slow, long term HST?

[nittany31]

Hi everybody,

I'm brand new to HST, and so far its very exciting. I have a question or two though, because I don't want all the time/effort at the gym to go to waste because of something small thats hampering gains..

I'm 19, about 6 feet tall and weigh an even 150 right now. I'm about to move into the 10's of my first HST cycle. I've lifted on and off for a few years doing simple routines but never very accurately monitored my nutrition intake (calories, protein, etc). However I am monitoring those things now and am trying to optimize my results, given that I'm starting with a fairly clean slate (relatively cut figure, not too much "visible" BF).

Given where I'm starting, I'm wondering if rather than bulking (eating ~700 over maintenance, calorie-wise) and then cutting (eating less than maintenance), I can just put on muscle more slowly and stay cut while I grow by eating only around, say, 200 cals over maintenance every day and doing a lot of cardio.

Am I way off base here? Is this possible?

I've tried tabata (sprinting) and would rather do this once or twice a week than jog for an hour. Are the cardio effects of doing this comparable to those of regular jogging?

Lastly, a quick review of my supplements so far:
~2300 cals/day (maintenance is like 2000)
~150g protein every day
~2.5g creatine ethyl ester every day (preworkout on training days)

 

[nittany31]

dunno how my thread went up twice..but if anybody that responds could please use the thread just above (or below) this one (my post even got cut off somehow) to do so, that'd make it easier - thx

it has the exact same heading

 

[imported_godlee]

I've heard its far better to jog a mile or two everyday rather than jog once or twice a week for an hour or so. Apparently you lose all the gains from it if you don't do it everyday (no need to go any more than 2 miles at most I don't think).

Even better is skipping, they say 6-10 minutes skipping or something like that is the equivelant of half hour jogging (iirc). Really works your leg muscles as well skipping does (far better than jogging imo).

The punch bag is another good one for cardio if it's wet and miserable outside, just stand feet square to the bag and constant one-two punching for 2 minutes straight (doesn't have to be hard you just have to make contact however light you want), rest a minute then repeat maybe 3/4 times. Reeeeeally knackers you out that one does, I use it because theirs practically no strain on my gimpy knees.

Not sure that helps you much but thought I'd suggest it.

Another thing with jogging is you should every now and then sprint for 5/6 seconds as hard as you can and do that a few times through your jog, it's a bit like the effects you get from hst training where your pushing your body a little harder than it wants to go without draining you.

 

[faz]

<div>
(nittany31 @ Jun. 16 2006,09:06)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Hi everybody,

I'm brand new to HST, and so far its very exciting. I have a question or two though, because I don't want all the time/effort at the gym to go to waste because of something small thats hampering gains..

I'm 19, about 6 feet tall and weigh an even 150 right now. I'm about to move into the 10's of my first HST cycle. I've lifted on and off for a few years doing simple routines but never very accurately monitored my nutrition intake (calories, protein, etc). However I am monitoring those things now and am trying to optimize my results, given that I'm starting with a fairly clean slate (relatively cut figure, not too much &quot;visible&quot; BF).

Given where I'm starting, I'm wondering if rather than bulking (eating ~700 over maintenance, calorie-wise) and then cutting (eating less than maintenance), I can just put on muscle more slowly and stay cut while I grow by eating only around, say, 200 cals over maintenance every day and doing a lot of cardio.

Am I way off base here? Is this possible?

I've tried tabata (sprinting) and would rather do this once or twice a week than jog for an hour. Are the cardio effects of doing this comparable to those of regular jogging?

Lastly, a quick review of my supplements so far:
~2300 cals/day (maintenance is like 2000)
~150g protein every day
~2.5g creatine ethyl ester every day (preworkout on training days)</div>
i would probably go with about 300 over just in case you have miscalculated you dont want to be under.
and tabata is good for cutting

 

[Dave_H]

<div>
(nittany31 @ Jun. 16 2006,09:06)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Given where I'm starting, I'm wondering if rather than bulking (eating ~700 over maintenance, calorie-wise) and then cutting (eating less than maintenance), I can just put on muscle more slowly and stay cut while I grow by eating only around, say, 200 cals over maintenance every day and doing a lot of cardio.</div>
If you do loads of Cardio you will burn off more than the 200cals excess then you will be in a calorie deficit and you wont gain.

 

[imported_etothepii]

If you're 6' and 150#, you probably can't eat too much if your're doing cardio and weight training. Eat big through one entire HST cycle, and see how you like your looks when you're done.

Alternatively, eat big starting one meal before your lifting workout, and continue for 24 hours. Let's say 700 - 800 calories surplus. Then, eat maintanence for 24 hours. In that period, do a cardio workout (thus creating 300 or so calorie defecit). On rest days, eat maintanence. Thus, by the end of the week you will have eaten about a 1500 calorie surplus, but you will actually be doing mini bulk/cut cycles. The hope is those 1500 calories go more toward muscle than fat.

Over the course of an 8 week cycle, that's 12000 surplus calories. Since it takes 3500 calories to add a pound of fat, and 2500 calories to add a pound of muscle, that should be between 3.4 (fat only) and 4.8(muscle only) pounds.

The closer you are to a 4.8 pound gain, the more muscle you have added. Some people who try this (I've read on another message board) claim muscle gain and fat loss!

 

[Jazzer]

If you are 6&quot; and 150 pounds you are pretty lean. If that was me I would keep doing HST but eat all of the food in the house. After that I would go round next door and eat all their food too, then maybe the other side too.
I wish I was 19.
Good Luck.
J

 

[Bryan Haycock]

Although I agree with everyone who said don't be afraid to eat too much, I would warn against irresponsible eating. I mean, there isn't really any reason to eat &quot;unhealthy&quot; just because you want to gain weight.

In short, just eat more good food, rather than junk food to gain weight.

I would try to gain about 1 pound per week. If you are gaining more than that you should back off on the food, or increase your cardio.

If you get over 10% bodyfat it's probably time to diet it back off again until you are at your starting body fat levels. This advice is &quot;relative&quot; of course. You are already lean sowork within your normal body fat levels to gain weight. No need to get &quot;fat&quot; or anything.