gypsylifter
New Member
Hi.
Me and my buddy are new to HST but have been training forever.
We bulked for a few months and made awesome gains. Then we discovered HST and just completed our first 6-week cycle. We were hitting PB weights all round for the first time in ages.
However, we have been using a very complicated program compared to what Ive read about on this forum.
Just some numbers to give you an idea of where we both stand- 6"1 (185cm).
Started out at 82kg, bulked standard style till 84kg, did a 6 week HST cycle and got up to 88kg. Currently sitting at 88kg about 14% BF.
Just had a week of strategic deconditioning leading up to a cut.
Now were doing a 6-week HST cutting cycle, then getting back onto the normal HST routine.
Now, the important stuff. Ive got 3 questions hoping you guys can tell if im doing these right or if id see bigger gains doing it differently:
Volume
Amount of exercises
Cutting
Volume
What weve been doing is this:
Training every second day. We have been changing the reps every single session.
So in a 2 week period we will do 12-rep day, 12-rep day, 10-rep day, 8-rep day, 6-rep day, 6-rep day.
After the two weeks, we started over. Jacking up the weights on each day compared to last fortnights log.
We saw massive strength gains over the 6 weeks.
Then we discovered standard HST usually does 15 reps for 2 weeks, then 10 reps for two weeks, then 5 reps for two weeks.
Question is- is there any issue with doing it the way we are? I read somewhere that sticking to 15 15 10 10 5 5 is jsut to simplify things, and that its not ideal. We did really well with our daily change of reps, and saw big gains. Is there any reason to stop doing it that way?
Amount of exercises
As mentioned our reps changed every day 12,12,10,8,6,6.
We do a lot of exercises compared to a standard HST routine.
I believe our conditioning is pretty good, as is our endurance.
On 12-rep day our program takes us about 70minutes.\
On 6-rep day it takes us about 45 minutes.
We do the exercises back to back without any rest for the whole routine.
Example of what we did last week when still bulking:
2 x pullups
2 x bench press
2 x shoulder press
2 x weighted dips
2 x weighted chinups
have a 2min rest and drink
2 x close grip back pull (cables)
2 x rear flys
2 x skullcrushers
2 x bar curls
2 x squats
As you can see weve been doing about 20 sets a session.
Approximately 2 sets of 2 exercises for each muscle.
Core and traps on off days when we get a chance.
Only one leg move.
Any problem with doing that many? On 12-rep days it takes us about 70mins.
On 6-rep day about 45mins.
Too many exercises? Just having trouble letting go of so many exercises and leaving it at one for each body part.
Cutting
So weve completed our first 6-week HST cycle and done well. However we were bulking beforehand, and have put on too much fat. Just started a 6-8 week cutting cycle, and hoping to keep doing HST during this time.
Did a fair bit of research on the forum, and elsewhere, and this is what I gathered the best cutting HST program to be like (sticking to our normal HST program outlined above in terms of reps etc).
Still plan to change reps every session, but less reps. 10, 10, 8, 8, 6, 6. Thats each day in a 2 week cycle. Repeat 3 or 4 times depending how the cut is going.
Pulling out unecessary moves to really bring down time.
Day 1:
2 x Pullups
2 x Bench Press
2 x shoulder side raise move to front then lower and reverse
2 x Weighted dips
2 x Weighted chin-ups
2 x Wings high pull with a bar
2 x leg raises on machine
Day 2:
2 x abs weighted decline crunch
2 x incline bench press
2 x Shoulder Press
2 x skullcrushers with bar
2 x back pull close grip on machine
2 x weighted chin-ups
2 x squats
So ive brought it down from 20 sets to about 14. The reps are lower too.
I plan to alternate between the two, matching up with the rep schedule.
i.e.:
Monday- Day1 10reps
Wednesday- Day2 10reps
Friday- Day1 8reps
Sunday- Day2 8reps
Tuesday- Day1 6reps
Thursday- Day2 6reps
Does this look ok? Please criticise and help me out. Im still new with HST, and realise what ive been doing is slightly different and more complicated than others, but I did it for 6 weeks and it worked well, saw big gains.
