TwinDeltaTandem's Training Log

T

twindeltatandem

New Member
Greetings...

First the meat: I'm about to start my first round of HST. I'll keep it as vanilla as possible (if it's not vanilla, it's because I'm missing something--I have no intention of tweaking the program at this point). Here's my plan, for 6 each @ 1x15, 2x10, 3x5:

Squat/DL (alternating: 1 DL per 2 Squats)
1-arm DB rows
Benchpress
Press
Incline Hammer Curls
Pull downs (for 15s and probably 10s) then underhand pullups (for 5s, weighted negs)
Lying triceps extensions w/ EZ bar
Shrugs
Standing calf raises (nearly threw this out--it'll be the first to go if I start dying)
Crunches (3x25, increasing reps as I go, then raising the decline rack with each "microcycle" change)

Background, for those interested:

Currently 167 lbs, probably around 20% BF (maybe a little less). 5'7".

After a life of sports designed to atrophy my upper body, I'm starting to get old (47 this summer) (read: losing test). I ran cross country in college, did a little cycling at the Pro/1/2 level for about 5 years in the mid-90s. Since then I've been doing stuff like CF and "military athlete." The result: I've got slow twitch pretty much down, I've got skinny arms, no shoulders at all, but pretty good legs and glutes. Good lungs, pretty good pain tolerance. I always max the PFT. Definitely starting to put on abdominal fat, but not too bad. (Last year I worked on Ripptoe's basic program, did some different 5x5 variations to gain strength. But it was very hard coming...). At this point I'd like to see a little effing muscle, for crying out loud. I'm the true hard gainer, but at least I've got some minor league athletic background. My biggest concern is I doubt my test levels are anywhere near where they need to be. If this works for me, it'll probably work for just about anyone.

I'm currently 6 months into a 1-year deployment to Afghanistan. Prior to deploying I did quite a bit of HIIT and work capacity training (rucking, MilitaryAthlete.com, etc.) in anticipation of a mostly "outside the wire" assignment. But at the last minute I was re-assigned to command a FOB unit. Right after arriving I got sick as a dog and really fell off the fitness wagon. I've been slowing getting back over the past several weeks.

Challenges:

The food here sucks. No, really. Very hard to get enough calories (there's only so much extremely dry, tough meat I can get down my throat). I do, however, eat about 8 hard boiled egg whites every morning and I've succomed to heavy supplementation to mitigate the crappy food. My wife sent me a big ole boxed "stack" from bodybuilder.com, and I'm taking a dizzying array of stuff that probably does nothing at all for me. However, it's mostly protein and creatine, so I'll just stick with it. At any rate, I need to caloric and protein supplementation for sure.

From time to time my position requires me to eat local food--so I'll almost certainly deal with occaisional bouts of the shotgun sh*ts.

Air quality is absolutely horrendous. Cardio, therefore, is pretty much out. I may do a little C2 rowing or perhaps some tabata squats if necessary.

I'm going on R&R leave in about 12 weeks. Ideally I would start out with SD (although I'm hardly "conditioned" right now, I have been lifting a little)--but I think because of the iming I'll dive in with a shortened 4-week cycle, the 2 wks SD, then a full 6-week cycle. I've just completed a couple weeks of full-body GVT, so I'm going to skip the 15s and jump right into the 10s. Hopefully the GVT hasn't taxed my muscles to the point I'll miss the gains expected in the back 2/3s of the cycle.

After leave I'll have time for two more complete rotations. While on leave I'll do some superb SD.

Things I've got going for me:

A decent amount of time to workout and sleep (interrupted now and then by rocket attacks).

Pretty motivated and focused.

We'll see how it goes...
 
routine looks good as long as it isnt in that order,try a push then a pulll exercise,with isos last,and you do know you gonna have to sort out your diet if you want to gain muscle
 
Squat Mon & Fri, Dead on Wednesday would be a good plan.

If you fancy an alternative:

Front squats on Monday
Deads on Wednesday
Back squats on Friday

Worked very well for me for a lot of cycles and provides some variety.
 
