weeks 7 & 8 confusion- 5RMs, training to failure, burn sets

[waray214]

i know this question has been asked and addressed several times and i've read the threads, but i'm still a little confused. i work out alone so doing negatives for weeks 7 & 8 would be difficult. so i've decided to continue my 5RMs. i have a few questions about this.

1. do i just continue to repeat my 5 rep max for the next 2 weeks or am i trying to beat my 5RM every workout?
for example my 5RM bench is 210. am i just doing 210 for the next 6 workouts or am i constantly trying to up that? what if i can't beat my 5RM?

2. am i supposed to train to failure every workout for the next 2 weeks?

3. i've read a lot of people add a burn set each exercise after their heavy sets...is this the way to go and how do i best do this?

 

[Lateralus]

1. do i just continue to repeat my 5 rep max for the next 2 weeks or am i trying to beat my 5RM every workout?
for example my 5RM bench is 210. am i just doing 210 for the next 6 workouts or am i constantly trying to up that? what if i can't beat my 5RM?

It' wouldn't make much sense, sticking with the same weight, if your where able to ramp it up.. Think you should go for new RM's
If your are unable to beat your RMs through a couple of workouts, you could go for even less reps. Or simply call it a cycle and SD.
If this happens before the end of the planned microcycle, I think you should finish the cycle using the same weight. It will be effective for a while even without weight increments.

2. am i supposed to train to failure every workout for the next 2 weeks?

I don't think so no. To much straing on the CNS. I think it would kill your gains, fast.

3. i've read a lot of people add a burn set each exercise after their heavy sets...is this the way to go and how do i best do this?x

Just had this one answered by Totentanz. Metabolic work help reduce the increased risk of injury doing heavy lifting.
Totentanz recomended finishing all heavy lifting, and adding high rep sets at the end. Preferably for muscle groups that needed the extra work.
If he sees this, maybe he could elaborate, if necessary.

 

[waray214]

lateralus- thanks i think you covered most of it. one more quick question...what about adding in drop sets? i'm thinking about maybe reducing my number of heavy sets down to 2 rather than 3 and then making my last 3rd set a drop set...is this an effective possibility or would CNS fatigue just wreck me? if so, then i think i'll do as you suggested and do a good 2/3 heavy sets with my 5RM or more and then toss in a lighter burn set at the end. thanks in advice to all for answering and addressing all of my questions. i love hst and am trying to absorb as much knowledge as possible

 

[Lateralus]

It is the the going-to-failure at heavy loads, I would consider putting unnessasery streingh on the CNS.
At high reps, I don't you'd be able to do much damage. I think lactic acid buildup would stop you.
But unless you're going for strengh, I don't think failure should ever occur, even for lighter weights.. No need.

As for the dropset, it looks like I good way to incorporate metabolic work, to me. Of course, if you replace a heavy set of five with a dropset, you would lose overall volume, so don't expect better gains from it. Dropset are just a way if increasing intensity realy and shouldn't replace "real" sets.. But if you feel 2 worksets are enough, I would go for it.. Else you could always add in a set later, at any time.

 

[Totentanz]

i know this question has been asked and addressed several times and i've read the threads, but i'm still a little confused. i work out alone so doing negatives for weeks 7 & 8 would be difficult. so i've decided to continue my 5RMs. i have a few questions about this.

1. do i just continue to repeat my 5 rep max for the next 2 weeks or am i trying to beat my 5RM every workout?
for example my 5RM bench is 210. am i just doing 210 for the next 6 workouts or am i constantly trying to up that? what if i can't beat my 5RM?

You can do either option. By the time you are working with weights like your 5 RM, they will remain effective for probably up to even a couple weeks. So you could just use your 5 RM for two weeks. My preferred option is to add 5-10 lbs each workout after your 5 RM until you max out and then use that as your new 5 RM. Obviously you probably won't hit your new max for each exercise on the same day, so once you hit your max for an exercise, either stick with that new max until the end, or else you can still try for a new max on subsequent workouts. Up to you.

2. am i supposed to train to failure every workout for the next 2 weeks?

I wouldn't train to failure on every lift every workout the last two weeks but it's not a big deal if you do hit failure frequently during the last two weeks. You are going to take an SD, after all, so failure won't kill you.

3. i've read a lot of people add a burn set each exercise after their heavy sets...is this the way to go and how do i best do this?

I prefer to add higher rep stuff for bodyparts you want to emphasize. You could do it for everything but that will probably wear you out more so than just doing the 5 rep stuff. For example, arms and chest are my lagging body parts so after my heavy stuff, I will do higher rep stuff for biceps, triceps and pecs. I prefer to do a lift with something around my 12 to 15 RM and do 15-25 myoreps for those bodyparts. If you don't know what myoreps are, let me know and I'll explain or you can search the forum. I do not advocate drop sets - I don't like them and have never seen them work very well for anyone. You'd be better off doing however many sets of heavy work you plan to do, then one set of higher rep stuff or do something with a lighter load using myoreps like I suggested.