what about this?

R

richard richard

New Member
Hi everyone.

I am new to HST, but been browsing this forum for a while now. Great forum as there seems to be lots of honest, no bull **** trainees here
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I've been training for about 3 yrs now (the last 2 seriously), And just finished my 1st HST cycle. I had to finish it a week early though due to illness and work commitments, but still pleased with the results and the simplicity of it all.

I'm about to start a new cycle next week and would just like a few opinions if possible about my proposed cycle.
I will be using "assistance
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" during this cycle, and i know from previous posts that this is not one of those type of boards but I need to make that known for what I am going to do.

My routine so far is not HST per se, just basic progressive load. Will be training in 6-12 rep range per movement.

Deads x 3
Squats x 2
Leg curl x 2 (hams are my weak area)
N/G Chins x 3 (weighted)
D/B Bench x 3
Dips x 2 (weighted)
Overhead press x 2
Upright row x 2

Will be training E.O.D, when work does not get in way
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.
Diet is in good order, never had any probs as I'm nearly finished sports nutrition qualification. I'm still no expert here though!
I'm not new to aas by the way, done a couple of cycles of test in past, no sides noticed, proper pct etc. But only do about two cycles per year. Will be running 500mg sust and 400mg equipoise per week for 10 weeks F.Y.I . Will not be Sd'ng for at least 2 weeks after pct.

Thought of doing this basic volume training rather than HST 2 week blocks etc, because of the increased recovery rates from the aas etc. Will not be training mega heavy with low reps etc, will just increase the volume if my energy levels are up to it.

I know you guys get these type of questions a lot so sorry about that, but all input will be much appreciated.

Cheers
P.
 
Pretty good setup but there's a few things I'm wondering about.

Firstly, you know HST works, why mess with it? Not sure what you mean by 6-12 rep range. Not a lot of hypertrophic value working with the same weight and increasing reps, better to keep reps the same and increase load.

2nd of all Squats and Deads in the same workout with decent loads is not good for the lower back, especially since you should also add in bent over rows as another pulling movement to even out the chest and shoulder work you're doing. DLs and bent over rows make my lower back pretty sore, I wouldn't want to do squats as well.

Also SLDLs are better for working the hams than leg curls. A good combo might be alternating DLs/legcurl, Squats/SLDLs every workout.
 
Thanks for the reply Peak,

I did'nt want mess with HST but i figured that all my rm's would be wrong when i'm "on", as they have been worked out when I'm not. So I thought I wouldn't be getting the most strength out of the gear etc. I see now that just increasing the volume would be a better idea.

As for adding in rows, I wanted to do this at first but with doing deads and chins as well it would be overkill for the back?.. plus I got uprights in there too?

And as for doing squats and deads toghether, I'm going to change this to angled leg press instead. Not as good as squats I know, but a good substitute. And SLDLs, done these in the past and never liked this exercise, always feel a high risk of injury on that one.

Going to look at the following instead;

Deads
Angled leg press
L/Curl
Chins
D/B bench
Dips
O/h press
Upright row

Will run the cycle Hst style like 2x12, 3x9, 4x6, then maybe loop back to 9's for remainder of cycle and pct.
any thoughts on this?

Many thanks
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">As for adding in rows, I wanted to do this at first but with doing deads and chins as well it would be overkill for the back?.. plus I got uprights in there too?</div>

You already have some overkill on your back. If you are really fond of some of those additional exercises, then try doing an A/B split. If not, then definitely drop the leg curl. Your hamstrings are already getting hit hard at the beginning of your workout with deadlifts. The common notion around here is that leg presses suck. I have listened to everyone else on this board and haven't done them in a year. Therefore, another possible solution is to alternate deads and squats like this...

A: Deadlifts, Chins
B: Squats, Rows
C: Bench, Overhead Press, Dips

AC, BC, AC, BC, in that order....

This way, you have squats, deadlifts, the rows you wanted and all the other good exercises. This simple routine with a sound diet will give you great results.

My only other comment is your idea about ramping back into the 9's at the end of the cycle. There's no point in doing this as it goes against HST's main principal of linear progression. Instead, extend your 5's into negatives as long as you can. If you don't have a partner, you can still do negatives in any exercise that isn't going against the grain persay such as dips and chins. You could also switch to a Smith machine just for negatives while doing bench, squats, deadlifts, and the upright rows.

Last, but not least, you get a sense of the higher reps at the end of the cycle if you follow some &quot;advanced&quot; HST guidelines. Try doing one metabolic set at the end of each exercise during the 5's/negs. Met sets are your RM's for a high rep set, so during your 5's/negs, you would do a set of 12RM after each exercise. It's basically like a drop set for extra stimulation.

I hope this has helped!

-Colby
 
Hi

Not that I am an expert on aas cycles but from what i have read, you'd probably do well ona simplified program with a high volume, keeping frequency at 3x week.