Thanks, both of you.

Faz...I am supersetting pulls and pushes. I do the heavy pull (squats or DLs) first and nothing else. Then I do rows/BP; press/curls; pull downs/extensions; then work my way through shrugs, calf raises and crunches.

Good point on the diet. I'm taking plenty of protein-- about 100g per day through supplementation plus dietary protein. I mostly eat meat at meals. It's tough to get enough carbs.

It's a challenge to get good protein and carbs here--what do you think about eating a bunch of whole wheat crackers with globs of peanut butter on them a few times per day? This is doable. I might also be able to track down some whole milk. I am eating fruit several times a day (the apples here are very funky--heavy chemical taste that can't be good, but the pears aren't bad).

Lol...I hate front squats! Maybe because I love back squats--my favorite exercise. I do them low on the back, through the heels, feet pointed out 30 deg, knees tracking over the toes, and very deep. Rippetoe style. But that's a great idea adding fronts, and I'll do it.

What do you think about other partial Oly lifts, e.g., power cleans, power snatches? I was really close to putting one of these two in the routine instead of the rows; but I thought rows might be more of a mass building exercise. I really like the Oly lifts, but don't know how they fit into a BB program.
 
Finished second HST workout today. Feeling great--I know it's absurd but I'm seeing progress already. I'm eating plenty of food but some of it's junk--still trying to figure this one out. Not many options here. Today, for example, I had a Pizza Hut meat lover's pizza and quart of milk. The small pizza was $10 and the milk was $4. Can't do that everyday. But I am getting plenty of protein.

Squatted two days ago, DL today. I'm adjusting a few of my weights (I hit them all, but I'll repeat some of the same weights day after tomorrow rather than bumping them up) and increments--just feeling things out. This first round will determine what I do next round.

The scale says I've gained two pounds. My belt has possibly tightened just a bit--so it's not on my waist. However, I don't put much stock in a 2 pound gain over two days.
 
Attempting to eat 'clean' while successfully bulking is pretty difficult unless you are one of those people who meticulously weighs everything that passes your lips to ensure you've consumed enough of each macro-nutrient.

When I started HST I was pretty skinny; I had to learn to eat! My most successful bulk was when I ate everything that wasn't nailed down. Sure I added some fat, but the weight on the bar went up consistently over several cycles.

Still, it is a good idea to watch the scales (and to check the mirror). If you aim to add a pound a week over the course of a cycle that should mean that your partitioning is okay. Adding any more than that and you'll probably be adding more fat than lean tissue. There's no sense in adding on pounds of fat unnecessarily.

Body weight will fluctuate during the day, so try to weigh yourself at the same time each day; mornings are often a good time (after evacuation).
 
Re O-lifts: I like to alternate deads and cleans on a weekly basis. Also, I like to use cleans for warmups before heavy deads. Front squats are a great accessory exercise for cleans as you get used to holding heavy loads in the catch position and driving up out of the hole.

Doing an HST type progression with O-lifts is more difficult because of the way fatigue effects the lift. I tend to try to gradually increase the load over a cycle in line with my front squats. I might also keep the rest between sets shorter at the start of the cycle and then increase them as the load climbs. Eg.:

During 15s you could do 3-4 sets of 5 cleans
During 10s do triples for 4-6 sets
During 5s do doubles or singles for 5-10 sets
 
Thanks for all the great inputs, Lol--I taking them all to heart. I really like the idea of doing cleans or even light snatches as a warmup, within reason. I'm also doing what I can to eat everything that's not nailed down. Today I ate quite a bit of Afghan bread during the day along with protein powder, and at dinner I stuffed on broccoli, sh!tty burned steak and drank all the milk remains from the cartons they'd set out next to the coffee. If I can keep snaggin milk I should be able to remain hypercaloric. But a large portion of my diet will have to come in liquid form. Right now I'm taking Muscle Milk and Syntha-6 three or four times a day and as soon as I can get my hands on some peanut butter I'll start downing PB at night.
 
