Short Cycle or Not?

M

mport1

New Member
I am about to finish my 4th HST cycle before I do a 2 week SD.  When I start lifting again, I am only going to have about a 3 week time period before my 3 week long winter break.  Should I start a new cycle and just not finish it, do a short one somehow, or should I go with conventional weightlifting until I have the time period to do a cycle in?  If it one of the later two, what kind of routine do you think I should do?

Also, on my 3 week break I am going to have the same problem, short cycle or not, because the gym at my school and the one at my house are totally different so I don't think it would be good for weight progression on totally different machines.

Also, how were my results?  I did a conventional 3 day a week HST Cycle with clusters for 2 weeks after the 5s.  I have gained about 12 pounds (started at 128.5 pre-SD, 130 after SD, and about 140-141 right now with one workout day left).  My bodyfat has gone from 7% to 11%.  I did a clean bulk, supplementing with whey, kre-alkalyn, dextrose, and multivitamins.  Any comments on my progress, and does anybody know how to calculate the muscle mass I have (hopefully) gained?
 
Well, you know your bf%, so calculating your lean mass should be easy.

141 pounds at 11% bf means around 15.5 pounds is fat.
141 - 15.5 = 125.5 pounds of lean body mass.

Previously, you were 128.5 at 7% bf, meaning around 8.995 is fat, let's just round it to 9.
128.5 - 9 = 119.5 pounds of lean body mass.

125.5 lbm now, 119.5 lbm before. That means you gained around 6 pounds of muscle. Since you said you gained a total of 12 pounds, you got the bulk cycle ok. Your ratio is around 1:1, muscle to fat gain.

Pretty good, really.

Anyhoo, for the 3 weeks left, you can skip the 15's. Go start somewhere heavy. Maybe a week of 10's, a week of 5's, then go for negatives or whatever you do for post 5's. The idea is not to get stuck at lighter weights, since the cycle will be so short.

Regards and good luck :)
-JV
 
I have the same 3 weeks to work with... but I will be having 4-6 days off, which is more or less missing a Wednesday and/or Friday workout, so I was thinking of doing this:

11/27-12/3: one week of 5's
12/4-12/10: progress on 5's again
12/11-12/17: post5's/3's

This was also in my HST Log

Mport, I agree with JV. If you are going to be taking 2 weeks off, then a week of 10's may be advisable. With the one week microcycles, your increments will be larger which may be fairly beneficial.

-Colby
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (jvroig @ Nov. 16 2005,11:19)]Well, you know your bf%, so calculating your lean mass should be easy.
141 pounds at 11% bf means around 15.5 pounds is fat.
141 - 15.5 = 125.5 pounds of lean body mass.
Previously, you were 128.5 at 7% bf, meaning around 8.995 is fat, let's just round it to 9.
128.5 - 9 = 119.5 pounds of lean body mass.
125.5 lbm now, 119.5 lbm before. That means you gained around 6 pounds of muscle. Since you said you gained a total of 12 pounds, you got the bulk cycle ok. Your ratio is around 1:1, muscle to fat gain.
Pretty good, really.
Anyhoo, for the 3 weeks left, you can skip the 15's. Go start somewhere heavy. Maybe a week of 10's, a week of 5's, then go for negatives or whatever you do for post 5's. The idea is not to get stuck at lighter weights, since the cycle will be so short.
Regards and good luck :)
-JV
Click to expand...
Thanks, I didn't think that you were actually able to just use the numbers like that.

Also, I forgot to mention. On my 3 week break I am going to have the same problem, short cycle or not, because the gym at my school and the one at my house are totally different so I don't think it would be good for weight progression on totally different machines. I forgot to mention this, so I will add it to my original post.
 
Nice results.

Just go heavy for 3 weeks.

One week ramp up - end your last workout on your new 5RM. You could do workouts 4,5,6 from your 5s, or 2,4,6 etc...wouldn't make a difference.

Then for the following 2 weeks you could cluster again or work at your 5RM and try and improve it by an increment by the end of each week (or by the end of the 2 weeks).
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] ]One week ramp up - end your last workout on your new 5RM. You could do workouts 4,5,6 from your 5s, or 2,4,6 etc...wouldn't make a difference.
Click to expand...

IMO, I would go for the 2nd, 4th, and 6th WO for the largest increments.
 
Mport

Go with JV and Jester, they are right, hit heavy for 3 weeks using 1 week minicycles, progress by using theheaviest increments you can bear.

You body should be in high gear by the time you take off, and before it starts declining the protein sysnthesis, it should have added some lean muscle tissue.

Watch out for teh Christmas food
laugh.gif
But fera not the turkey
laugh.gif
 
Yeah, do as the other guys say. In fact, I'm about to start something similar myself. I've got a flu at the moment, once I get well I'll start a new cycle. Unfortunately, it will only be for a month or so before Christmas (sort of a compulsory SD). So, my plan is to begin with weights somewhere in the vicinity of 10's and increment aggresively so that in the end I'll be using my 3RM or negatives.To simplify things further, since the increments will be larger than usual and there will be no zig-zagging, I'll be working up to a rep count without strict sets, i.e. clustering. I hope it will work well.

Regards,
Dimitris
 
Alright, so the consensus is that I should do a short 3 week cycle starting heavy. Sounds good.

However, after these 3 weeks, what should I do for my three weeks of winter break? Should I do something like 9 days of SD following the 3 week mini cycle at school and then just do two weeks of normal lifting, and then when I come back to school, take 9 days of SD and start a complete HST cycle?

I would like to minimize the number of SDs if possible, because now it looks like I'm going to have quite a few if I follow that plan. I just won't be able to do my normal routine at my home gym since the equipment is different.


Hope that all made sense.
 
just do a 6wk cycle do a routine that uses the same type of weights you have at home..ie..if you only have a bar and bench at home just use a bar and bench in the gym you use now..make a routine around that maybe just basic compounds.
 
Can you do these at home? :

BB or DB Bench/Dips
BB/DB/T-Bar Rows
Deadlift
Military Press

If so, then just continue on with your 3 week cycle using your 5RM at these weights. Extend the heavy cycle to 6 weeks just using different exercises if need be.

Aim to increase your strength - by an increment or two - for each exercise. You should be able to do once over the 3 weeks without a problem.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top