Starting tonight

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imported_had21

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I am starting my first cycle of HST tonight....I have my program set up, but I am second guessing a few key things. Somebody help here, cause I can't make up my mind.

#1 - Should I do one or two sets of 15's during the first two weeks

#2 - Should I split my routine into AM/PM, just do it once a day, or double it - doing the same routine in AM/PM

#3 - I am looking for size here....so should my increments be set fairly large and just have alot of zigzagging, or minimize zigzagging and make them smaller.

I appreciate everybody's response in advance. Looking forward to getting started tonight.
 
1. Just do one set of 15s. Then do two of 10s and three of 5s.

2. If it's your first HST cycle, just do a one workout on monday, tuesday and wednesday. If later on you want to split it into two workouts, you'd do two different workouts, never the same workout twice on the same day.

3. As are we all. In HST, a bit of zig-zagging is a good thing. It gives you a bit of a break every 2 weeks, helps prevent overtraining, and allows slight injuries a chance to heal before they get bad. The weight you begin with at the beginning of each 2-week cycle should be about two-thirds of your rep max for that range. So if, for example, your rep max for a given lift is 90lb, you could go 60, 70, 75, 80, 85, 90. Remember to take your body weight into account for things like dips and chins.

4. Good luck, have fun!

Chris.
 
I agree with Chris but if you are only doing a handful of exercises you might as well do 2 sets of 15s, especially during the first week when the weights are pretty light. If you are doing 10 or so exercises stick to one set of 15s.

Not sure how new you are to training(?) but just remember to eat enough for growth. There are heaps of threads about this and there's also plenty of info from Bryan under the 'Articles' section on this site.

Enjoy!
 
I have been training with a "traditional" split for the past two years. Not surprisingly, I have hit a plateau and am ready to try something new. I have done my SD (this is day 12), and will be starting tonight. Thanks for the input guys...I am a teacher and am out of school for the summer, so I guess in my eagerness to get started (and with time on my hands) I thought I could possibly do two workouts a day - one in the morning and one at night. But I guess I will stick to one workout a day and try to follow the program as closely as possible. I'll get back to you guys and let you know how things are progressing.
 
Another thing that kind of gets me is Bryan stating "to optimize HST, you should train twice a day" - AM/PM. Time wise, I am free to train twice a day. I would guess that you would stay in the same ranges in each workout ( 1x15 in the morning, 1x15 at night ) - with the only difference possibly coming in the exercise that you do. This is really my last remaining big question that I can't decide on.....Would training twice on MWF be more beneficial to me? Or, would I just be asking too much when I got to the 5's?
 
15's I would do 2 sets.

If you have the time I would defiantly do am and pm workouts...increased frequency inside 3 days a week is were its at IMO.

Larger loads might be a little tough if your frequency is high just make sure you are making upward progress.

Be careful not to overtrain or train to failure.

EAT EAT EAT
 
Thanks alot guys...I think I will try to get my work in twice a day, I will just not do the same exercises each time. Now I just have to get me an "A" and a "B" workout lined up. Thanks again for all the help.
 
Twice a day is fine, just make sure you eat enough. Sometimes less is more for bulking for guys w/ high metabolisms.
 
If you do twice a day just be sure to watch your overall volume. If you guage it right and eat enough you should make some really good progress.
 
Yeah, I don't want my volume to get too high. If I was just going to go once a day, then I was going to do 2 sets with 15's. Instead, I think I will just stick with 1 set but do it twice daily, mixing up the exercises. Only thing that concerns me is if I miss one of the sessions. If that happens, is it going to screw things up in terms of progression at all?
 
Yes...cut volume in half for twice a days.

Take regular routine and do half in morning half in evening.

I bet you will like the results..if your schedule and lifestyle can handle it.
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