Results with HST without diet?

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Nitrosoxide

New Member
So I'm a university student who wants to be normal I can't do something radical where I'm always counting calories.
Its a hard way to be, but I kind of want to just eat normal.

I'm 153 pounds and about 17% bodyfat according to one of those bodyfat handhelds. But, I honestly think I'm pretty slim looking. Which is what most people tell me.

I know that the more BF you have the less lean BM you'll gain. But, still can I gain any.

I want to know if by doing my HST, eating regularly, and taking

a scoop of muscle milk before my workout
and
a scoop of optimum whey after my workout

will it do anything? Will I ever get definition? Is my workout pointless?

I mean I hear of people making gains without going crazy, by just keeping with their workout program, even if it does take 5 years.
 
Nitro,
It WILL absolutely do something!!! This is really all I do, only I take an extra shot of protein & a few carbs (Myoplex shake i.e. 20g carbs) at night to add a 6th meal. I don't count calories at all, just eat well balanced main meals ("good" snacks if you need to) & 2 or 3 protein shakes. At your age you WILL make rapid progress if you follow HST.

You don't give any indication as to your current training regime, I'm guessing you are not doing any at present. If this is the case, you will probably find that your appetite will "normalize" i.e. you will eat want to eat less if you are presently overeating, so you just need to eat when you feel hungry (be sensible though e.g. a "good" snack at snack times and a meal at meal times).

On the other hand if you are currently doing exercise/weights you may need to add extra cardio on your none HST days to burn more calories. Though by doing HST's full body workout (without taking excessive rest between exercises i.e. max 2mins) you will likely find this has a cardio like effect, particularly to start with.

If you are already training hard and doing cardio then you will have to look at dieting and counting calories in some way. This "counting" may only need to take the form of being aware of good food and bad food. That means don't eat too many processed foods, sugary drinks etc that tend to be high in calories and that your body absorbs rapidly, causing you to feel hungry sooner. Just changing to food that is not processed, low GI foods etc could be all the counting you need to do. It's best to loose weight slowly as it tends to stay off.

Given that your %BF is not overly high (you would just fall within the "good/normal" range even if you are a 19yr old according to typical recommendations). That said you'd probably want to be at the other end of the good range which would be about 12%. If you want to get much below that you will have to count calories properly.

Just get into HST training using the "vanilla" template as shown on this site, eat normally, take your protein shakes. And don't worry about what anyone else is doing (yes during the 15's you can feel like a wimp given the low weights but just remember that you'll be making faster progress than the guys doing the traditional type training). At or near the end of your 1st cycle once you know how your body is responding you can make some adjusts to your diet if required.
 
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(Nitrosoxide @ Aug. 14 2008 @ 6:05)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">So I'm a university student who wants to be normal I can't do  something radical where I'm always counting calories. Its a hard way to be, but I kind of want to just eat normal. </div>

Welcome Nitrosoxide

Its a misquote that you do have to count calories all the time, but it certainly helps if you can use a calculator to stay as close as possible to the mark (if you are ultimatelly serious about your results, gains and nutrition), but it is not a necessity.

I am sure that you can get one (calorie calculator) from Colby152 if you ask real nice, he has a fantastic chart that you can use daily and thus track your progress, but this too is not absolutely necessary for you to obtain gains.  

So long as you calculate once off how many calories you need to gain muscle or lean mass, you can then &quot;judge&quot; an approximate amount you should be eating daily, but generally speaking it is better to track these down so as to stay close to the target.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I'm 153 pounds and about 17% bodyfat according to one of those bodyfat handhelds. But I honestly think I'm pretty slim looking. Which is what most people tell me.</div>

Those body fat handheld tings are not very accurate, and many times end up being 3 - 5% off that is a lot IMO, here's a better one that is easy to use and quite accurate body-fat-analyzer

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I know that the more BF you have the less lean BM you'll gain. But still can I gain any?</div>

Yes, depends on how you feed your face!
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I want to know if by doing my HST, eating regularly, and taking a scoop of muscle milk before my workout and a scoop of optimum whey after my workout will it do anything? </div>

Yes, but eating the protein powders may work for the benefit or detriment depending on your total calorie intake, capisce?  

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Will I ever get definition? </div>

Definition comes from a low body fat percentage like when you can see you entire six-pack, anyone below 10% BF should have a nice definition!

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Is my workout pointless? </div>

Workouts are only pointless when we don’t do them properly, you have here all the tools to do so coupled with the fact that you are a university student...man…that should help (no offense)

Remember though that +/- 70% of the success in any BB workout comes from the nutrition, 20% from the actual workout and about 10% from proper rest.

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I mean I hear of people making gains without going crazy, by just keeping with their workout program, even if it does take 5 years. </div>

It’s a fact, no-one here has told you otherwise right?
 
