Results and questions

S

superclock

New Member
Results - OK, this routine works. I started out at 208lbs and am now around 223lbs. Really amazing. For everyone out there trying to modify the program, just be patient and go with the standard routine. If you have set it up properly, train with correct form and intensity, and are eating like a horse, you will get bigger. I promise. Thanks Brian.

Question - I am just about to finish week 7 (first week of 5 rep max sets). My joints are sore and my recovery time is longer. Every time I stand up or move I am popping and creaking. Is this normal? Should I be taking a supplement to help alleviate this? It's not killing me, but let's just say I'm looking forward to the deconditioning time.
 
You can take 3 grams of fish oil a day, it helps me out. For myself, when my body starts to ache, I'll let my body rest for 2 days between each workout. It makes the program a little longer in time, but it is what works for me. I also reduce the number of exercises as the intensity raises, but always insit on the core ones (bench, row, squat/dead)

That's just what I've found works well for me.

Best of Luck
 
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(FireFighter @ Nov. 21 2008,3:06)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">You can take 3 grams of fish oil a day, it helps me out.  For myself, when my body starts to ache, I'll let my body rest for 2 days between each workout.  It makes the program a little longer in time, but it is what works for me.  I also reduce the number of exercises as the intensity raises, but always insit on the core ones (bench, row, squat/dead)</div>
Yup, if my body starts to complain too much, I drop all the peripheral exercises and just keep the main ones: squats, deads, chins, dips, bench, row. Sometimes I'll drop back to twice a week, and I'll use nine or ten grams of fish oil per day.

The occasional SD is a good thing.  
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If you aren't used to low-rep, heavy-load workouts, the first HST cycle or two can be pretty hard on your joints. That was my experience anyway. You will most probably find that by your third cycle you can get through the 5s with minimal joint pain.

As FireFighter and TR pointed out, It's always a good idea to get your daily EFAs too.
 
Not sure what your age and genetics are like but I'm old and bad genetics. I just &quot;completed&quot; my second full cycle and had good results again. But, my calculations were just a hair off on the 5s and I hit my 5 RM on some lifts at the 4th workout of the 5s (complex, but I was avoiding zig-zag and planning to use micro-increases yet went with my normal increases, not smart). I kept pushing through but Chins, Military Presses and eventually Bench all brought some hideous pain at the elbow and shoulder joints by the 6th workout of 5s.

I continued into the post-5s for two workouts so my Deads and Squats could get really heavy but had to back off on the other exercises. All attempts brought on the pain as I dipped to 2 and 3 RM. I hit my PRs on Squat and Deads and finally stopped and gave in to SD. I'm pretty good at identifying non-productive pain in shoulders due to an previous injury on a different program, and a lifetime of both Golfer/Tennis elbow tendon pain. I can tell when the specific pain arises and it signals time for the SD. There must be a type of pain that you can work through without hurting future workout cycles, but the kind I get when close or at the RM, for me, means time to stop.
 
Are you stretching post exercise and getting massages?

You may want to invest in a foam roller and a tennis ball if your experiencing trigger points as well, which is probably what is slowing your recovery and possibly causing the new popping and cracking.

Fish oil also helps as its an anti-inflammatory. Definitely take fish oil if you aren't already. The benefits are plenty.
 
Thanks for all the input. I started on the fish oil and it is definitely helping. I have been taking around 6 grams a day and the popping has been reduced dramatically. My skin looks pretty good too!

I went to SD two workouts early mainly because of travel for Thanksgiving, but also because my body was just telling me to give it a break. Of course, I feel like a piece of **** fat-*** because I haven't worked out for four days now. Ridiculous, I know. I guess that must be the hardest part of SD - overcoming the mental downers that come from not working out.

All in all, I am really impressed with this routine and I am looking forward to getting started on the next cycle.
 
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(EagleTree @ Nov. 27 2008,9:45)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Not sure what your age and genetics are like but I'm old and bad genetics. I just &quot;completed&quot; my second full cycle and had good results again. But, my calculations were just a hair off on the 5s and I hit my 5 RM on some lifts at the 4th workout of the 5s (complex, but I was avoiding zig-zag and planning to use micro-increases yet went with my normal increases, not smart). I kept pushing through but Chins, Military Presses and eventually Bench all brought some hideous pain at the elbow and shoulder joints by the 6th workout of 5s.