I do think you should look up the Simplify and Win thread and pick something from there, then seeing that you will be on controlled AAS, go for 30 reps p/ workout at least.

2 x 15 / 3 x 10/ 6 x 5 and go heavy,all else should be fine.

Maybe Tot will still post here or spyke, they are better informed than me on AAS and HST cycles, the trend though seems to fit what i said above!
 
Colby and Fausto, many thanks for your input.

Am probably just going to drop the leg curls and alternate the deads and squats (ATG). May add in SLDLs and give those another try, but will see. The simpler i can keep it the better really.

Fausto the volume you stated looks good, cns should be able to handle this no problem seen as how I have assistance. Especially when I look at some of the volume I have been able to handle in the past whilst &quot;on&quot;
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Colby, interesting what you are saying about met sets, I have never really heard of these or know anyone who has to be honest. Will do a bit more reading up on these.

I will finalise my programme and post it up, may keep a log on here for anyone whos interested.
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Colby, interesting what you are saying about met sets, I have never really heard of these or know anyone who has to be honest. Will do a bit more reading up on these. </div>

Metabolic sets are great, read the pimp my HST e-book, there are some cool guidelines in there!

<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I will finalise my programme and post it up, may keep a log on here for anyone whos interested. </div>

Log it on the logs section it is growing nicely!
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Personally, I'd recommend setting each sessions reps per exercise at 30, then allow clustering to take care of the &quot;rep&quot; ranges. Psychologically this is &quot;attainable&quot; on the gear or not (post cycle workouts esp. when strength may drop off slightly)
Get some DTM done, a few weeks in; this will allow the muscle bellies to grow uniformly, ensuring even tension transmission. Scar tissue can act much like a pinch point and transfer load to other synergists IMO.
Another thing I like is site injecting, not so much for localised growth - more for the bag stretching/mind muscle connection, bang 1.5cc's into each medial delt/Bi, then you'll know what it means to feel an exercise &quot;working&quot; Worst thing about SI is so many sites - not enough juice...
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TDM, many thanks for your views.

Am going to go with 30 reps per exercise, its just a standard hst cycle doubled, which should work well with the assistance.

I have only ever site injected winny in the past, in the delts. Works well as you can use a slin pin, dont fancy jabbing myself in the bi with a 21G pin though. OUCH!!
Think i will stick to the glutes for that.
 
Okay, well what follows is my opinion only, so maybe some of the guys more experienced with AAS will disagree:


For your HST cycle, I would simply stretch the cycle out rather than looping back around. Don't increase the load much over what you would use without AAS. Maybe at most, by 5% at the end or so. You really want to be able to maintain the load you are using throughout PCT.

To extend your HST cycle, once you get into the 10s, start incrementing the weights only once every other workout. That will stretch the 10s out to four weeks instead of just two. And once you get to the 5s, drop incrementing down to only once a week. That's right, use each weight for an entire week before bumping it up. The weight will be effective for more than just the week, so you won't be hurting your gains.
So far, you've got 12 weeks of HST right here. About this time, you'll be going into PCT. I would start dropping the volume. First go down to 25 reps and see how that goes, then drop down to 20 reps per exercise if you need to. Keep hammering away with your 5 RM. You should be able to do it for your entire PCT easily enough.

You may also consider dropping the 15s entirely, but you don't need to. If you drop your 15s, then the last two weeks of your cycle will have you already at your 5 RM, so you could use the very last week before PCT and increase the weights all by 2.5% to 5% or so, and try to maintain that weight throughout PCT.

Just remember, during PCT, you really want to maintain the load you are using. I'm sure you already know this, but PCT is when you need to maintain and solidify your gains, so the focus should shift from progressing the load to maintaining the load.
So... don't drop the weight unless you absolutely have to. Rather, drop the volume if you need to. I would not drop below 20 reps per exercise though. Maybe 15 reps each if you are really having a hard time. Also, you could drop some of the secondary movements for each bodypart too, but only if you really, really need to.
 
Some great ideas got me thinking there Tot,

I agree with what you say about not increasing the load too much over what i would normally without the gear.
When I calculated my rm's i slightly underestimated, because although AAS do increase strength significantly they don't make you superman. Being able to cope with the extra volume rather than increased strength seems the most benefical thing i think.

I have seen many quickly blow up from highly using gear, lifting very heavy in low reps using weights they would never been able to handle when natural. Only to lose all the gains when they come off and there test levels are returning to normal. I see it somewhat like the body saying &quot;well if you can no longer lift this heavy, then you don't need this extra muscle&quot;, thats just my take anyway. A steady, lean bulk is what i'm after.

I like the idea of incrementing EOD during the 10's and once during the 5's, this should stretch out my cycle nicely. I could even look at shortening rest periods and maybe supersets perhaps on days that i'm not increasing? Any thoughts on this?

many thanks
 
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