plateauted forever now,is HST the aswer?

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pwrhngry

New Member
Hello everyone, Im new to this website and to HST in general. I have been lifting religiously for over a year now and have never missed one w/o with the exeption of 1 month off following a surgery. I started really lifting after dropping about 45 pounds in a year after a nasty divorce, so Im trying to rebuild a wrecked body I guess. My journey so far has been a constant search for knowledge and a self education. I started out way overtraining on a 3 way split:back/bi, chest /tri,shoulders. Then I learned that you shouldnt neglect legs so I adde squats and D.L. I was still training 7 days a week. Then I learned more and went to 3 on 1 off.
 Well I have been stuck at the same weights and reps now for a while, so I switched over to full body 1on 1off.
 Total Ive upped my bench about 40 pounds in a year, curls about 20-25, tri ext about 35-40.
 Right now the program im on (real new to me) is this:
squats,bench,D.L.,dips,military,bent ovr rows,b.bell curls
4 sets of each 8-10 reps upper 12-15 legs, pyramid up each set from 60%1rm-75%1rm
 I eat abou 22- 2500cals a day super clean (tuna,salmon,veggies,almost no starches,absolutely no refined sugars,flours) and get at least 1g of protien per pound spread over 6 meals 3 hrs apart. I dont know what else to do I cant seem to get stronger! Is HST the answer? please help, Im getting discouraged, and while Ill never give up I know its hurting my motivation. Thanks yall
 
Oh by the way I got a set of fatrack2 digital calipers and they consistently put me at 3.3-3.6% bodyfat. Idont know about the accuracy of calipers though. I tried to add a pic but it wouldnt upload. Ill see if I can try again,so yall can see where Im at
 
Well if your bodyfat percentage is actually that low then you have some room to gain some fat. Eat BIG and follow a well structured HST routine and you'll definitely make some gains. Keep your diet as clean as you can, but don't worry about it being perfect. Seriously man, if I were you I'd start eating alot more to really pack on some mass.
 
Also as far as the routine set up... stick to the basics and keep it simple. If you do deadlifts, chins, dips, military press, and leg press or something like that then that would pretty much cover everything. You could a couple isolations in, but only a couple. Don't over do anything. Come up with some ideas for a routine and post it up and I'm sure everyone will help you out.
 
Usually if strength and size gains stagnate, it's because you haven't increased your calories as your size has increased. Remember that as you gain, your calorie requirements go up. Don't be afraid to add another few hundred calories in workout days. I don't know your height and weight, but 2200-2500 calories seems rather low to me.
 
Thanks you guys for the feedback. Im pretty sure I put in my
new full body program but here it is again anyways to help yall to help me out:
squats, flat bench, D.L., dips, bent over rows, military press, barbell curls. All are 4 sets of each exercise,8-10reps on all except squats which are 12-15reps. The whole workout takes about 11/2 hours, using 2 min rest periods.Weights are pyramid fashion starting at 60%1rm,then65, then70, then75.
Im used to doing closer to all sets of 80%1rm at 6 or so reps but thought I aught to change up to try to get something going.
My hieght is 5'11'' and my weight is 155-160(depending on time of day,water, etc)
I also called accufit about the pair of fatrack2 calipers I got and they said Iwas using them correctly and tod me how to ensure they are calibrated. By the measurements they said that my bodyfat is indeed 3.3-3.6%.
Thanks again guys for the help, Icould use it. Its getting dicouraging to be giving my all every w/o, and killing myself for stalled gains in strength. I will never quit, Im fuly addicted but I sure would like to be seeing better progress.
 
If you are 155-160 at 5'11 then you definitely need to eat more. 2500 would be a bare minimum to gain weight, especially since you are working out. I would aim for 2500 on non-workout days and 3000 on lifting days.

Your routine looks fine, though I really think you would benefit from trying HST instead. Also, I don't think flat bench is necessary if you are doing dips. I would swap that for incline instead, since dips hit the lower pec plenty already. Or throw out the bench entirely.

Since your gains have plateaued, why don't you just give HST a shot? Record your maxes for your 15RM, 10RM and 5RM for your exercises, then take a nice two week break. Then start out on HST and follow the calorie guidelines I gave you above. I bet you anything you will start growing like a weed. You are only 160 lbs, so you should be able to pack on significant poundage.
 
As Totentanz said, eat more. This will be step one. Without a caloric excess you won't gain mass on any routine. It's a simple mathematical equation of calories in vs. calories out.

Know that, initially, you may gain some weight due to extra water and the increase in calories. A person's bodyweight fluctuates throughout the day. Check your bodyweight upon awakening once a week. I, for example, check my weight every Sunday morning, before breakfast. Record your weight and look for a general trend of about a pound or two added weekly.

After you clear up diet, HST would be a great way to go for hypertrophy. If, however, you're looking for something a bit more strength oriented, then you can try out this routine:

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum....ount=15

That's a link to the Bill Starr 5x5 Single-Factor Variation. The routine is tried and true. You can not argue with results and any have reached new levels with such a program. If you decide to switch between HST and another routine, let it be this one for awhile. I promise you won't be disappointed.
 
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