I continued into the post-5s for two workouts so my Deads and Squats could get really heavy but had to back off on the other exercises. All attempts brought on the pain as I dipped to 2 and 3 RM. I hit my PRs on Squat and Deads and finally stopped and gave in to SD. I'm pretty good at identifying non-productive pain in shoulders due to an previous injury on a different program, and a lifetime of both Golfer/Tennis elbow tendon pain. I can tell when the specific pain arises and it signals time for the SD. There must be a type of pain that you can work through without hurting future workout cycles, but the kind I get when close or at the RM, for me, means time to stop.</div>
I'm 38 and I think I have decent genetics. Hard to say, really. I didn't have pain while working out. It was mostly that my joints felt stiff and cracked and popped when I would get up from the couch, stand after kneeling, etc.
I lucked out on my calculations for this first run. They were really close and I only had to make some very minor adjustments along the way.

How old are you and how much have you gained on your cycles?
 
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(Sun-Tzu @ Nov. 27 2008,12:23)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Are you stretching post exercise and getting massages?

You may want to invest in a foam roller and a tennis ball if your experiencing trigger points as well, which is probably what is slowing your recovery and possibly causing the new popping and cracking.

Fish oil also helps as its an anti-inflammatory. Definitely take fish oil if you aren't already. The benefits are plenty.</div>
I stretch during the workout. I should probably stretch more post workout.

My main genetic gift is naturally big traps. I could just do calf raises and my traps would get bigger. But they also hold a lot of tension, so I stretch them a lot during the workout. I did get some massages towards the end of this first cycle.
 
Here is my HST summary, after two cycles:

HST works. Having said that...

FIRST CYCLE: On my first cycle I started out after already working out for 3 months, took no SD, and injured myself on week 6 by doing too much (old mindset cost me that one). I obviously failed to follow instructions and fell into the &quot;more is better&quot; trap. In spite of that, I still gained 3.5 pounds of LBM and 1.5 pounds of fat. GREAT!

SECOND CYCLE: Well, I did SD, then started out good. I was growing and filling out even more until about week 4. The last 3 weeks I then seriously overtrained. I also didn't follow my cardio plan and ended up losing 4 pounds of LBM and gaining 2 pounds of fat! I had skipped ALL cardio, which was planned for in my daily calorie consumption, and WAY overtrained - even tho my body was telling me to stop. During the last 3 weeks of this cycle, I lost everything I gained during the first 4 weeks of the cycle...

My old powerlifting mentality of &quot;lifting the gym&quot; took over my HST sense...

Tomorrow I start my third cycle and have determined to follow the plan to the letter, with NO tweaking of my own, and following my cardio and nutrition plan to a &quot;T&quot;!
 
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(MasterCFI @ Dec. 01 2008,1:10)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Tomorrow I start my third cycle and have determined to follow the plan to the letter, with NO tweaking of my own, and following my cardio and nutrition plan to a &quot;T&quot;!</div>
To be fair, one of the cardinal principles of HST is that you can tweak anything...  
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Amen Tunnelrat

That's true, that we can tweak anything with HST!

The tweaking that screwed me up was violating the principles that we were supposed to follow. I &quot;tweaked&quot; by not following my nutrition plan; I tweaked by overtraining - and knew I was doing it; and I tweaked by worrying about the amount of weight I was lifting. Blah, blah...

I knew it was happening when my muscles started feeling flat, and um, yes, smaller! Feeling small is about as bad as being small. Ha
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(MasterCFI @ Dec. 01 2008,5:33)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Feeling small is about as bad as being small. Ha  </div>
Ouch...
 
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(TunnelRat @ Dec. 01 2008,10:56)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(MasterCFI @ Dec. 01 2008,5:33)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Feeling small is about as bad as being small. Ha  </div>
Ouch...</div>
Great, now I can't get that song about &quot;Short people&quot; out of my head.

:-)
 
I have been getting into self trigger point massage. I have found that it helps dramatically with recovery and muscle tightness. A side effect is that it has eliminated much of my point popping and pain, which I think, for me at least, is stemming from tight muscles caused by trigger points.

The great thing about trigger point massage is that it doesnt take very long. 6-12 strokes on each trigger point is all you need and the muscle releases.

I found this book very valuable despite being only $15
http://www.amazon.com/Trigger....2243759
The only downside to the book is that you need to know official muscle names like sternocleidomastoid. Its a small one however because its organized by pain in body regions (i.e. shoulder or hip) and lists the muscles that effect each area, the pictures show you where it is, and the book describes how to move to activate the muscle to confirm its location and the proper technique for massaging each one.
 
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