What to do for 2nd cycle? And thoughts on 1st cycle

[uaengineer]

Hi everyone,

About to start the 8th and final week of my first HST cycle, and I'm liking it pretty well. I've lifted weights off and on over the years since I played baseball all my life, but have gotten more serious about it since about November of last year and have become truly dedicated. I'm 6'2" and have always been lean and have worked my way up from 165-170 to now at about 192 since Nov-Dec '09. What I've been impressed with as far as HST goes is that in 7 weeks, I've went from 183 to 192. The only supplements I take is GNC creatine and EAS whey.

Throughout the winter and spring, I used a pretty normal 5 day split of one muscle group per day, and would try to increase weight every week until I could perform 3-4 sets of 6-8 depending on the exercise. By week 6 or so of my cycles, I would be extremely worn out and suffer from significant CNS burnout especially since my workouts would be extremely intense and usually train to fatigue. I have not experienced this with HST and feel great at the end of week 7. I plan on taking my SD week after this week (week 8) and then starting a new cycle, but I have a couple questions first. Here's how my current cycle looks:

Squats - 1 set/day
Leg Curls - 2 sets/day
Incline Bench - 2 set/day
Weighted Dips - 1 set/day
Lat Pull - 2 sets/day
Bent Rows - 2 sets/day
Shrugs - 2 sets/day
DB Shoulder Press - 1 set/day
DB Side Lateral Raise - 1 set/day
Rear Delt - 1 set/day
Bicep Curls - 2 sets/day
Decline Skullcrushers - 2 sets/day
Calf Raises - 2 sets/day
Abs

First of all, I'm considering changing a couple of exercises and I wouldn't mind an opinion or two. Would exchanging dips for decline bench be a good idea? Also, I'm thinking about exchanging decline skullcrushers for tricep pushdowns simply because this exercise was the hardest to complete on and leading up to the 5 rep max day (final day of 5 rep weeks) and I experienced some pain in my elbow/forearm from this exercise. Any suggestions on this decision?

Also, do I need to take an extra week to re-find maxes or should I just add (X) number of lbs to each exercise and work up to that max? And is it better to start with 15s again or skip them and start with 10s? If I start with 10s should I just make a 6 week cycle with 3 weeks of 10s and 3 weeks of 5s? (I'm not doing negatives right now because I don't have a partner to spot me)

Sorry for all the questions, but I like hearing different opinions on what works for everyone, and I'm hoping to make my 2nd HST cycle even better than the first. Thanks to everyone who have put in the work and the research to show people that HST works extremely well.

 

[Bryan Haycock]

Hi everyone,

About to start the 8th and final week of my first HST cycle, and I'm liking it pretty well. I've lifted weights off and on over the years since I played baseball all my life, but have gotten more serious about it since about November of last year and have become truly dedicated. I'm 6'2" and have always been lean and have worked my way up from 165-170 to now at about 192 since Nov-Dec '09. What I've been impressed with as far as HST goes is that in 7 weeks, I've went from 183 to 192. The only supplements I take is GNC creatine and EAS whey.

Throughout the winter and spring, I used a pretty normal 5 day split of one muscle group per day, and would try to increase weight every week until I could perform 3-4 sets of 6-8 depending on the exercise. By week 6 or so of my cycles, I would be extremely worn out and suffer from significant CNS burnout especially since my workouts would be extremely intense and usually train to fatigue. I have not experienced this with HST and feel great at the end of week 7.

Wow, those are some great results uaengineer! Do you mind if I use your story some time?

 

[Bryan Haycock]

First of all, I'm considering changing a couple of exercises and I wouldn't mind an opinion or two. Would exchanging dips for decline bench be a good idea?

Well, I never liked decline bench because it makes all the blood run to my head. This can be pretty uncomfortable when things get really heavy. While doing dips, keep your feet out in front of you and you will feel more chest involvement.

Also, I'm thinking about exchanging decline skullcrushers for tricep pushdowns simply because this exercise was the hardest to complete on and leading up to the 5 rep max day (final day of 5 rep weeks) and I experienced some pain in my elbow/forearm from this exercise. Any suggestions on this decision?

Tricep extensions can be very hard on the elbows. Dips and push downs are least likely to cause elbow pain (not including kickbacks). Just be sure you are all healed up before hitting your triceps hard again regardless of what exercise you select.

Also, do I need to take an extra week to re-find maxes or should I just add (X) number of lbs to each exercise and work up to that max?

No, you do not need to re-find your maxes. Simply add weight to your maxes on those exercises that you felt were too light. Add one increment to your predicted max in most cases. If after the next cycle is complete you feel you are stronger still, add another increment's worth of weight to your predicted max.

Is it better to start with 15s again or skip them and start with 10s? If I start with 10s should I just make a 6 week cycle with 3 weeks of 10s and 3 weeks of 5s? (I'm not doing negatives right now because I don't have a partner to spot me)

In my opinion it is better to start with the 15s, especially since you've mentioned some joint pain. If you need to start closer to your 15 rep max that is certainly fine, but don't think of them as a waste of time if you are coming off SD.