question about the 3x5 volume

[Stl_Lift]

Greetings all. Im new to HST will be starting next week. After lifting a standard 4 day split for the past 6 years i am very interested in something new.<O</O
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My question though pertains to the load on the 3x5 block. Take squats for example; if my 10 rep max on squats is 190lbs and this is what I’ll be doing 2 sets of 10 with on week 12, then why on week 13 would I go back down to 170lbs for 3 sets of 5? Both volume and load increases between the 15rep and 10rep weeks, but decreases for the last week.<O</O
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My max squat (strict form) is 255lbs so running all the numbers it looks like total volume is down for the last block and load is only up the last three workouts.<O</O
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Did I make sense? Thanks for the help<O</O

 

[grunt11]

My question though pertains to the load on the 3x5 block. Take squats for example; if my 10 rep max on squats is 190lbs and this is what I’ll be doing 2 sets of 10 with on week 12, then why on week 13 would I go back down to 170lbs for 3 sets of 5? Both volume and load increases between the 15rep and 10rep weeks, but decreases for the last week.

It’s not a requirement to zigzag weight increments like that or drop the volume it just happens to be what seems to work out for a lot of people. You could as I do use linier progression for your weight increased but that might mean using smaller increments especially on the weaker lifts, or using less increments. You can also repeat the same increment twice since it’s going to take longer than two workouts for your body to adapt to each load and stop making gains.

Some people like to zigzag because they push for a new rep max at the end of the 15s and the 10s going all the way to failure to test what strength increases they’ve made. When doing this they welcome the slight deload to aid in recovery from going to failure.

As for volume you could do 4x5 to keep the volume the same as the 10s. 3x5 seems to be a suggestion for a minimum volume to shoot for. It really just depends on what your body can recover from. My first cycle I did 4x5 until it got to be to much and then dropped it to 3x5 and eventually 2x5. This cycle I’m pushing for more strength so I’m even going to drop the volume for my final working set to 1x5 to try and keep the strength gains going, however staying at 10-15 would probably be better for hypertrophy.

 

[whistledixie]

Take squats for example; if my 10 rep max on squats is 190lbs and this is what I’ll be doing 2 sets of 10 with on week 12, then why on week 13 would I go back down to 170lbs for 3 sets of 5? Both volume and load increases between the 15rep and 10rep weeks, but decreases for the last week.

The standard template for HST is an 8 week program. I wonder what you've been reading that indicated 13+ weeks?

2 weeks of 15s, 2 weeks of 10s, 2 weeks of 5s, 2 final weeks of either more 5s, lower rep ranges (4s, 3s, 2s), negatives, drop sets - your choice.

Depending on your RMs, the first few sessions of 10s and 5s are going to repeat loads you already lifted at a higher rep range. This, like Grunt mentioned, is the zig-zag factor and it is not going to hinder your gains. I liken the first 2 sessions of the 10s and 5s as active recovery from maxing out the previous rep range series.

This program is great for gains. It is also great because it has that built in recovery and you can just keep going cycle after cycle without getting burned out.

The volume is approximately the same throughout if you do 1*15, 2*10, 3*5. There is evidence to suggest that just 1 work set is enough to stimulate muscle growth/strength, so overall volume consistency isn't mandatory. By the time you get to the 5s, your sessions are significantly longer than during the 15s, so keeping it at 3 sets is a time management thing.

 

[Stl_Lift]

Sorry, i meant 13th workout, not 13th week!

Thanks for the replies, the zig-zag and the lighter loads for recovery makes sense. As does the tweak for a linear progression. I'll consider it both ways, and maybe wiat til after the 15's to see which way i want to go.

Looking forward to new gains!!