Will HST turn you into a huge....

Being 52, I don't care if I can lift a dump truck; I just wanna LOOK like I can lift a dump truck. But HST in 2 cycles is working backwards for me: I'm getting strong as an ox and gaining no more than anything else I've done. Age, probably. But my shrugs for instance, have gone from a 400# max to 530# with only a slightly noticable increase in the traps.
By the 3rd cycle's end I should have a better idea of how to tweak this thing for myself. I'm doing 15, 10, 8, and 6 reps for this cycle, hoping for some gains; now almost to the 6 rep sets. Cleaned up my diet too.
 
I agree withb Liegelord 100%. By mid 10's or at least by 5's, you should be eating as I call it "the house". I thought I was eating enough too, but when I 'really" started to eat, the size & weight came long with it, almost over night.

Omega
 
AHHH! i just did my 4th workout in the 15s and felt like i was about to die... normally 135 feels sooo light, but for my first set today it felt oddly heavy.

is HST like that? the first week of each rep scheme is easy and the second is hard?
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<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">is HST like that? the first week of each rep scheme is easy and the second is hard?</div>

Ah, ah, ah...it is always good to see a newcomer asking this question...welcome to HST...hope your gains are grrrrreat!

Yep, that is HST alright!
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I didnt find I was making any strength gains so I adjusted my training program based on some threads a while back.
So what I do is I do for example
Week1
-Mon-12 rep set to failure for each exercise
-Wed-add 2% and do 2x6
-Fri-add 2% and do 2x6
Week2
-Mon-add 1% and do 11reps to failure
-Wed-add 2% and do 1x6, 1x5
-Fri-add 2% and do 1x6, 1x5
Week3-use 10to failure and 2x5
Wk4 use 9rep
wk5use 8
wk6 use7
wk7 use6
wk8 use5

I can manage to increase my weights by 5% every week-half of which I attribute to doing one less rep but my strength is increasing by 2-3% every week. Getting great gains in strength and size.
You can use any rep scheme you like.
 
Well, I'm gonna bump my own post...I did as Liegelord and Omegaman said, and started 'eating the house'. I grew. Ya just have to bite the bullet and accept some fat along with it. And my strengths are shooting thru the roof EXCEPT for bi's and leg curls; I'd hit my genetic 'strength limit'.
BUT - thanks to Brian's Max Stim program, which integrates with HST, I'm coming up in those too. One day I may do an all MS cycle, but I&quot;m afraid that would be a LOOOOONG workout.
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(quadancer @ Jul. 27 2006,08:45)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">    BUT - thanks to Brian's Max Stim program, which integrates with HST, I'm coming up in those too. One day I may do an all MS cycle, but I&quot;m afraid that would be a LOOOOONG workout.  
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OH DANG!!! I'm sorry Dan! My bad!

DAN'S MS PROGRAM! DAN'S! DAN'S!
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Well, Brian IS a nice guy, huh? Give him credit for something.
 
<div>
(quadancer @ Jul. 27 2006,11:35)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">OH DANG!!! I'm sorry Dan! My bad!

DAN'S MS PROGRAM! DAN'S! DAN'S!  
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Well, Brian IS a nice guy, huh? Give him credit for something.</div>
Oh and I do, just read my acknowledgment to Bryan in the Max-Stim booklet
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I didnt read all of the replies, i just think the initial post is completely incorrect. I was stuck at 235 as my max bench press for a long time, maybe a year or two. I tried drop sets, machines, bbs, smith machine, flat, incline, decline, every chest workout possible (dips, flies, etc), supersets, negatives, pulsing, static holds, EVERYTHING!!!! And in 3 cycles of HST, about 4-5 months I increased my bench press 15 pounds (250 for math majors) doing simple flat bench, incline, and dips without anything special and doing exactly what HST says with reps and sets.

Of course I saw huge gains in my chest that I never had (couldnt get bulky chest for sport).

So to say will not make you strong, is completely and absolutely wrong. You may also say, hey 15 pounds in 4-5 months is nothing. Well 12-24 months I was stuck on 235 and doing everything possible. Not only to meantion im a small guy and its 100 lbs more then my body weight.
 
