Overtraining in weeks 7 - 8

[wwazza]

Is it possible that you could actually overtrain by going to your 5RM on all your exercises in the last two weeks.

I felt I may have overdone it a bit.

The thing is my 5RM is exactly that! I can do the 5 reps but not a sixth which would mean me going to failure. So I am in fact training very close to failure in the last session of my 5's and the following sessions at my 5RM.

I got ill with stomach cramps, which may be totally coincedental but you never know. Pretty sore pecs and hamstrings too!

On the Plus side I've grown a bit!!

 

[Totentanz]

It is unlikely you will overtrain in such a short period. The illness is likely unrelated.

 

[wwazza]

Yeh probably,

But the fact remains that the last two weeks at 5RM involve 6 intense training sessions to almost failure.

Is this in line with HST principles?

Its the only part of the cycle I dont quite understand what is supposed to be happening and why. Mainly because there are different options like dropping to three reps, or doing negatives, or doing dropsets.

What is the best option and why?

 

[HST_Rihad]

Is it possible that you could actually overtrain by going to your 5RM on all your exercises in the last two weeks.

I feel too that I can't cope up with the 5RM load on the last two weeks. Those are my true 5RMs. My strength inevitably falls on succeeding workouts. So which would be better in terms of both muscle growth and avoidance of CNS fatigue: (a) lower the weight to about 6RM (i.e. weight I can do 6 reps with but not 7) and keep doing my 5s with that, or (b) keep the weight as is but do 4 reps?

 

[Totentanz]

Yeh probably,

But the fact remains that the last two weeks at 5RM involve 6 intense training sessions to almost failure.

Is this in line with HST principles?

Yes. HST is all about staying ahead of RBE by progressing the load. By the time you get to your 5 RM and greater, the loads are so heavy that you can use those loads for several sessions without any concern of RBE coming after you. As well, you will be utilizing all muscle fibers on every single rep with these sorts of loads.
Remember, there is nothing in HST that says you cannot go to failure. It is just discouraged to go to failure often.

Its the only part of the cycle I dont quite understand what is supposed to be happening and why. Mainly because there are different options like dropping to three reps, or doing negatives, or doing dropsets.

What is the best option and why?

The best options are the ones that you can manage. I personally like to drop to triples, hit maxes on that after a few sessions, then keep pushing for new maxes after that, then I take a whole week just to hit maximal single reps on most lifts. I can usually handle maximal workouts like this for 4-6 weeks but I always strip down my routines to 3 major exercises and focus on just those. Also, at this point it becomes vital that you - eat enough every single day, take appropriate vitamin supplementation every single day, get adequate hydration every single day, get proper post workout nutrition every single workout and most importantly, get adequate sleep EVERY SINGLE DAY. If you mess up just one of those variables, you can over do it and get sick. I find that when pushing this hard, my need for sleep often increases to 10 hours of sleep after workouts instead of the standard 8 hours.

It's doable, but you have to do everything just right.