Need to plan summer holidays & HST

M

mantica

New Member
First of all I must admit, I'm lucky. I have four weeks of vacations. But I have a "problem ": I don't know how to plan my 4th HST cycle.
I will start again next monday with the 1st week of 15s. I will spread the standard 5s block over 3 weeks due to a road bike race on june 10th. I put a double question mark where I'm not sure what to do. On holidays I will do aerobic training (bike & run) at least 4 times a week. I'll add one more info: in my HST experience (short - 3 cycles), I can't handle no more than 2 weeks of extension of 5s (>=100% RM), due to joints pain (elbow and shoulder). Below you can see my first draft.


04/30/07 SD
05/07/07 15s
05/14/07 15s
05/21/07 10s
05/28/07 10s
06/04/07 5s
06/11/07 5s
06/18/07 5s
06/25/07 ??
07/02/07 ??
07/09/07 ??
07/16/07 ??
07/23/07 holiday
07/30/07 holiday
08/06/07 ??
08/13/07 ??
08/20/07 holiday
08/27/07 holiday
09/03/07 15s
09/10/07 15s

My routine looks like this:

Crunch (Machine)
Squat
SLDL
Incl. Bbl Press altn. Dips
Bent Barbell Rows altn Chins (r.g.)
Seated Bbl Front Press
Standing Bbl Curls
Lying Bbl Tri. Extensions
Standing Calf Raises (Machine)

I do 2 set for each block (2x15,2x10,2x5); after 5s, I increase the weight beyond 5RM clustering reps.

Any suggestion will be very appreciated.
Thank you in advance.

Andrea
 
Andrea

Your best bet is to keep your cardio training during the holidays, wow 10 weeks that is one long SD. Perhaps the last two weeks you want to reduce things down to nothing before undertaking weight training again.

Program:

Pretty finew as is, the only issue is the volume 30/20/10, not going to give you the best results, ideally I'd try to keep volume the same, here are two options:

15's - 1 or 2 sets / 10's at least two sets / 5's 3 - 4 sets, that way volume is 30/20/15 or 20 still going down but on the 5's you want to keep things at least on 15.

Ideally:
15's 1 set / 10's - 1.5 sets (1 set 10 + 5 reps) / 5's 3 sets, this keeps everything Even-Steven
wink.gif
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">wow 10 weeks that is one long SD</div>

When I put a double question mark, it means I don't know which kind of weight training I can do, not that I'm on holidays (unfortunately). Sorry, I didn't explain very well what's written in the calendar.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">15's 1 set / 10's - 1.5 sets (1 set 10 + 5 reps) / 5's 3 sets, this keeps everything Even-Steven </div>

Keeping the same number of exercises (8) ? Or dropping it maybe to the four basic compounds during 5s (squat+dips/press+chis/rows+OHP) ?

Thank you

Andrea
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">When I put a double question mark, it means I don't know which kind of weight training I can do, not that I'm on holidays (unfortunately). Sorry, I didn't explain very well what's written in the calendar.</div>

Difficult one? No...can't handle pushing beyond 5 for longer than 3 weeks? How a keeping the 5's going for 3 weeks, then jump to beyond 5's and go for another 3 that is 6 weeks behind you.
biggrin.gif


<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Keeping the same number of exercises (8) ? Or dropping it maybe to the four basic compounds during 5s (squat+dips/press+chis/rows+OHP) ?</div>

I'd keep all 8 split them into A/B routines or else yes keep those basic 4, they are a good mix,IMO.
 
i know you mentioned not having success with extending the 5's. perhaps now would be a good time to try and remedy that.
a few ideas, dont shoot for hitting your 5 rep max at the end of the 2nd week. maybe more like the end of the 3rd or middle of the 4th. your wgt progression would be slower but you would still be getting a lot of good &quot;muscle growing&quot; work in while not killing your joints/tendons with work at/above your rep maxes. when and if you start to get that &quot;overtrained&quot; feeling simply drop down to 2x a week or even drop some exer. so your w/o becomes steamlined and less taxing yet still effective.

i dont think thats the best way to go about it for more normal cycles but since your coming up against the holiday(in-flexible SD) it may be worth trying to wring a little more out of your cycle and see how it works out.

good luck
 
Just pick a handful of compound exercises and go really heavy (5s+) during the question mark periods. That will at least help retain your muscle, if not gain some.
 
<div>
(scientific muscle @ May 04 2007,21:47)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Just pick a handful of compound exercises and go really heavy (5s+) during the question mark periods. That will at least help retain your muscle, if not gain some.</div>
OK. It's clear. But what do you think about 2 weeks SD (07/23/07 &amp; 07/30/07) and then jump immediately to heavy weights ? I'm thinking especially about squat.

Andrea
 
During your first 2 weeks off I'd do some sprinting sessions (preferably up-hill) for legs and do some pull-ups/chins and dips (weighted if possible). Don't treat those 2 weeks as SD. Save that for the next two weeks that you have off. Two hard sessions a week should be plenty to keep your conditioning and strength up, so when you get back to the gym you can hit it really hard for the next two weeks and then enjoy a well-earned two week SD before starting your 15s again.
 
i think bluejacket was on the rights lines but instead of starting in the 5s start now,ie instead of increasing the weight every workout do 2 workouts at the same weight then increase this would double your cycle.
 
lets say your 15rm is 100k and you incriment it like this normaly.
75,80,85,90,95,100 2wks
do this
75,75,80,80,85,85,90,90,95,95,100,100,4wks
that way it gives you double the cycle.
 
<div>
(Lol @ May 05 2007,02:03)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">During your first 2 weeks off I'd do some sprinting sessions (preferably up-hill) for legs and do some pull-ups/chins and dips (weighted if possible).</div>
It's a very interesting suggestion. I think I will no problem in training legs with bike (there are a lot of climbs there) and running, but I will have some problem to do chins: there's no secure/safe place where I can hang. There are wood beams where I could do chins, but they are too old. They could break with my weight. I can do push-ups, but I can't imagine what I could do for back

I had lot of infos. I will try to build (and post) a plan following all the suggestions. Any other feedback will be very appreciated.

Thank you

Andrea
 
After thinking a lot, I built my plan. Nothing special, I followed some of your suggestions. The &quot;standard&quot; 5s block will last 5 weeks, as bluejacket &amp; faz suggested + 1 more week due to bike race on June 10th.

I will think about how to extend 5s while doing 5s: this way I will find how tendons and joints will react yo heavy lifts.

I attach my excel plan.

Any feedback will be very appreciated.

Thank you

Andrea
 
Mantica

The plan looks good, IMO 9 exercises is a bit much, but it is up to you, all depends on how you handle that.

If it starts affecting you drop some of the isolations during the 5's.

Otherwise the plan looks good.
 
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