first cycle in which I did 2 weeks of each 15s, 10s and 5s. Although my bodyweight doesn't seem to have changed much, I guess I lost about 5 lbs of fat thus gaining 5 pounds of l.m.m. My strength increased tremendously. Anyway, I'm off to my second cycle in a few days  and wanted you to help me set it up.

Here is my planned routine:

Leg Press
Leg Curl
Decline Bench/Inclined Bench
Bent-Over Row
Military Press
Upright Row
Barbell Curls/E-Z bar curls
Tricep Pushdown/Closed-Grip Bench Press
Shoulder Shrugs
Some abs exercise

Because I did not like zig zagging in my first cycle and because I only know my 5 rep maxes, I plan to work up to my 5 rep maxes for 4 weeks while gradually decreasing my rep number from 12 or so to 5 and then continuing with 5s and enventually 5s with drop sets or 3s in the last four weeks. Sounds good? What is the MINIMUM effective load as a percentage of my 5 rep maxes so I can know how light I can start off at the beginning of my cycle?
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Thanks,

Traps
 
Hi again,

I am thinking of doing twice a day 3x per week now. I plan on using the same routine with only the bench press , bicep and tricep exercises changing from morning to night. Is this ok? Also, in lifts like bent-over row and military press, my maxes would only be able to accomodate a change in poundage every 2 training days (that is, 4 workouts). Is this ok? Will I still reap the benefits of doing these exercises 4 times with the same poundage? Lastly, can someone please give me an answer to this question: what is the minimum effective load for a given exercise, on average, as a percentage of a 5 rep max?

Thanks,

Happy St-Patrick's Day,

Traps
 
for my first cycle, and against all recomendations, I have been doing 3x a week, 2x a day. My total load today, my last day of 10´s was 21000 kilograms. I like the 3xa week 2x a day alot.

I only did isolated movements when I felt up to it which was aout 50% of the time. I always do for every workout Squats, SLDL, DL, Bench, Dips, Chins and Rows.

Dips have to be the greatest thing since sliced bread and I had always avoided them.

My chest is exploding because of the DIps.

RE: minimum effective load I would think must be determined empirically for each individual.
 
Ok,

So you use the same workout twice a day with the same poundage? I hear the RBE takes 48 hours to settle in so I'm guessing it doesn't matter if I use the same poundage from morning to night? I decided to have my minimum effecive loads between 50% and 60% of my 5 rep max which means at about 44-54% of my one rep max. It is said that the minimum effective load is avout 50% of ones 1 rep max. Although for some exercises, I start lower then 50%, I did 14 days of SD so that shouldn't be a problem! How many sets do you do per exercise?

Thanks and let me know how your cycle goes,

Traps
 
Another question: why do you like dips so much as opposed to decline bench press? EMG studies have shown that it makes something like 96% or so of the pectoris major contract. How are you supposed to make dips "weighted dips". Where does the weight go?
 
RBE does not set in within 48 hours. Depending on the weight you are using, RBE can take as long as two weeks or more to set in.
 
For the 15s I did 2 x 15 x ( x kilograms).
For the 10s I did 2 x 10 x ( x kilograms).
The weight was the same for both am and pm.
I did 2 weeks of 15s.
I just finished 2 weeks of 10s.
On Monday I start my 5s.
For the 5s I will do: ( 4-6 ) x 5 x ( x kilograms)

In my gym we have the Hammerstrength decline press which I hate.
I don´t like the movement angle and I can press like 300 kilograms which is BS because I am not THAT strong, yet. I don´t like that machine. Barbell declines might be a whole different story but I haven´t tried them.

The dips are more honest. I can do 6 sets of 5 reps with body weight and then use the belt and hang weights. Plus the stretch you get from DIPS really burns it all in.
 
So RBE takes 2 weeks or so to settle in with heavier weights? I thought I had red that it can settle in in as little as 48 hours somewhere on this site? I guess that was for very low weight. So after my four weeks of progression to my current 5 rep maxes, it's ok if I just change my poundages every week even if I'm gonna be training twice a day three days a week? Also, what type of results should I expect training twice a day three days a week as opposed to 3x per week. Is slightly under double the gains a good approximation?