Incorporated front squats yesterday. I took along a lifting partner, which really slowed things down. Probably spent at least and hour and a half, which wasn't good. I also started subsituting dips and pullups for cable excercises. Dips were fine, but I could only do 5 quality pullups in a row.

This completed the first 3 days of 2 sets of 10s. I'm planning to workout every other day (versus three times a week) unless I start feeling CNS fatigue. So tomorrow I'll start on 1 set of 10s.
 
I'll finish the 10s tomorrow. All in all it's going pretty well. I underestimated some of the weights (squats and bench), overestimated others (hammer curls). I like switching it up between back squats, deads and front squats--thanks, Lol! I can see a difference in the mirror, especially in the traps.
 
Wow! First day of 5s was awesome. I can't remember when I've had a more satisfying workout! I don't have my log with me, but the weights I'm using to kick off the 5s are pretty close to where my 5RMs were about a year and a half ago when I did Ripptoe's basic program. And it looks like I've put on about 3 1/2 pounds even though I started with the 10s just 13 days ago.

On the last workout I had a pretty bad back "twang" off to the right in my lumbar section. I had started with front squats and ended with calf raises in a shrug rack. I slapped on a tight belt yesterday for back squats and lifted strong with only minimal back issues. Then I decided to do my calf raises in a power rack under the bar. Going forward I've decided to eliminate front squats and continue using the barbell for calf raises. I might pick up fronts again during the next round of 15s.

I also sub'd barbell curls instead of hammer curls. My gym has a big gap in its dumbbell collection which makes hammers impossible. But besides that, I got way more pump out of the BB curls than I'd been getting doing the hammers. I'm keeping a fairly wide grip (index fingers on the ring) and keeping my elbows very tight.

I'm also pretty damn happy with how dips and pullups are coming along. My pullups still suck, but I started out having to do cable pull-downs and now I'm to 3 sets of 5 solid, full ROM pullups. I'm hanging 35# (and increasing 5 everytime) for the dips and getting very deep. Good stuff.
 
Third day of 5s and the "every other day" schedule is really starting to wear. I actually went down in weight on the press, which really stunk.

(I have a really hard time getting the first rep over my head. Once I get to the top, I can usually crank out subsequent reps. So I tried starting off with a push press and then doing 5 more strict presses. I don't see this as cheating, but I wish I could figure out how to get the first rep out of the hole. I've tried inter-set warmups, etc. I dunno.)

I'm starting to have lousy sleep the night after a workout. So I think I'm going to take two days off before the next set of 5s and see how that goes. Part of it is probably just that I started out too heavy.

My squat's back over 200 for 5 and my bench is seeing good linear progress at 160. Chins are also pretty good, and dips are solid. So I guess I'm mostly just frustrated at presses, rows and curls. But presses is a big one because my shoulders are definitely my wimpiest body part.

Does it really make sense to do sets of 5 shrugs and calf raises??? I feel like I should have left them at sets of 10. Maybe curls too. But I'm pressing on with the vanilla program.
 
Today I completed my first cycle, which did not include the 15s (I skipped them because I was [A] impatient and a couple of weeks into GVT and just didn't see the point).

Overall I'm very satisfied with the results. I can't provide very objective feedback with respect to strength gains, since I estimated 5 RM based on the GVT weights I was using. However, the Brzycki, Epley, and Lander equations are pretty darn good--so I have at least some decent takeaways. All lift deltas are versus predicted weights.

At 5'8":
BW: 170 (+4.5)
Squat: 225 (+20)
Press: 95 (+15)
Bench: 160 (+0)
Dips: went from 10 @ BW to 5 @ +35
Pullups: went from 9 @ BW to 5 @ +15

Basically, these weights are all about where I'd expect my 5RM to be had I been doing a strength traning program for a comparable amount of time. So nothing too earth-shattering, no PRs, but I'm pretty happy with the lifts.