Thanks in advance.
Me and my buddy are new to HST but have been training forever.
We bulked for a few months and made awesome gains. Then we discovered HST and just completed our first 6-week cycle. We were hitting PB weights all round for the first time in ages.
However, we have been using a very complicated program compared to what Ive read about on this forum.
Just some numbers to give you an idea of where we both stand- 6"1 (185cm).
Started out at 82kg, bulked standard style till 84kg, did a 6 week HST cycle and got up to 88kg. Currently sitting at 88kg about 14% BF.
Just had a week of strategic deconditioning leading up to a cut.
Now were doing a 6-week HST cutting cycle, then getting back onto the normal HST routine.
Now, the important stuff. Ive got 3 questions hoping you guys can tell if im doing these right or if id see bigger gains doing it differently:
Volume
Amount of exercises
Cutting
Volume
What weve been doing is this:
Training every second day. We have been changing the reps every single session.
So in a 2 week period we will do 12-rep day, 12-rep day, 10-rep day, 8-rep day, 6-rep day, 6-rep day.
After the two weeks, we started over. Jacking up the weights on each day compared to last fortnights log.
We saw massive strength gains over the 6 weeks.
Then we discovered standard HST usually does 15 reps for 2 weeks, then 10 reps for two weeks, then 5 reps for two weeks.
Question is- is there any issue with doing it the way we are? I read somewhere that sticking to 15 15 10 10 5 5 is jsut to simplify things, and that its not ideal. We did really well with our daily change of reps, and saw big gains. Is there any reason to stop doing it that way?
Amount of exercises
As mentioned our reps changed every day 12,12,10,8,6,6.
We do a lot of exercises compared to a standard HST routine.
I believe our conditioning is pretty good, as is our endurance.
On 12-rep day our program takes us about 70minutes.\
On 6-rep day it takes us about 45 minutes.
We do the exercises back to back without any rest for the whole routine.
Example of what we did last week when still bulking:
2 x pullups
2 x bench press
2 x shoulder press
2 x weighted dips
2 x weighted chinups
have a 2min rest and drink
2 x close grip back pull (cables)
2 x rear flys
2 x skullcrushers
2 x bar curls
2 x squats
As you can see weve been doing about 20 sets a session.
Approximately 2 sets of 2 exercises for each muscle.
Core and traps on off days when we get a chance.
Only one leg move.
Any problem with doing that many? On 12-rep days it takes us about 70mins.
On 6-rep day about 45mins.
Too many exercises? Just having trouble letting go of so many exercises and leaving it at one for each body part.
Cutting
So weve completed our first 6-week HST cycle and done well. However we were bulking beforehand, and have put on too much fat. Just started a 6-8 week cutting cycle, and hoping to keep doing HST during this time.
Did a fair bit of research on the forum, and elsewhere, and this is what I gathered the best cutting HST program to be like (sticking to our normal HST program outlined above in terms of reps etc).
Still plan to change reps every session, but less reps. 10, 10, 8, 8, 6, 6. Thats each day in a 2 week cycle. Repeat 3 or 4 times depending how the cut is going.
Pulling out unecessary moves to really bring down time.
Day 1:
2 x Pullups
2 x Bench Press
2 x shoulder side raise move to front then lower and reverse
2 x Weighted dips
2 x Weighted chin-ups
2 x Wings high pull with a bar
2 x leg raises on machine
Day 2:
2 x abs weighted decline crunch
2 x incline bench press
2 x Shoulder Press
2 x skullcrushers with bar
2 x back pull close grip on machine
2 x weighted chin-ups
2 x squats
So ive brought it down from 20 sets to about 14. The reps are lower too.
I plan to alternate between the two, matching up with the rep schedule.
i.e.:
Monday- Day1 10reps
Wednesday- Day2 10reps
Friday- Day1 8reps
Sunday- Day2 8reps
Tuesday- Day1 6reps
Thursday- Day2 6reps
Does this look ok? Please criticise and help me out. Im still new with HST, and realise what ive been doing is slightly different and more complicated than others, but I did it for 6 weeks and it worked well, saw big gains.
Thanks in advance.