If you ask that question you're probably overthinking things.  Bodybuilding is not rocket science.  The guy who makes the largest strength GAINS winds up larger.  Gaining strength has always been my main objective, and the added muscle always accompanies my strength gains, even though my size gains are slowing down considerably and not keeping up with my strength gains.  That's what happens when you approach your genetic limits.  

Look at quadancer's post in this thread, for instance.  He says he doesn't care about strength, BUT he made strength gains and...surprise surprise...he's larger now.  Despite the fact that HST seems to focus on size and not strength, I view it strictly as a strength program.  The bigger my strength gains at the end of a cycle, the bigger I am.
 
Well from what I understand strength, barring all individual and unchangable factors, boils down to two things; neuromuscular skill and muscle size. There is evidence that neuromuscular skill is the bigger factor in strength.

HST, using the current scientific knowledge base, is optimized for hypertrophy and will thus increase strength. However it is not optimized for maximum strength gains, so I would think that disqualifies it as &quot;strictly a strength program.&quot;
 
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I thought I was eating enough too, but when I 'really&quot; started to eat, the size &amp; weight came long with it, almost over night.</div>
That really says it all.
 
Well...here's the thing. I'm just about to finish my 2nd HST cycle...I have one workout left and I'm done. During my first HST cycle...I made good size gains and good strength gains. The size and strength gains I made during those 8 weeks were comparable to when I used to workout 5-6 times a week for an hour at a time for about 2 months. Now that I was down to 3 times a week for an hour...obviously I was happy. I was happy with my results and if you figure that I was only working out for HALF the time I used to...it was all good.

Now that I'm almost done with my 2nd cycle...I've made more size gains...I should have taken initial measurements, but it's apparant that I have more mass all over...with just a tad bit more fat. After 2 cycles, I probably gained about 5 or 6 lbs...with maybe 1lb of fat. My weight gains were minimal because I didn't eat that much but I was gaining size so I wasn't TOO worried. I figured there was definite room for improvement

One thing though...after I was done with my first cycle, I found I was able to increase the weight about 10 to 20 lbs for my 5RM (depending on the workout). Of course, that's a good thing and I used that new 5RM to calculate my 2nd cycle. Now that I'm almost done with my 2nd...it seems as though I've made very little, if any strength gains...though I've gained in size. Is this normal? I'm basically going to just repeat the exact same weights for my 3rd cycle. Should I be concerned that I made very little strength gains? If it's not normal, what usually causes no strength gains?
 
Possibly lack of food, vitamin/minerals, sleep, wrong food, stress, overtraining or underachievment? Are you focused on each increase or just getting thru the workout? Are your jumps too small? If you easily hit your RM you may be cheating yourself in advances, but of course you don't want to hit the wall too early either. That's all I could think of without seeing your routine. (and I'm no expert)
 
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(bgates1654 @ Jul. 27 2006,23:41)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">so I would think that disqualifies it as &quot;strictly a strength program.&quot;</div>
And it's not, but if you focus on doing nothing but getting stronger during every cycle by completing more reps or using heavier weight by the time you're at the end of a cycle, you will get larger.  No matter what program I use, my goal is to stronger with it by the end of a cycle (unless I'm cutting). What other method does a guy have to make himself grow ?  Just go to the gym and think &quot;i'm going to grow today ?&quot;  Doesn't work for me.
 
i cycle strength and shock routines, I dont particularly follow hst every step of the way. but I respect it.
But I also want lots of strength cause its strength at the end of the day that helps me lift heavier and lifting heavier will injuice more gains.
but I am never one to just sit on a shock routine for 6 months at a time.
Thats dangerous and silly.

I will train 1 month on strength and one month on power/mass and one month on split-shock , durring split shock I apply the stripping method every 2nd week. where I lower the weight about 2.5 kg on 2nd set then 5 kg on 3rd set x as many reps as I can do to fail.
 
I agree with stevejones, you can focus on strength during a typical HST cycle and make good strength gains. One way that has been mentioned before is to not stop at the set rep range. For example, when on the first week of 10's, obviously the first few workouts are submax, instead of stopping at 10, go to one or 2 reps short of failure.

You could also extend the 10's for a week after maxing. I've done that and had to adjust my 5RM.
 
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