Starting HST

[Dride]

Hi guys im new to the forum and to this HST training but i have heard alot of good things about it so i am going to start a cycle after my holiday which will be a good time for me to get lots of rest after my current training. Anyway just trying to put a routine together for when i start but i am abit confused with it all. Im going for the 2 weeks with 15s, 2 weeks with 10s, 2 weeks with 5s, then another 2 weeks with 5s and then 1 week of SD. The workout i had down was this:

Squat - 1x(rep set)
Leg Curls - 2x(rep set)
Bench - 2x(rep set)
Dips - 1x(rep set)
Chins (Wide&Narrow grip) - 2x(rep set)
Rows (Wide&Narrow grip) - 2x(rep set)
Shrugs - 1x(rep set)
Shoulder Press - 1x(rep set)
Lat Raises - 1x(rep set)
Rear Delt Raises - 1x(rep set)
Ez Bi Curls - 2x(rep set)
Skull Crushers - 2x(rep set)
Calf Raises - 2x(rep set)
Crunches - 2x(rep set)

Will this be suitable for the full 8 week cycle? Any help/suggestions would be great

Cheers

 

[Bryan Haycock]

Hi Dride,

Your choice of exercises looks fine. I might suggest you consider doing squats every other workout though. Substitute leg extensions or perhaps leg press every other workout. This will allow the low back to stay nice and recuperated as you go.

Also, why only 1wk of SD if you are doing 4 weeks of 5s? Just curious...

 

[Dride]

Hi Bryan,

Thanks for the reply. Ah right yeh ill do that, i noticed in one of the examples it had squats and leg press alternating but was unsure why. But i shall put leg press in aswell as squats. How would i do the loading on the weight if alternating exercises? Put the max load on the final 2 days of the 2 week block and then work backwards from each session separately? If that makes sense.

As for the SD when i was reading the information on the main site about the week blocks and then how it ends with SD where i do no training, the way i read it i assumed it was just a week. should i be doing longer? Or should i only do 2 weeks of 5s and just do 1 week of SD? Whats the norm for ending a cycle?

Cheers

 

[Bryan Haycock]

A/B load progression and SD

Thanks for the reply. Ah right yeh ill do that, i noticed in one of the examples it had squats and leg press alternating but was unsure why. But i shall put leg press in aswell as squats. How would i do the loading on the weight if alternating exercises? Put the max load on the final 2 days of the 2 week block and then work backwards from each session separately? If that makes sense.

Sure. But try to think about your legs and not the exercises. In other words, how heavy is it? You know what I mean? Just try to progress the load as concertedly as you can while switching between the two. In the end, there is quite a bit of room for load miscalculations that won't effect much in the end.

As for the SD when i was reading the information on the main site about the week blocks and then how it ends with SD where i do no training, the way i read it i assumed it was just a week. should i be doing longer? Or should i only do 2 weeks of 5s and just do 1 week of SD? Whats the norm for ending a cycle?

No no, you didn't plan anything wrong per se. If you only want 1 week SD that's fine. If you an experienced lifter and are already very close to your genetic size limits, I would recommend a couple weeks though. Which is better? Well, that all depends on how you feel at the end of the cycle and the afore mentioned detail about training experience.

 

[Dride]

Ah right yeh i understand what you mean, i'll use the example on the main site for a rough guide for loading, i did notice that jumped like 40lbs on each exercise between sessions.

No no, you didn't plan anything wrong per se. If you only want 1 week SD that's fine. If you an experienced lifter and are already very close to your genetic size limits, I would recommend a couple weeks though. Which is better? Well, that all depends on how you feel at the end of the cycle and the afore mentioned detail about training experience.

Well i'm not that experienced lifter, probably been lifting about a year just over with correct diet plan, etc. So no where near my limits yet. Well i guess if i'm really sore/tired then i shall take more than 1 week of SD, but if i'm all good after a week then i'll start the second cycle.

Just so i get this straight for when i start, should i do the 2 weeks of 5s then followed by another 2 week block of 5s? Oh should i still keep the number of sets the same all the way through?

Sorry for all the question.

Thanks for the help.