Question regarding excercises during HST

[Greenlantern11B]

Backstory: I began running everyday to decrease my 2mile time for my Expert Infantryman Badge test and 3 weeks before testing I ended up developing level 4 stress fractures in my left leg and a level 1 in my right. I took a crapton of pills a couple hrs before the run and still ended up failing the run by 14seconds(wouldnt've been able to walk for land nav even if i did make it). It is now about 2 months later and my legs still arent healed(I actually recently found out how bad it was, didnt want to go on profile because I would've been ineligible for testing). So im currently on a no lower body workout for a few months(i'm not allowed to do flutter kicks or stand for longer than 15minutes). I had to beg to be able to do upperbody.

With that said I want to get big now.

QUESTION:
With some of the example I see some excercises are varied. Ex: squats one day and leg press the next workout day then back to squats the session after that. Should I do this with flat/incline bench press? Or just pick one? If so, which one? How many excercises for each body part per session?

My excercises would be:

Chest:
Benchpress(either flat/incline depending on the responses I get here)

Back:
Pullups( i can only do 12 dead hang)
Bent Over Rows/Seated Rows(which one?)

BI's:
Dumbbell Curls/Hammer Curls/chinups(which one?)

Tris:
pushdown or extention

Traps:
Shrugs

Shoulder:
Shoulder press(is this the same as the military press/chest press? or should it be brought behind the neck?)
Lateral Raises

Do I switch excercises after one HST cycle?

I benched Yesterday so tomorrow can I go to the gym and find out my 5,10, and 15 RM? Or do I do 5 one day, wait a day, 10 the next, wait a day, 15? Then a week of SD.

I weigh 180, 5'10. Average build(can see abs easily/no muffin top/not scrawny though) How much calories should I be eating?

Another Question: In the 'Optimize HST' topic the Am/Pm workouts. Would you do the same excercise you did in the morning, at night? Ex: 15 reps on the bench and then 15 again at night?

Thanks for the help.

 

[jvroig]

With some of the example I see some excercises are varied. Ex: squats one day and leg press the next workout day then back to squats the session after that. Should I do this with flat/incline bench press? Or just pick one? If so, which one? How many excercises for each body part per session?

The variety and mixing of exercises is mostly for advanced lifters. Since muscle groups are composed of lots and lots of different muscle fibers, when they have developed a very very significant degree, some weak areas may show, and this is what is targeted by different exercises that supposedly target the same muscle group - for example, flat vs incline bench both target the pectoral muscles / chest area, but the incline bench has more focus on the upper pecs. It won't make that much difference unless you are highly developed already and you start looking like Triple H (pecs look droopy) and you then stop the flat bench and do inclines to "even out" the appearance.

Personally, on the question versus flat vs incline, just do the inclines. For your second chest exercise, do some dumbbell flys, so you get some stretch as well. Load + stretch is one of the favorite combos in efficiently building muscle.

That also answers your question of "how many per bodypart". Two is enough. As above, one should be a heavy compound exercise, while the other can be a lighter exercise whose purpose is stretch (like the bench + flys combo above). It can also be two compounds. It doesn't matter at first what you do, as long as you do something. The minutiae only matter when you're advanced and you want to compete and every little detail counts.

Your routine looks fine. Biceps and tricep exercises can be skipped if you are in a hurry to finish your workout, they are the least important, they are another of those things that are not important unless you are in advanced stages. It's the compound exercises (like bench) that will make your arms grow bigger, not really the isolation exercises. If you need to choose one for the biceps, though, my favorite are hammer curls. For triceps, skullcrushers (I think that's the same as the extention you mentioned).

Do I switch excercises after one HST cycle?

No need.

I benched Yesterday so tomorrow can I go to the gym and find out my 5,10, and 15 RM? Or do I do 5 one day, wait a day, 10 the next, wait a day, 15? Then a week of SD.

You can do them one day at a time. Finding your RMs is like a week of training. For example, Monday is to find the 15's, Wed to find the 10's, then Fri to find the 5's. This is because finding rep maxes is really the same as a full-fledged training session.

If you cannot be bothered to do so (time constraints), you can just get your 5RM, and then estimate your 10 and 15RM's from there. There's a formula somewhere, but that is really guesstimation. I would not recommend it for a first cycle. But on further cycles, especially when you see how accurate your RMs are, you do not need to spend a whole week finding new RMs.

As for SD, a week should suffice, especially if you aren't a regular lifter before finding your RMs.

I weigh 180, 5'10. Average build(can see abs easily/no muffin top/not scrawny though) How much calories should I be eating?

There are calorie calculators all over the web. They are not consistent at all. Bottomline is: at least 1g protein / kg of bodyweight. You might as well make it 1g / lb if it is not so hard. Then try to have your total calories to be atleast ~2500. This is just a rough estimate. There is no hard rule, because this depends greatly on activity level, and everyone is unique in that aspect.

Monitor your daily diet (best way is to make a training log, which includes daily diet aside from your training progress), and see if you gain 1-2 pounds a week. If you aren't gaining, eat more. If you are gaining too much, eat less. After your first cycle, you'll zero in on the perfect diet, something no calorie calculator will ever give you. Your first cycle will always be a period of discovery, so don't worry about it. Go ahead and do it, keep a log, adjust as necessary.

Another Question: In the 'Optimize HST' topic the Am/Pm workouts. Would you do the same excercise you did in the morning, at night? Ex: 15 reps on the bench and then 15 again at night?

Yes, it could be done that way. Some have some sort of A/B split, in which they do exercise set A in the morning, then exercise set B at night. It doesn't matter much what you do, really. This is more of a personal preference or a time management thing, a way to make training possible in light of other constraints. For advanced lifters, it can also be a way to train more frequently. Until you actually reach that stage, you would be better served to stick to the basics. The insights you will gain from the first cycle, especially if you keep a detailed training journal, will make all the advanced optimization techniques more accessible and understandable.

Good luck.

 

[Greenlantern11B]

Thank you. Im gonna go find my 5RM today. I kinda wanted to get them all out the way today so I could get into the program sooner, but I guess i'll just wait. My new plan is going to be 2 different excercises for each body part(except traps and soldiers). Then a 2 different ones for those body parts at night. I'll go find my 5RM now