New A/B routine. Comments Please...

S

scopestuff

New Member
Just finished first HST cycle. At the end of the 10's I was ready to give it up. No progress. By the end of the 5's I had gained close to 10lbs, added 30lbs to my 5-RM squat and had literally unbelievable size gains - though I started small and I'm still small <grin>.

So .... here I go for a second round.

FIRST:
I'm considering 12/8/5 instead of 15/10/5 and then maybe move into a 5x5 for the final two weeks. I didn't respond at all to the 15's.

Thoughts on this ?


SECOND:
The first routine was pretty basic compound moves. Felt my arms and traps lagging. So, I'm thinking an A/B routine will give me a little more variation.

Here is what I'm thinking:

MWF routine, alternating A/B/A/B/A/B.......

A:
Squat
SLDL
Flat Bench
Bent Row
BB Miltary Press
Skull Crusher
Cable Conc Curl (low/supinated grip)
Standing Calf Raise

B:
Dead Lift
Shrugs
Incline Bench
Close Grip Pull-Up (weighted as cycle progresses)
Arnies
Overhead Cable tri-Extensions
Cable Conc Curls (90deg exteral rotation, Cross-over cable/high)

Thoughts on this ?

THIRD:
I tend to have a lot of energy in the gym, even when working very hard. I come from an endurance sport background which may contribute to this. I was thinking of going 12x2, 8x3, 5x4. This is not a lot of work, especially with the small number of movements in the routine. But, it's more than I see recommended for 'classic' HST.

Thoughts on this ?


Thank you in advance !!!!!!
 
Congrats on the gains.

That rep scheme is fine and should work well.

Most people typically do not gain in the 15's, it's supposed to be a prep for the heavier weights. However, if you're lifting pretty heavy weights, you can gain in the 15's i.e., my first deadlift workout in the 15's this cycle was 405.

I'm real big on just compounds, I'd drop the few isolations you have in there except for maybe one higher rep set in the 5's and post 5's. I also see no reason to do SLDL if you're doing full olympic back squats.
 
I tend to agree with Liege, compounds are the stuff!

Drop iso's noe and maybe include them from the 5's as a add on!
 
'lord/Fausto", Thank you for the quick replies. 4:30am and I'm off to the gym to test my 15rep maxes.

Interestingly, I added the a few iso's in the 5's this cycle (Bi's, Tri's and Traps). Just seemed the intuitive thing to do. But, I felt like I should have added them earlier as I my arms were seriously lagging doing just the compounds. They popped as soon as I threw in the iso's.

What is the logic behind doing the iso's just during the 5's ?
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What is the logic behind doing the iso's just during the 5's ?</div>

Simple, if you're doing the right kind of compounds (dips, underhand close grip chins, bith with attached weights) your arms would be getting the necessary stimulation with a lot more load than you would ever be able to carry with iso's.

Therefore when the load is nice and heavy, it is extra stimulating (thus supposedly causing better growth, and many of us can attest to this
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) to do a few extra sets of iso's in a manner that would cause further specific micro-damage to muscle tissue.

Specific being - Drop sets or Loaded stretches or rest/pause, any of the techniques mentioned in the Pimp my HST e-book
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That is essentially the reason, it is also called &quot;smart training&quot; something we at HST are famous for!
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">What is the logic behind doing the iso's just during the 5's ?</div>

Alternately you could just do another set of 5's. Personally I dont buy the metabolic thing after reading some stuff on Dans site. Happy lifting
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Did the 12rep maxes today. First time doing Deadlifts. Wow ....not exactly sure what got hit hardest but it took a couple minutes to stop pacing and catch my breath.

OK ... new routine based upon removing Iso's and going full-out on Compounds.

What are your thoughts on this (not listed in order to be performed. I tend to superset opposing groups):

A:
Squat
Flat Bench
Dips (weighted as needed to hit reps)
Bent Row
Close Grip Pull-ups (weighted as needed to hit reps)
Standing Overhead Press
Arnies
Seated Calf Raise

B(same as A but swap):
Squat -&gt; Deadlift
Seated Calf -&gt; Standing Calf
 
Looks pretty good, though I like to alternate each compound, not just squats and deadlifts, but alternate bench with dips and rows with chins.

Also, and this just may be me, but full squats and deadlifts build the calves. Mine are over 17 and I do nothing for legs but squats and deads. I would drop the calf raises.
 
liegelord;

Thank you again for the quick reply. I'm doing my maxes this week and will start the new routine after SD so i really appreciate your dialog.

Regarding alternating everything rather than just Deadlift and Squats - I had them alternating at first. But, it just doesn't seem like I'd be doing a whole lot of work for most of each cycle. Alternating would leave me with just one movement each for Chest, Back and Shoulders.

Perhaps I should keep it as I have it until the 5's, and then alternate if I'm having trouble hitting targets ? Also, I'm not lifting anywhere near the weights that you are.


A little history:
A couple decades ago I was a serious gym-rat. Blew out my shoulder doing very heavy DB presses. I'm now stuck with chronic pain, but 20 years has helped it to heal somewhat and I find I can now work around it. With the injury I switched to endurance sports (mainly leg-based) and became a serious aerobic engine. With cycling my primary sport I dropped weight and until last fall I've been between 128-130lbs bodyweight at 5'8&quot;. This was great for hill-climbing and other aspects of endurance sports, but I prefer the physique I had when lifting. Gave up endurance sports in August in favor of trying to get back in the gym and work around the shoulder. Short story .... I'm now at 147 about 12-14%BF by skinfold. Still pretty darned small and hoping to get back to about 180 and sub 10 bodyfat.

So ... perhaps the fact that I'm lifting so light, compared to you, leads me to feel like I need more movements.

Your thoughts ?
 
Hi Scope

I am beating Liege on this one:

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">So ... perhaps the fact that I'm lifting so light, compared to you, leads me to feel like I need more movements.

Your thoughts ? </div>

Not at all, I too am small, and taught myself to lift heavy (5'6&quot; - 156 Lb), benching 222 Lb for reps, squatting 290 for 5, and military pressing body weight for a few reps too!

Compounds is what will get you there, no doubt, I have learn't that lesson over tiem, even though I like some isolations, but here you could use these once you get to the size/strength you desire and then only those that are worth their weight in gold
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Not at all, I too am small, and taught myself to lift heavy (5'6&quot; - 156 Lb), benching 222 Lb for reps, squatting 290 for 5, and military pressing body weight for a few reps too!</div>

What I'm wondering is with just one movement per body-part, and just 1-2 sets per movement (most sub-max given the HST schedule), will there will be enough stimulation to make gains (Size as well as strength).. It feels like I'm not doing much in the gym until I hit the 5's, and even then I felt the need to add some Iso's.
 
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