Does anyone do this or is it necessary to do two week blocks? For example, week one 15s, week two 12s, 10s, 8s, two weeks building to 5s, two weeks at 5s. Lifts would be at 70% 85% 100% a rep block. Since I'm not quite out of beginner and still have LP left in me I don't think I would crush my CNS (only one way to find out). Is this viable or is it against some HST principle I'm not understanding and I should stick to two week microcycles?
One week rep blocks/microcycles?
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Sci
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That will work fine. HST is simply a set of principles.
Since you have frequent loading, progressive loading, etc. I encourage long cycles. My best growth has been when I extended the 5s for as long as possibles. But for 15s,12s, it may be better to just do one week, then as the weights get heavier, you can do two weeks for 8s, then do like 4 weeks of 5s...generally the heavier the load, the longer you can use that load to stimulate hypertrophy, before you need to progress it or SD.
Since you have frequent loading, progressive loading, etc. I encourage long cycles. My best growth has been when I extended the 5s for as long as possibles. But for 15s,12s, it may be better to just do one week, then as the weights get heavier, you can do two weeks for 8s, then do like 4 weeks of 5s...generally the heavier the load, the longer you can use that load to stimulate hypertrophy, before you need to progress it or SD.
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Sci
Well-Known Member
I am finally realizing after years and years, how true this last sentence is. All my life, I was a skinny type, struggling to have muscle. I studied weight-training and bodybuilding alone without any sort of coach, and tried just about everything before finally finding Dan Moore, and Bryan Haycock, Borge's insights, and Lyle's stuff, etc. I loved the scientific approach to bodybuilding that these guys took. However, I always focused on the training side and largely neglected following all the nutrition advice, because of laziness in counting calories, etc.
Anyway, I never really made great progress because of this. I quit training for along time after some hardships in my life, and last summer of 2012 I joined a big commercial gym and got back into training. This time, I am seeing a very strong response when I work harder on the diet side. I am finally realizing how important it is to at least try to count calories and protein, etc. as accurately as you can, if you are serious about getting a muscular, lean body. I wish I had followed all the advice about counting calories years ago, and I'd probably be a lot more muscular by now! Oh well, at least I learned my lesson and now I can finally make decent progress.
I understand the diet part really well. Been following the recommended protein and fat intake and counting calories for several months now and the scale very closely approximates the accounting. And I'm not one of those people trying to get a few ounces of muscle a week while putting on zero micrograms of fat. I'm more than willing to feel fat after several (at least four) cycles.
I was just wondering if this was feasible as long as one could handle it. Whether I could handle it I don't know yet. Also, more rep ranges per cycle appealed to me because so far as a beginner I've only worked in 5s. I'm going to milk LP for a few more months regardless; I was just looking down the road. HST really appeals to me because I love three full body workouts and the principles are solid.
I was just wondering if this was feasible as long as one could handle it. Whether I could handle it I don't know yet. Also, more rep ranges per cycle appealed to me because so far as a beginner I've only worked in 5s. I'm going to milk LP for a few more months regardless; I was just looking down the road. HST really appeals to me because I love three full body workouts and the principles are solid.
Ok sounds good. It is possible to do one week blocks as you propose. The only downside is that it does keep you working closer to failure throughout but as long as diet is in check, you should be fine.
You will most likely have more overlap with this sort of a setup as well but overlap or zig-zag is fine.
What lifts are you considering?
You will most likely have more overlap with this sort of a setup as well but overlap or zig-zag is fine.
What lifts are you considering?
Was thinking of squat, deadlift, flat bench, incline bench, strict bent over rows, pull ups, rotating bicep curl variations, overhead press, and then another lats exercise probably since my deadlifts and rows work traps enough to not need shrugs which leaves my lats lacking. Maybe I should try pullovers or bodybuilder style rows? Or I was thinking of simply doing back extension assistance. FYI, I think I would only deadlift one 100% work set at the end but before biceps. Do you think two bench is too much in general? I've never worked incline so I wanted to include it but I could always rotate it if it's too much. Do you think three presses is not enough for triceps? And yes calves are missing, maybe I could throw them in at the very end but I don't particularly care about calves.