Questions about muscle condititioning

G

G T

New Member
I've been using HST for a few months now with two weeks of strategic deconditioning in between. My first HST cycle was the "sorest" when I began, then the muscle soreness gradually faded away. I started my third HST cycle a bit over a week ago and have had very little soreness. Does this mean I'm not spending enough time on strategic deconditioning?

Secondly, what is required to "condition" a muscle in real terms? Ie., how much use can a muscle have before it is conditioned to the extent that the same stimulus won't cause it to grow? Will carrying heavy objects around for a day or two ruin SD? Will doing a max at the start of an HST cycle ruin that cycle?
 
although many of us associate soreness as a sign of a good workout. it is not an indicator of muscle growth. i hardly ever felt sore while doing hst, due to the fact i wasnt training to failure or using high volume.and to an extent, the conditioning of my muscles .
 
Are you retesting your maxes at the end of your cycles? Just checking to be sure.

As lcars said, soreness (or lack thereof) is not necessarily an indicator of muscle growth. Don't worry about it too much. You could always try increasing the volume a bit if you are concerned.
 
I try to max a few lifts at the end of the cycle, such as bench and squat, and others I tend to estimate for the next. I usually complete my 5s in about 4 weeks and don't do negs, because I feel burned out. I'm doing it every second day without taking a two day break on the weekend, and doing two sets of a total of 6 exercises each workout, which is 42 sets/week. Do I have a weak CNS?

Also, I'd like to know if anyone is able to answer the second question?
 
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(G T @ Nov. 01 2008,8:19)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Ie., how much use can a muscle have before it is conditioned to the extent that the same stimulus won't cause it to grow?</div>
Although I doubt that a single WO causes a huge reduction in effectiveness there are obvious changes that occur even with one bout. With that said, the muscle will grow until it has completely adapted to the demand the exact timeframe isn't known and the variables in training (individually) make it a very complex situation. See my post Here.

My advice is, yes you can re-use the loads for several workouts, if need be. Also yes to daily activity, ie heavy manual lifing everyday does condition the muscle to that demand and in order to impose a greater demand a greater work must be performed.
 
How beneficial is it to start at a low weight then? Is such a degree of progression necessary, or can that start point eventually become useless unless we take more than a month off?

In other words, would the progressiveness of the weight be overshadowed by the lack of stimulus starting at a low weight might have?
 
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(G T @ Nov. 02 2008,9:39)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">How beneficial is it to start at a low weight then? Is such a degree of progression necessary, or can that start point eventually become useless unless we take more than a month off?

In other words, would the progressiveness of the weight be overshadowed by the lack of stimulus starting at a low weight might have?</div>
ive often questioned the usefulness of lifting well bellow your potential. i see it as though no progress would be made durin these lifts, however the evidence seems to be to the contrary!
 
My starting weight for deadlift squats is 48% of my 1rep max.
My starting weight for incline dumbbell press is 51% of my 1rep max.

I think with lighter weights you require a higher starting value so there is some sort of effort involved.

Ive tweaked my program so there is always a small increase over the 15s to 10's and to 5's. No more zig zag. However, I get fatigued from it easier.

Actually I SD'd for 2 months this summer (triathlon race season) and when I came back to HST I found that 48% for squats would be too high so I began on 37% and worked my way up. As a result my bench is in the 5's now and my squats are still in the 15s but its still super hard doing the squats because even at 37% its still a lot of weight compared to if I began at 37% of my incline dumbbell bench press. (50lbs / 25lbs each arm would be too easy)
 
Also let me add that the lighter weights in HST is not necessarliy there as a growth stimulus, although some have noted growth during this phase, it's not the primary intent.

So whether or not they are benficial depends on your view point and your objective.

Also if the lighter weights are to be effective it's contingent upon SD being effective, which of course is also contingent upon how SD is employed. The results seen from being on your back for 14 days or so is probably going to different that actually going to work and doing some repetitive lifting all day even if not hitting the gym.

So to truly answer the question of &quot;is the lighter weights going to be effective?&quot;..........Depends
 
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