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(Nitrosoxide @ Aug. 13 2008,11:05)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">So I'm a university student who wants to be normal I can't do something radical where I'm always counting calories.
Its a hard way to be, but I kind of want to just eat normal.

I'm 153 pounds and about 17% bodyfat according to one of those bodyfat handhelds. But, I honestly think I'm pretty slim looking. Which is what most people tell me.</div>
Counting calories is hardly &quot;radical&quot;. It's the only practical way you can track your diet. Being &quot;normal&quot; is fine, but remember that &quot;normal&quot; people tend to be fat and weak.

Don't let me discourage you, though. I used to follow a routine very similar to the one you propose. After many years I managed to reach 153 pounds and 17% bodyfat...
 
Hmm...

Is BenReffel wrong, because I'd like to think I could make some good gains by just doing what I'm doing. Eating healthy and working out.

Is there any chance I could still make those newbie &quot;gains&quot; and lose fat and gain muscle at the same time. I only started working out in Jan 2008. I've only done 1 cycle of HST. (When should I accept , its not going to happen)

If eat the reccomended amount of protein would I just keep getting fat along with the muscle gains?

Or could I gain muscle and keep the fat off by doing cardio on off days?
 
You can make great gains by going by your plan. I have been on HST for four months and I have seen amazing gains. My diet is just being more mindful. No calorie counting at all. Just think high protein, moderate carbs, and moderate fat. With your age fat will need to be less of a concern than carbs. Cut out breads and sweets. No alcohol during the week if possible.

Example: If I want a snack, I might eat a can of tuna or maybe even a block of cheese. When having dinner out, I'll get the grilled chicken or salmon with a plain baked potato or a side salad. At home it's easy, eat canned tuna, chicken, turkey, eggs.

Here's what I ate yesterday, no calorie counting. All ounces are estimates.

Meal 1: About 8 oz of egg whites 3 oz of cottage cheese
Meal 2: Protein shake
Pre Workout: Apple
Post Workout: Sugary creatine drink Two cans of tuna Handful of white rice
Meal 5: 4 oz of cottage cheese and small cup of yogurt
Meal 6: Sashimi platter for sushi restaurant

You could substitute the sashimi with any high quality protein. It's not too difficult. Just make high protein chooses. I even go to mexican restaurants with my friends every week and I get fajitas with no tortillas.
 
Hi Nitrosoxide,
I think you've misunderstood what I mean.

You WILL make gains and I'm sure you will continue to make good gains just like everyone else provided you do things right. That basically means exercise right (HST with suitable weights &amp; increments), eat right (enough protein &amp; carbs to meet your requirments), and sleep right (get plenty).

There should be no need to count calories at at your present level. For someone relatively new to weights (as I believe you are) and who is only slightly overweight (actually you're not if the standard guides are to be believed) you should notice improvements doing any type of weights let alone HST. I suspect it may have something to do with your intensity. For example, you will loose more weight doing cardio in a shorter time if you up your intensity and do a shorter workout than if you do a low intensity workout for a longer time. Walking for 1hr on a treadmill will not have much effect for weight loss, far better to run for 20mins at 80%. You may even want to consider Tabata to help loose weight if that is important to you (personally I'd just concentrate on building muscle given your situation, though as Fausto said measuring fat is notoriously error prone, but I'm assuming your 17% is fairly  accurate)

Likewise with weights you need to ask yourself if your 15RM, 10RM &amp; 5RM really are your maxes. When setting them try this, warm up properly, then do maybe 2 or 3 reps with the weight you believe is your RM, take a short rest i.e. 1min, now select the next weight in the stack/rack or add the smallest plate) you should be pleasantly surprised to find that you do this easily. Why? I don't know but it's a well known fact muscles respond this way  
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. In other words make sure your warm up includes a few reps at a high enough weight to stimulate your muscle properly. Now you should have realistic RM's. Now make sure you are not going too low when setting that 1st weight for each of the 15's, 10's &amp; 5's don't go much lower than 25% for each of the 15RM, 10RM &amp; 5RM's.

I still feel there may be something you are doing wrong, given that you have only done 1cycle since Jan08. A cycle should take you about 10wks, SD included (though it is possible to extend the negs/maxstim out considerably).

Don't be discouraged. Even HST is no silver bullet, it still takes time &amp; effort &amp; commitment to build those muscles.  It may be that your improvements are just not showing yet as even a 5% increase in size for a small muscle will not be immediately obvious particularly if it is covered by a little fat. You may have actually reduced fat but the inaccuracy of measurement is hiding your true gains!! Keep at it you will see improvements.

For us to really help you please post full details of both your workout and typical weekly diet.
 
Well I started HST in sometime around April

so before april, I was doing the old fashion method of doing different body parts on different days.
 
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