The weight gain was pretty lean. I see a little extra around the waist, but not too much. Unfortunately there's no way to take a BF measurement here. At any rate, my web belt is exactly where it was when I started. My diet was as good as it could be--at least it was fairly clean. It's very hard to say how many colories and grams of fat I'm taking in, but I'm having 3-4 protein or weight gain shakes a day. I'm supplementing with around 1,000 calories and 100 grams of protein. I'm also drinking a shot of olive oil with dinner, eating 4 eggs every morning and eating all the lousy dry meat I can stand. (Plus fruits, veggies, almonds, etc.). So I'm probably getting enough to eat.

Most importantly, I look much better. I've got more shoulder, trap and arm mass than I think I've ever had. Legs don't look particularly muscular, but I think that might have something to do with the lack of quad isolation work. Seems to me leg extensions should be added to compliment the posterior-chain intensive squats and DLs?

I'm going to take a 10-day SD with a slightly below maintenance diet and hit it again. This time around I'm going to go 3 days a week once the 15s are complete (I did this cycle every other day throughout, and I think I paid for that in sleep). I'll be on leave for 2 weeks (plus at least a week of travel) after that cycle. When I return I'll have time for a couple more cycles here in Afghanistan before I redeploy. I'm considering a mild PH cycle during HST 3 immediately after leave assuming I have decent results on HST 2 (I rarely have an opportunity to focus this much on lifting and want to really milk it).
 
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congratulations on your first shot at HST.
after SD you might get a surprise how difficult the 15s are,but they can help the overall routine.

Basically, these weights are all about where I'd expect my 5RM to be had I been doing a strength traning program for a comparable amount of time. So nothing too earth-shattering, no PRs, but I'm pretty happy with the lifts.
Click to expand...
remember HST is a hypertrophy based routine,so getting the same strength gains as a strength proggrame has got to be a bonus.
 
Ran my max bodyweight and measurements today based on wrist and ankle cirumference.

I'm currently around 173-- max wt would be 206 at 10%.

All my upper body measurements have a long way to go (no surprises here). Chest is 39.5 vs 46.8. Biceps: 13.5 vs 17.1.

Legs are better (after years of competitive cycling). Thighs: 23.0 vs 24.4; calves 16.0 vs 16.4.

Pretty cool info.
 
Last cycle I worked whole body every other day. This time around I'm going with a split 6 days a week. I'm thinking push/pull versus upper/lower, based on the little amount of total time I spend on lower body. Is that what most people do?

Can't wait to get back to the gym. SD is killin me!
 
twindeltatandem said:
Last cycle I worked whole body every other day. This time around I'm going with a split 6 days a week. I'm thinking push/pull versus upper/lower, based on the little amount of total time I spend on lower body. Is that what most people do?

Can't wait to get back to the gym. SD is killin me!
Click to expand...

Hey mate, nice journal.

Ive been doing the 6 day split since halfway through the 10's i prefer it over the day on/day off set up.

Im currently doing
bench
pulldowns
shoulders
bis

then 2nd half
tris
deads
shrugs
abs

Really liking it so far

Good luck with your training.
 
