1sr cycle of HST after Jason Blaha's Novice program - Conclusions

F

fctirado

New Member
Briefly about me, I’m 27 years old and before start to workout I have been amateur long distance runner for around 14 years. Then, since I switched to lift I’ve been lifting almost a year with the bro split routine, as a noob lifter I made great gains, but getting a little deeper in this world and looking for some more structured and logical training (by logical I mean, with at least some science knowledge as foundation) is how I found HST.

Before start with HST, I made during 3 months the Jason Blaha's Ice Cream Fitness 5x5 Novice Program and I really liked, there I was introduced for first time to Squat and Deads, I had some difficulties in first months as my core strength was horrible (effect of been victim of gym machines I guess). Then after a SD week I started my first HST cycle.

Right now I’m finishing my second week of 5s so after 2 more weeks my first cycle of HST will be done.

My main maxs tested before the current cycle were:

5x Squat: 200 lb
5x SLDLs: 220 lb
5x Deadlift: 264 lb
5x B. Press: 200 lb

They are not impressive at all, but well, in two weeks I hope to have some new ones, let’s see.

Talking about my routine, till today has been:

M-W-F
2x Squat
2x Deadlift or SDLDs (Alternating in A-B days)
2x Standing calf raises
2x Bench press
2x Pulldown
2x Military press behind head
2x Barbell Curl
2x French press
2x Shrugs
2x Abs

The only change I have done between 15s, 10s and 5s is the reps, and of course increase the weigh.

Talking about strength, during the 10s I already noticed a small gain; but the largest improvement I think have been in the 5s as I’m about to lift my prev maxs and still have that feeling “I need more..”. Although I don’t want to have an unrealistic spectation, I’m excited to see how much I can expand my maxs in the incoming 2 weeks before SD.

Talking about mass gain, in this 6 weeks I’ve gained 2,5 kg maintaining my 20% body fat, which is my main problem for the incoming cycles. I can’t say that my belly is pumping out, but of course I’m not as clean as I’ll like. My plan is to continuing a clean bulking at least one more cycle and around April start to cut.

Talking about macros, I started my HST with 87kg (by the way my high is 175cm), eating 2900 calories & 190g of protein per day, I didn’t track how many grams of carbs and fat I’ve been eating but my main source of food has been black beans, oats, chicken, nonfat milk and eggs, and as much as I can I avoid processed food.

Talking about overlap, first thing I have been thinking to change to the next cycle is the point of to Squat follow by Deadlift, as is said in the ebook and in many post here, for a lot of people is better to alternate those lifts in different days, but for me since still I’m not lifting so huge lifts, it has been no problem, no drain in power for the next lifts at all, actually I like the way my body is activated after those exercises; but anyway I will appreciate any suggestion about this topic.

Now I’m researching to upgrade my scheme for the next cycle, anyway I’m happy with the results so I just was planning to keep with my prev routine and maybe add some exercise variations and sets:

M-W-F
2x Squat
2x SLDLs or Deadlift (Alternating in A-B days)
2x Standing calf raises
2x Bench press
2x Bent over row or Pulldown (Alternating in A-B days)
2x Military press behind head
2x Barbell Curl
2x French press
2x Barbell Shrugs
2x Abs

I’m planning to follow it during 15s and 10s and then in the 5s increase the sets to 3x, but still I have 3 weeks till I will start second cycle, so I’ll keep searching in this forum, reading, and learning about you guys.

As my final conclusion after first attempt in HST I can say that has been really good time working out, really good feelings, and I’m really proud to have now the chance to broke my personal plateaus. Thanks for all the information provided in this pages ;)
 
Mr.Mustachio said:
M-W-F
2x Squat
2x SLDLs or Deadlift (Alternating in A-B days)
2x Standing calf raises
2x Bench press
2x Bent over row or Pulldown (Alternating in A-B days)
2x Military press behind head
2x Barbell Curl
2x French press
2x Barbell Shrugs
2x Abs

I’m planning to follow it during 15s and 10s and then in the 5s increase the sets to 3x, but still I have 3 weeks till I will start second cycle, so I’ll keep searching in this forum, reading, and learning about you guys.
Click to expand...

Your plan looks good. I personally wouldn't bring in the Deadlifts until the 10s, or possibly even the 5s. I use SLDLs in the 15s, RDLs in the 10s and full DLs in the 5s. Also I would keep deadlifts to a different day as BORs and Squats, as it can really put a lot of stress on both your back and your CNS. But I'm guessing your going to do that anyway, as you have a A/B split. Also I would swap Behind the neck military press for standard military press. Behind the neck presses can overly strain your rotator cuff muscles, and if you dont have excellent flexibility in your shoulders, there is also an increased risk of tilting your head forward, putting undue stress on the neck.

Other than that it looks a really good set up. Another thing that is really helping me shift body fat is fasted cardio. I basically walk for an hour on an empty stomach when I get up 3/4 times a week, and Also Intermittent fasting. Might be worth a look if your looking to reduce BF. http://www.leangains.com has some good info on there.

Good luck, and looking forward to seeing your progress.
 
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I think you can manage squats, deads and rows on the same day just fine, at your level. It's not a ridiculously excessive load (I would think).

My advice would be to maintain form before load until you're used to it (if you aren't already). It's far less than a 5x5 routine would have you doing, and millions of peoplemanage that program.
 
It looks like a decent program for your stage of development with one exception. Pressing behind the head increases your risk of injury to the neck and shoulders. The position of the barbell places your shoulders in extreme external rotation and abduction. Pressing weight in this position puts a lot stress on the shoulder joints and ligaments. Rotator cuff problems are tough to overcome. So that you don't whack the back of your head, the behind the neck press also forces your neck into an unnatural forward position, which increases your risk of neck injury. The front military press is a much safer exercise and throws in a little pectoral action as well.

You also might consider dips instead of french presses as they are more compound but work the triceps well also. However, french presses are an excellent isolation exercise for advanced lifters.
 
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I'll respectively disagree with the evaluation of BTN pressing. When done correctly, they're a safe exercise and probably the best exercise for overall shoulder development (maybe the deadlift/rack pulls are better, but for different reasons).

Military press is quite different, much closer to a bench press (obviously), will be using heavier loads and is probably better at developing explosiveness/power. I think the eccentric for MP is far less conducive to overall shoulder development than BTN. Having said that, we're grading these things over a year, and/or series of years, and not days or weeks.
 
I agree that BTN presses actually work the shoulders more effectively than front military press but I have actually dislocated a cervical spine disc doing BTN and would never recommend that anybody do them. It took me 5 visits to a bone cracker and several weeks in a soft brace to get it corrected. It was probably due to sloppy form but "once burnt..." It is a hard exercise to maintain good form because, I believe, you are starting in a compromised position. Still, thousands of people do them every day and do not get injured.
 
Don't misunderstand me, it needs to be done correctly.

Similarly, I know someone who dislocated both shoulders doing a bench press, and spoke to his spotter about it. Form was perfectly fine, load was manageable, no existing conditions ... Just bang-bang.


Is bench bad? Not so much, it was just a 'bad beats' scenario.

Not to mention the dangers that squats and deads present.

I don't think BTN is inherently bad, though it may have opportunities for injury than military.

Regardless, I recommend doing them as a push press movement.
 
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