What to do after a year of HST?

M

markobenin

New Member
Hey guys,

I've been MIA from the forum for a while, as I've been real busy with school, work and my HST routine. I am now back and looking for some of your guys' opinions. I started HST last summer and did 3 bulk cycles and 1 cut cycle, and am now about to start another bulk cycle, however I am debating whether I should continue with HST or try something else. It seems like my results have tapered off and I've hit a plateau the past cycle or two, so I switched up some of the exercises in this next cycle, although I don't know if that's enough to provide new stimulation for my muscles for more growth. I've gained about 30lbs doing HST in the past year and am happy with the results, but I'm looking to gain another 15-20lbs of LBM. Should I continue with HST principles and just eat more in order to make these gains, or should I try different routines in order to introduce new stimulation to my muscles?

Right now my new cycle consists of an A/B routine, and I am doing 2x15, 3x10 and 6x5 rep schemes for the 4 exercises in each routine. This upcoming cycle I switched up a few of the exercises as I haven't changed my routine for almost 8-9 months now.

A routine:

45 degree leg press
Flat Bench
BB Row
Military Press

B routine:

Deadlift
DB chest press (in place of dips, dips were hurting my sternum)
Pull Ups (in place of chin ups)
DB Shoulder Press (in place of only military press)

I switched up only 3 of the 8 exercises and am doing the same rep scheme as in the past, so I don't know if this will be enough to break through the plateau and achieve more results.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

-Marko
 
hey Marko, it's been awhile! I'm not a scientist or anything, but I recently gained quite a bit of weight doing a 5x5 and eating like a pig.

you've got a big frame and are a young guy, if I remember correctly. 30# in a year is a fantastic accomplishment (congrats!). Small wonder these gains are slowing. it's got to be tough to bulk through the summer months. I know my appetite is inversely proportional to temperature.
 
Marko, I have no doubt in my mind that with a calorific excess and some decent heavy compounds (such as those you have listed) that there is no reason why you should not continue to gain. If you aren't gaining weight you aren't eating enough.

Why no squats? It's not that they are magic or anything but you do have to use a whole lot of support musculature which makes them superior to leg presses for muscle growth. Check out Ripp's video for an example of good squat technique (it's listed in the Videos thread under General Training).

Seems like you have plenty of volume there (30 reps per exercise per session), possibly too much by the end of the 5s. Have you tried dropping to 3s at the end of the 5s to keep the heavy end of the cycle going a little longer? You don't have to push the loads up much over your 5RM to keep the cycle going a few extra weeks without increasing fatigue too much. If 10 sets of 3 feels like too much try 8, 7 or 6 and see how you get on.
 
Your memory is correct fearfactory, I'm impressed! I'm 6'5 at now weighing in at just below 220lbs. I got up to almost 230lbs, but cut down to 215lbs and am now going up in weight again.

Lol, to answer your question about the squats, I eliminated them and replaced them w/ leg press because I started getting lower back pain when doing them, even with light weight. I also have not tried decreasing down to 3reps, I've just extended my cycles by doing the 5 reps phase for an additional 2-3 weeks. As far as volume goes, I am having no trouble with a total of 30 reps per exercise (including the 5's) because I am only doing 4 exercises per workout, so I think 30 reps is appropriate for the reduced number of exercises.

I think I'll stick to this cycle and just eat more and hope for the best. Hopefully I get good results as I've SD'ed for 2-3 weeks before this cycle, so i'm quite deconditioned! If this cycle doesn't help me, I'll maybe try fear's suggestion of a 5x5 program or something.

Any further suggestions would be appreciated, although it seems like the issue comes down to diet and not consuming enough calories (4k+ calories a day is no easy task!).
 
Some guys don't ramp up enough when bulking. You should be stronger. You should lift a bit stronger. Put those cals to work.
Pay attention to your strength gains in your logs. If you don't at a minimum increase your regular amount, you probably need to switch to a strength cycle, then go back to HST.
 
you dont have to change from HST to change things up,you could try a split a push pull etc using HST principals.
 
<div>
(faz @ Jun. 26 2008,10:07)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">you dont have to change from HST to change things up,you could try a split a push pull  etc using HST principals.</div>
I was actually thinking of this the other day.

But how would you implement the frequency and Progression?

Would it be (examples)
Mon -Push
Tues -Pull
Weds - Rest
Thurs - Push
Fri -Pull
Sat/Sun - Rest

Or Alternating Push/Pull with a rest day in between.
 
you could do it 6x a wk
push
pull
push
pull
push
pull
rest day
or
back/bis/legs,
chest/shoulders/tris 6x a wk
both ways you are training each bodypart 3x a wk and increase each exercise same as you would in a normal fullbody workout.
 
Personally, I reckon that if Marko is finding it difficult to consistently stay in calorific excess then starting a split and doing 6 x weekly will likely push up his daily maintenance calories and make it even harder to stay in excess. Something to bear in mind.

At 6'5&quot; he could carry a lot more body weight than 220lb. I would have thought that someone Marko's height and weight would still have plenty of scope for growth using a basic 3 x weekly HST program.

Like quad pointed out, keeping good records and making goals becomes more and more valuable as progress gets harder to make.

As far as squatting goes, have you tried a low bar squat? Someone your height should notice a fairly dramatic reduction in low back strain if you can get the bar down over your scapulae. Just a thought.
 
Hey guys,

I will keep you updated on my progress with this cycle as I will up my calorie intake as much as I can and hope for the best!

Lol, as far as squatting goes, I have not tried a &quot;low bar squat&quot; but I will look into it, for now I think I'll stick to leg press though and I will consider implementing squat back into my routine after this cycle.

Another 15-20lbs and I'll be happy, I don't wanna get too big, still wanna stay lean and agile. Just seems like it's been difficult to get past the 225lbs hump to 230lbs+.
 
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