Now I know what SD is all about—it’s a time set aside to think about the next cycle and get confused J.
I just finished reading the majority of the information on Casey Butt’s site. Great site, by the way:
http://www.weightrainer.net/index.html
The forums don’t seem to have as many “lab coats” as over here, but the posters seem credible and successful at getting huger.
Casey’s max natural size formula is amazing in its ability to predict the weight and physical measurements of elite natural BBers. Of course, all that really means is that he’s come up with some awesome statistical analysis—it doesn’t necessarily make him a credible source of all information bodybuilding. However, he’s got serious academic cred, personal experience cred, and an overall approach that is (as he himself points out) very similar to HST. I think his “The Rules of Productive Weight Training for The Drug-Free Trainee” http://www.weightrainer.net/training/rules.html is a really good read and definitely raises some questions about the way I’ve been planning my next HST cycle. Here are the rules:
Rule #1: Don't Be Mislead by 99% of What You Read on the Internet or in Magazines and Books
Rule #2: Avoid Exercise Machines
Rule #3: Genetics DO Matter - But WHO CARES!
Rule #4: Don't Train More Often Than Three Days Per Week (Four Under Certain Circumstances) If You're Trying to Build Maximum Muscle Mass and Strength
Rule #5: Do Mostly Compound, Multi-Joint Exercises
Rule #6: Keep Your Workouts To An Hour Or Less, Most Of The Time
Rule #7: Strive For Perfect Exercise Form
Rule #8: Ignore The Guy Next To You
Rule #9: Spend Your Money On Plenty Of Good Food - NOT The Latest Supplement
Rule #10: Eat More Good, Nutritious Foods And High-Quality Protein
Rule #11: Get Plenty Of Good, Sound Sleep
Rule #12: After Your Workouts Consume This Simple Shake [basically a simple carb/protein shake]
Rule #13: Before Your Workouts Consume Some Protein
Rule #14: Progression Is KING
Rule #15: Stick To A Routine As Long As It's Still Working, But No Longer
Rule #16: Keep A Training Log
Rule #17: Get Real
Rule #18: Keep Things In Perspective
#4 and #6 are the two that are giving me problems. Obviously a 6-day split schedule is out. Here’s part of the justification he provides:
___________
“But perhaps you don't feel like believing me. In that case, I challenge you to scour the published research regarding strength and hypertrophy training. See if you can find "proof" that 4,5 or 6-day-per-week programs are more effective than 3-day-per-week programs. I did. Guess what I found? The answer is not so cleverly hidden in the title of this rule.
Here's how pre-drug era bodybuilding legends George Eiferman and Clancy Ross put it...
"I train on the average of 3 times a week, though directly before a contest, I may train more frequently..." - George Eiferman​

"Experience has proven to me that for general training, three times a week is still the best. Only for specialized purposes, such as shortly before a physique contest, is training more frequently advised..." - Clancy Ross ​

But just in case you think those old guys didn't know what they were talking about (after all, your 'most muscular' is better than Clancy's right?), let me spell it out even more clearly and with the training of modern drug-free bodybuilders (and most powerlifters as well) in mind:
If you are a genetically typical person trying to build maximum muscle mass and strength without the assistance of drugs then for the majority of your training cycles you should not train more often than three times per week. If you have attained at least the intermediate level, or have exceptionally robust joints (usually also large-boned), then you may be able to try 4-day-per-week training schedules from time-to-time (but typically going back to 3-day-per-week schedules as your base - especially if you have smaller than average joints).​

5 or 6-day-per-week programs are appropriate for certain advanced and weight-loss training purposes - they are NOT optimal for building a base of muscle mass and strength in typical drug-free trainees. Unless you already have enough muscle mass built that you would not look out of place on a natural bodybuilding contest stage, or are just making a temporary schedule change for the sake of variety, then you have NO BUSINESS messing with such types of training routines.​

Clear?”

Pretty clear to me.
Rule #6 is a problem just because I’ve been training with a partner and probably not paying enough attention to the “Simplify and Win” link in Lol’s signature block. Looking through the forums on Butts’ site (hu-hu…huh-hu-hu) there are guys doing, like, squat-bench-press. Period.
 
Casey recommends the following for beginners:

The Basic Routine
  1. Squats 2 x 10
  2. Bench Presses 2 x 10
  3. Bent-Over Rows 2 x 10
  4. Overhead Barbell Presses 2 x 10
  5. Stiff-Legged Deadlifts 2 x 10
  6. Barbell Curls 2 x 10
  7. Donkey Calf Raises 2 x 10
  8. Reverse Crunches 2 x 10
Pretty close to the vanilla routine except for the delts, shrugs and leg curls. He does end up adding wrist curls (!) at the 10 week point, however. In a separate article he offers the possibility of adding power cleans and/or high jerks to the mix. I like power cleans.
The main takeaway I get from this article is the number of exercises and the emphasis on compound movements. I was hitting the same 12 exercises every workout day. I’ve decided that’s probably not in the spirit of “Simplify and Win” and might have been causal in the fact that I was finding it a little difficult to sleep towards the end of my cycle. So I’ve about decided to split the routine over a 3 day a week schedule (I was going every other day last time).
This is about what it would look like:
Power clean: A,B
Squat: B
Deadlift: A
Bench: B
Dips: A
Bent-over BB Rows: B
Pull ups: A
Press: A,B
Inc hammer: A
BB Curls: B
Rev crunches: A,B
This would take me down to 7 exercises 3 times per week, hitting my entire body every workout. There are a couple of things I don’t like about this program. For one, I don’t like it that I’d only be doing the Bench every other workout. But I don’t see any other way to get in Dips, and I’m really seeing great progress on Dips and think they’re a great exercise. Same with pull-ups: I’d like to be doing them every workout. But I’ve added Bent-over Rows and Power Clean. So if anything I’ve already got overkill with my back. However, I’m seeing some lats I’ve never seen before and would love to get back to being able to knock out 20 pull-ups (that’s one of those “you’re not a real man if you can’t…” sort of things IMO).
I could see someone criticizing the Power Cleans. But I’m going to keep the weights pretty light and use them as a general power/fitness exercise along with it being a great full-body warmup before hitting squats/deadlifts.
Finally, I don’t have stiff-legged deadlifts in this program. I might add them, but I’m not sure where I’d put them. The reason they’re not there, to be honest, is that I’ve never done them and they scare me. Every once in a while I’ll have a lower back twang on squats and I’m afraid I’ll jack up my back if I start doing SLDLs. Of course, that’s probably all the more reason to do them—in order to strengthen my lower back. I could probably achieve the same result with less risk by doing extensions on a GHD (which they have in my gym); but again, I don’t really see where they’d fit in.
I’ve also ignored calves in this routine (except that they’ll get hit a little during the Power Cleans). However, since my calves are already within an inch of their potential I think that’s OK in order to save some energy for the rest of my bod.
On a philosophical note…
I really see HST as an intermediate program and I hope I’m not wasting time on it because I’m really not ready for it. Rippetoe is adamant that one should continue with any initial cycle for as long as linear gains are still possible. I agree--it only makes sense to do so. Once you can’t manage to progress, then you need to do something else. Rippetoe’s answer as a strength guy is to enter a more complex periodization strategy. HST’s answer is to do SD followed by another progressive round at a slightly higher level.
I posed the question on the HST board whether it might not be smarter to extend the 10s for as long as possible (without resorting to exotic means such as MaxStim, etc.) before hitting the 5s, adjusting the target 5RMs based on whether you manage to get with the 10s. For an untrained guy like me I still believe this makes the most sense. I think this is really nit-picking because most people won’t be able to continue linear progression during the 10s for very long. I also admit that I’m assuming the 10s to be the most effective portion of the cycle despite the fact Blade states in the FAQ that there’s no such thing. But intuitively (for what that’s worth) the 15’s prepare for the 10’s which build muscle. Then the 10s build strength. So…if I can tweak a little more progression out of the 10’s I think I’ll do so. Then I’ll use my newly found 10RM to estimate new 5RMs and press on with the 5s.
If I had more time to workout here in Afghanistan—God forbid—I’d start out with a fairly gradual linear progression program as recommended by Casey Butt. Once I stalled, I’d do as many cycles of HST as I could while continuing to see progress. Then I’d mix it up with a DC cycle, or pure MaxStim, etc., then back to HST.
Finally (whew!), Casey has almost a religious feeling towards desiccated liver. I hate liver, but they do have desiccated liver here in the PX so I might give it a try. You can read about it on his site it you’d like, but the recommendation is to take huge quantities of the stuff in order to provide lots of food-based B vitamin energy as well as, possibly, estrogen inhibiting hormones and other awesome stuff. But if it burps up all day I’ll probably move on.
 
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