New to HST...Please Critique

S

stlrams2006@hotmail.com

New Member
For the past 6 months I have been training 6 times a week on a 3-day split consisting of very high volume for each muscle group. After doing some research it is clear to me that HST is the way to go!

From my understanding of this method, I have put together a MWF routine. It seems like a little too much, but I’d like to see what you guys think.

My recovery is pretty solid: I will also be supplementing with BCAA’s and Creatine, so that usually helps take away some soreness.

Monday and Friday:
Squats
Leg Curls
Incline Bench
Dips
Chinups-Narrow
Bent Over Rows
Military Press
Lat Raises (rear)
Barbell Curls
Tricep Pushdown
AB Crunches

Wednesday:
Dead Lifts w/ Shrug
Leg Extensions
Incline Bench
Dips
Pullups-Wide
Machine Rows
Military Press
Lat Raises (rear)
AB Crunches

I will be following the standard 1X15, 2X10, 3X5 routine in 2 week sections.

Please let me know if that is too many movements and all suggestions are welcome!

Thanks a lot.
 
Personally I would take away the arm iso's, looks solid though
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Oh and I wouldnt do crunches without hyperextensions, although you may find deadlifting gives you enough lower back strength.
 
Schedule looks good but I would drop a few things if your goal is hypertrophy. I think you will make good gains with a reduced program especially as your frequency will now be 3 x weekly.

During 5s you could drop the SLDLs and just do squats (M,F) and deads (W) if it all gets too much for your lower back.

You could reduce exercises further by alternating between back exercises rather than doing a lat exercise and a row in the same w/o.

You could do ab work on your off days (and perhaps arm isos too if you choose to continue doing them).

If you want more help then it would be good to see your training plan with weight progression and a few stats (eg. height, bodyweight etc). It is very important that your diet is sorted in order to make the best gains possible.

Monday and Friday:
Squats
SLDLs
Incline Bench
Chinups-Narrow
Bent Over Rows
Military Press
Tricep extensions or skulls or French press (optional)
AB Crunches (optional)

Wednesday:
Dead Lifts w/ Shrug
Dips
Pullups-Wide
Machine Rows
Military Press
Lat Raises (rear)
Barbell Curls (optional)
AB Crunches (optional)
 
From what i can see Lol, already stepped in.
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STLrams2006

You may want to remember the best routines and the ones that yield the best results are often very, very simple.

If it gets too much towards the end drop unecessary exercises keeping just the best compounds!
 
Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate your help.

LOL...I'm 5 ft 7 at 175 pounds around 12% body fat.
I've never actually maxed out, so I am not sure of my exact stats but I believe they would be something like this:

Bench-215
Squat-300
DL-265

My diet for the past 6 months has been almost flawless. I never cheat, but sometimes its hard to find exactly the right foods if I'm at a restuarant with my family.
I follow mostly a 40-30-30 split for my calories, taking in roughly 3200 calories per day. Since wrestling season I've put on about 20 pounds with that diet...all beginner gains.

I guess it will take some time for me to adjust to this routine where less is more in a way. I've always trained with very high volume, so this is a much different approach.
 
LOL made good suggestions. I'd drop it even further though. Just alternate squats/deadlifts, chins/rows, dips/bench and do standing OH presses. 90 degree bent rows should do more for your rear delts than lateral raises. Also, I'd avoid doing rows with a machine

Because I don't know specific details about your previous routine, I'm guessing you're not doing full ROM squats if your squat max is 35 pounds more than your deadlift. If that's true, then you should start your HST routine with full olympic squats, don't worry about having to use less weight. As long as you eat properly, you'll get better development from properly done olympic squats with 200 lbs than you will with parallel squats with 300.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">If that's true, then you should start your HST routine with full olympic squats, don't worry about having to use less weight. As long as you eat properly, you'll get better development from properly done olympic squats with 200 lbs than you will with parallel squats with 300. </div>

I am definitelly proof of that, accomplished 140 Kg on box squats, but hardly any muscle soreness or the feel of having done a real heavy squat, dropped to 80 Kg and did full ROM Oly squat, man...the DOMS was incredible, but it was not debilitating, kept going and eventually progressed to 100 Kg, will keep going on;ly now I am doing SD for 2 weeks.
 
STL, seeing that your poundages are not unsubstantial, Liege is right. I would drop exercises further than I originally suggested - but of course it is up to you.

It does seem that your deadlift is rather light compared with your squat but that may be because you have only recently started deadlifting?

Most folks can dead in the region of 15 to 25% more than they can squat. If you have been deading the last six months then it does point to you not going deep enough in your squat.

When you start your cycle make sure you go as deep as you can. As the weight will be light it should be easy to get a feel for it. Just be sure to warm up first with some bodyweight full squats. I found that once I increased my ROM my quads got really sore from the extra stretch. Now, after going deeper last cycle and not increasing the loads over the previous cycle, I am hitting PBs once again this cycle.  
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Exactly LOL, I have probably only deadlifted 6 times over the past 6 months. As terrible as that sounds, thats probably why my deadlift is so poor. My grip is also not where it needs to be to handle the extremely heavy weight; once i used these clip gripping things and my DL was upto 300. But I'd probably rather go light and improve without clips.


Monday and Friday:
Squats
SLDLs
Incline Bench
Chinups-Narrow
Bent Over Rows
Military Press
Tricep extensions or skulls or French press


Wednesday:
Dead Lifts w/ Shrug
Dips
Pullups-Wide
Military Press
Lat Raises (rear)
Barbell Curls


I plan on doing each workout twice a day AM/PM style MWF. I plan to do low intensity cardio for 30mins. with abs on my off days except Sunday.

Hows that look now?
 
<div>
(stlrams2006 @ Aug. 20 2006,23:10)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">For the past 6 months I have been training 6 times a week on a 3-day split consisting of very high volume for each muscle group.</div>
!!!!!!!!!! Why so much volume ?  Are you cutting ? Many of you guys seem to do a huge amount of volume compared to me.   I do one workout and 12 exercises, 1 set each, the whole cycle, which is 8 weeks long and goes for 12,10,8, and 5.  I'm relying on cardio for cutting.  Weights keep going up up up
 
STL, that's looking good. If you are going to do each w/o twice a day be sure to watch your volume. Once you are in the 10s and beyond you may want to just do single sets for the second w/o. You will have to eat extra calories too.

Re deads: you can (and many would say, should) deload between reps. This will give you a moment or two to refresh your grip on the bar. Be sure to use an over and under grip. If you work on your grip during the cycle it will improve. Deads turn out to be a brilliant forearm workout too.
 
Liege: Why not over and under (ie. reverse grip)? I don't think I have ever seen anyone lifting heavy deads using double overhand grip - for reps anyway (unless, of course, they were using straps). If STL is already having a hard time holding on I would imagine that this is going to make it a whole lot harder.

I can see the sense in just trying to hold a heavy bar (around 70% of your 1RM) for as long as possible using double overhand grip as an extra exercise. That will help build your grip strength.
See this thread: Grip strength.

STL: if you do choose reverse grip, I would suggest alternating it too just to balance things up.
 
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