Thanks and I guess I'll have to get myself a weight belt and try those dips out.
 
Bump!

So really, how much can one expect the difference in gains from training 2 times a day 3 times a week as opposed to once a day 3 times a week? Also, when using the same poundage on an exercise for 2 or 3 training sessions, is the anabolic effect caused by each training session similar? What is the minimum amount of time necessary between a morning and a night training session?

thanks
 
Traps

here's a quick reflection:

Your workout looks fine, just break it up if you're going 2x/day, it is too long to do twice (an even breaker should no more than 4 - 6 exercises tops).

Higher frequency like 2x/day 3x/week produces better results provided you keep yourself well fed and have fairly simple workouts to avoid overworking.

Some tips:

15's - 65 - 70% of 1RM
10's - 75 - 80% of 1 RM
5's - 85 - 95% of 1 RM
negatives - all the way to 100% some of us even go to 120% of 1 RM.

Tot is absloutely right, RBE can take up to two weeks to catch up to you, so be happy to lift something for a whole two weeks (if you have to) and then increase it!

What you read was in the main article, that the HST program is built to increase load steadily and keep beating RBE every 48 hours, and it works well believe it!

However I'll use myself as an example, I am struggling a bit to bench 200 pounds alone, so I am going to take it through the whole week until I increase it, maybe even further!

8 hours between am and pm should suffice!

Beware
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, you have to do your thing carefully and eat like a monster!
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whilst maintaining the balance and avoiding CNS burnout! So it is essential that your workouts are short and SWEET!
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Thanks Fausto,

I finally decided to workout 5x per week, once a day. I tried working out in the morning on the first day of my cycle and lets just say that I've never been a morning person. Unfortunately, I can't do negs but plan on doing supplementary 5s with drop sets or should I just do 3 sets of 5s? What would you recommend if I do a drop set scheme? By how much should I decrese the load between the sets in my drop set?

Thanks,

Traps
 
I didn't do negs for some of my exercises, I just kept getting stronger. Keep increasing the weight as long as you can, then either a) do negatives or b) cluster reps while increasing slowly/keep same weight
 
Do 3 sets of 5's for your first two weeks then after that fi you up the weight you can one or two sets followed by one drop set or just one set followed by a drop set.

For a drop set depends on the exercises, usually the first drop could be 20% with a slight increase in reps say to 8, then a further 20% and up to 10 or 12, but these are my own opinions, I don't know if anyone else has any guidelines.
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Cluster reps is also a good way to do it, you just rep out what you can without getting to failure, then pause and repeat after a short break to get to the reps required.

Either way it is ok, tell us how you do!
 
ok guys where is the information on RBE and how long it lasts i thought there wasnt any
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but would love to read it if there is
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I think with this 48 hour stuff, he was referring to protein synthesis being elevated, but I'm not sure. As far as I know, no one knows for sure how long RBE takes to set in... mainly because it varies depending on the lifter's genetics, conditioning and what sort of exercise you are doing.
 
thats what i thought tot, i think RBE last for longer than we think it does but i wouldnt give a time
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Thanks guys,

I'll let you know my results once the cycle is over. My "dream" is to get 10 pounds or so on this cycle and I am eating accordingly! Not like for the first cycle.

Traps
 
I didnt read everyones else post...so bear that in mind however after looking at your question. I would say your routine would work but if it was me keep it more simple with just compounds.

For instance have 2 workouts

Workout A
Squats,bench press, rows, shoulder press, with maybe a burn set of arms.

Workout b

Legg Press, Dips, Chins, Dumbell press, with burn sets.

Of course you could use other setups with maybe deadlifts involved...but I would stick to compounds for they will give you the best bang for your buck$$$.

Cut the volume in half if you are going to do 2 workouts a day...and EAT EAT EAT
 
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