Volume with heavy weight

R

rattle104

New Member
I am trying to figure out how to better structure my workouts when in the 5's at my heaviest weights. I find that my body gets very worn out and my CNS very stressed when I am to or near my 5RM for three consecutive workouts. I am planning on extending my 5RM weeks by another week or two to try and set PR's while continuing my progression.

I think I have two good options.

1.Keep working out 3 times a week but cut back on the sets. Instead of 3 sets of 5 on all my exercises, go to 1 to 2 sets for each exercises. Probably 1 set on the major CNS stressing exercises like squats, deadlifts, rows, etc. I can do 3 times a week if I cut down the number of sets.

or

2. Go to two times a week while still doing 2 to 3 sets on every exercises. A M-Th split?

Which do you all think will be more advantageous and lead to bigger gains in hypertrophy and strength?
 
I have no idea which option would be the best for hypertrophy or strength but my preference would be to drop the number of sets and continue to workout 3 times per week. But that is just a personal preference because I don't like working out only twice per week.
 
It sounds to me like you may have a few too many exercises in your routine? If you simplify it to four or five compounds each session you should be able to keep your volume up for each exercise whilst maintaining a 3 x weekly schedule and not burn out too quickly.

If you are already using a simplified workout then drop your volume back a bit and see how you get on.
 
I am sticking to: Squats/Deadlift, row, bench, push press, chins

Today's workout was two sets, we'll see how that goes.

Can you get any benefit from only one set of 5?
 
Most of the HST "old hands" seem to try to keep volume the same so typically do more sets when doing 5's than they did in the 10's. However as Brian says "there is some evidence that more than one working set is unnecessary for growth to occur". My own feeling is that 1 set would be adequate provided the muscle gets the required tension and time under tension (TUT), this means don't do that one set too fast (i.e. slower than 90% of the guys you see in the gym).

I did 2 sets throughout 15,10,5's but did drop to 1 set on the final 2 workouts of 5's as I began to notice slight signs of CNS overload (I was doing 11 exercises). In the final two workouts of 5's I did the single working set "explosive up" and tried to take 3secs to lower weight. I got great results eg added 4cm to chest (cold) on my 1st HST cycle despite being old and having been in regular training for the past 3yrs.
 
Here's the thing:

The amount of work you need to do with a specific load to elicit a growth response is going to depend on your individual conditioning so one heavy work set during 5s may or may not be enough. Personally I need anywhere from 10 to 20+ reps (per session) during 5s (and beyond) to get a decent growth response if I'm on a 2/3 x weekly schedule. There is a general feeling that a certain amount of work (which will depend on conditioning) is required in the 'right now' to trigger a response, regardless of training frequency. So, after training consistently for some time, you may have to reduce training frequency in order to get enough work done each session but also to keep CNS fatigue under control. [I am not completely sold on this yet but I am going to do a test cycle in the autumn where I train more frequently than 3 x weekly (probably 6 x weekly) but reduce the per session work sets. During 5s I might just do one or two work sets each session.]

As far as rep speeds go and TUT, do check the FAQs. I like to keep rep speed up as much as possible during the cycle; faster reps require higher power production. By the time you get to the 5s you will find that the rep speeds are actually pretty slow even though you are still trying to move the loads as fast as possible (always with good form). This is one reason why number of total reps can drop as load increases. TUT increases per rep as intensity increases (ie. as loads approach 1RM) so you don't need as many heavy reps to keep the muscle tissue under tension for the same total time.
 
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(Lol @ Aug. 02 2008,5:56)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Personally I need anywhere from 10 to 20+ reps during 5s (and beyond) to get a decent growth response if I'm on a 2/3 x weekly schedule.</div>
Lol, do you mean 10-20+ reps per session or per week?  I'm assuming the former but wanted to clarify.
 
omega: thanks for pointing that out. Yeah, just as 9to5 said, that's per session. So, depending on intensity (% 1RM) that might mean anywhere from 30 to 60+ reps per week on a 3 x weekly schedule. It also depends on the exercise; I'm going to do fewer reps for deads at my working weight than I am going to do for presses.

Actually, in the case of deads I might only do one work set with my top load (esp. true once I am at the end of the 5s). Just depends how I am feeling and whether I am bulking or cutting. Certainly during a cut I'm not going to be bothered with extra draining reps as I am basically just trying to trigger enough of a response to retain lean mass. When bulking I generally feel more energetic and so will cluster reps after the first set to try to manage fatigue as much as possible and get some extra work done.
 
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