Question On Total Tonnage

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I have been looking over the layout for a planned HST cycle and the total tonnage of the phases left me with a question.
Looking a a basic cycle of 1x15, 2x10, & 3x15 using the weights 200, 250, & 300, the total tonnage seems to peak in the 10's. The totals come out to 15's - 16875, 10's - 28500, and 5's - 25875.
My question is shouldnt the tonnage increase from cycle to cycle? If so should the sets be increased in the 5's or the reps in the 10's be decreased to make the difference?
 
Welcome Dawaro

HST is not based in terms of tonnage! Obviously during the 10's tonnage will be higher because traditionally the volume shoots up to 20 and then back to 15 during the 5's.

HST is all about increasing the weight progressivelly up to 5's and beyond and then once your body reaches a peak level, taking off 9 to 14 days SD.

You should read the FAQ e-book to give you a better understanding!
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If you want to ensure that you are doing more work throughout a cycle then just keep the total work load reps consistent throughout the cycle. (ie. do 1 x 15, 1.5 x 10 and 3 x 5). However, as Fausto says, keeping total work done increasing throughout a cycle is not the main thrust of HST, whereas progressive loading is.

Also, be warned that trying to match or increase total work done when the loads get heavy can really start to take it's toll on you WRT fatigue build up. That can mess with how frequently you can train a muscle.

Loading, time-under-tension and frequency are all important variables and you want to try to find a way to train frequently enough while increasing load, with as much TUT as you are able to manage without burning out. For most folks 1x15, 2x10, & 3x15 is doable as long as there aren't too many exercises in a session.

I'll echo Fausto's advice to soak up the FAQs.
 
I've done a few cycles in the past trying to maintain a constant number of reps throughout (e.g. 20 reps). This way the total tonnage increases as you progress with your cycle.

Two observations. First, you might feel that you are doing too little during the early stages of the cycle, and too much as you approach the end. Second, I feel that 20 reps during the post-5's can become an obstacle when trying for new PR's, assuming that strength is of interest too.

These days, I am trying a more "traditional" approach; decrease somewhat the total number of reps as the load increases.

Not sure which approach is better for hypertrophy, though. In the end, I still believe that load is the single most important factor in this game. Total work is something to keep in mind, sure, but not as important as load. As long as there isn't a dramatic decrease in the amount of total work done as you increase the load, I reckon you should be fine hypertrophy-wise. Just my 2 cents...
 
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(dawaro @ May 28 2008,11:05)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I have been looking over the layout for a planned HST cycle and the total tonnage of the phases left me with a question.
Looking a a basic cycle of 1x15, 2x10, &amp; 3x15 using the weights 200, 250, &amp; 300, the total tonnage seems to peak in the 10's. The totals come out to 15's - 16875, 10's - 28500, and 5's - 25875.
My question is shouldnt the tonnage increase from cycle to cycle? If so should the sets be increased in the 5's or the reps in the 10's be decreased to make the difference?</div>
Do not constrain yourself to a given amount of volume.

In HST, &quot;there are no rules, only options.&quot;
 
20 reps throughout. Usually something like 6 sets of 3 reps and 1 set of 2 reps. Or even Max-Stim for the last few reps.

Of course in order to do this I had to REALLY simplify my routine. Weighted dips, rows, squats for the A routine and bench (slightly incline), weighted chins, deads for the B routine. For safety reasons, I didn't go terribly heavy with squats and deads. I might have added 1 or even 2 reps to the sets, but I preferred to play it safe and stay well away from failure, so that fatigue would not compromise my form. Better to be a bit conservative than suffer an injury with these exercises in my opinion. Anyway, it probably didn't matter that much as I would do 20 total reps no matter how many sets I needed to get there.

Sometimes I would throw in there a metabolic set of 10-15 reps at the end of my workout to top things off.
 
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(9to5lifter @ May 29 2008,3:43)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Total work is something to keep in mind, sure, but not as important as load. As long as there isn't a dramatic decrease in the amount of total work done as you increase the load, I reckon you should be fine hypertrophy-wise. Just my 2 cents...</div>
I wholeheartedly agree, but I've always said that workload is very important IMO. I believe there is a separate scale of balance between the workload and work limits (CNS burn). The dropoff of workload in the fives is countermeasured by the intensity of the load that approaches your body stress max.
In other words, I see the increase of the individual rep intensity as another stress that equates to extra workload. Each rep counts for so much more than the 10's and 15's that the overall workload has to be less to be reasonably equal or slightly higher.
If you did keep the workload increase in the fives (like doing 4 sets or finish reps) you'd likely fry much sooner.
When I did the linear progression HST I noticed I had to make adjustments for this near the end of the cycle.
I hope I explained this well enough!
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">
In HST, &quot;there are no rules, only options.&quot;[</div>

It's like Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. Hst isn't a program it's a theory.
 
A set of principles in the end. Theories can be wrong. HST is not for the most part, although you can subvert any program. I'm not saying that there are no other techniques that work.
 
Thanks for the replys guys.
I have read the FAQ, along with the information on the HST site, along with the articles by Charles Ridgely. I really have done quite a bit of research on the HST principles.
I guess since I am coming from a 5x5 routine that not only stressed progressive load but also tonnage it was a little difficult to understand why the tonnage would drop after the cycle of 10's. In short I think I am reading too much into it.
Since this is my first cycle I am just going to ride it out as I have it laid out and see how it goes. Since I train alone for the weeks after the cycle of 5's I am planning to do a couple of weeks of 5x3 while focusing on a 5# increase each work out. In future cycles I may utilize the Max-Stim approach but I figured I would keep it simple the first go around.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">...but I figured I would keep it simple the first go around. </div>

Best option yet! Simplify and win!
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(quadancer @ May 31 2008,6:44)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Good Call. How old are you D?</div>
Turned 36 at the beginning of this year. I have been working out on and off for years but have been constant for the last 16 months.

What I have decided on is 1x15, 2x10, 3x5, &amp; 5x3 for my cycles. I will also be using the rest periods of 60s, 90s, 120s, and as needed for the 5x3 sets.
I am keeping the exercise selection to the compound lifts that I have been using in my 5x5 programs:
Squat, Bench, Row, OH Press, Deadlift (1 working set), along with 1 set of each Dips, Chin-ups, &amp; Pull-ups for assistance.
The reason I am going to use the 5x3 for the final cycle is the fact that I train alone so my choices are limited. I plan on adding 5#'s to my 5RM for the first work out and adding 5#'s each work out as long as I can.
I am using an excel spreadsheet to track the workouts I can post if anyone is interested. You simply type in the exercises, your RM, and the date started and the sheet populates the progression.
 
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(dawaro @ May 31 2008,3:13)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Turned 36 at the beginning of this year.</div>
You're old enough to know better by now! Call the Scooter Store and get with the real program Gramps. Weights will kill ya.
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(colby2152 @ May 29 2008,4:20)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">In HST, &quot;there are no rules, only options.&quot;</div>
Yup, and you can tweak anything...!
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">3x5, &amp; 5x3 </div>

Interesting variation, very much within the way we would go about it when things get heavy.

If results are good after trying the program, please add it to the simplify and win thread as one other simple routine worth keeping, for the benefit of all!
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