BigJohn5150's First HST Cycle

B

BigJohn5150

New Member
This will be my first attempt at HST. I have lifted on and off for the last 5 years (more off than on) and find myself needing to add some muscle. I am currently finished with my 15 and 10 rep maxes, and doing my 5's tomorrow. I will then take 9 days off as established by Bryan, and workouts will start 5/28/07. I am in need of some fatloss as well so I will be adding 2 or 3 days of treadmill on off days from lifting. I have chosen to do the following exercises,

Squat (Leg Press every other session)
Lying Leg Curls
DB Bench Press (no spotter always available)
WG Pulldowns
Seated Row
Smith Shoulder Press
Rear Pek Deck Laterals
DB Curls
Tricep Pressdowns
Seated Calf Raises (no standing machine available)
Machine crunches

I am going to do the following

Week 1 and 2 1 set of 15 reps per exercise
Week 3 and 4 2 sets of 10 reps
Week 5 thru 8 3 sets of 5 reps

I am not naturally strong so I will have some overlap of weights, but as this is my first time with HST, I am willing to accept that.

I will gladly accept any help, advice or constructive criticizism that I can get.

I will post all starting weights after 5's are done tomorrow.

Nutrition will be 3500-4000 calories per day at a 50/30/20 P/C/F macro range.

Starting body stats will be posted on 5/26 or 5/27 for comparison after 8 weeks.

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to any posts.
 
Unless you are carrying a lot of bodyfat, trying to lean up at the same time as adding muscle is not necessarily the best approach. Much better to focus on one or the other. If you are around 15-20% bf then you could lean up a bit until you are around 10-12% and then increase calories gradually until you are gaining around 0.5lb to 1lb a week. You will be more likely to add more lean mass this way but you have to expect some fat gain along with the lean mass.
 
Thank you Lol for your advice. I reread my post and it did seem that I was looking for the magical fat loss and muscle gain at the same time. I apprciate you pointing that out.
I will do my cardio to keep my cardiovascular system in good working order, low intensity walking on the treadmill, no high intensity to promote muscle loss. Just for the health advantages.
My current bodyfat is hovering around the 20% range, but I want to gain muscle first and shed fat later.
Again, thanks for the great advice and input!
 
DL's, DL's, DL's...
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Only two cents I have would be to drop the lying leg curls. I might try alternating between squats and deads and doing leg press everyday? I don't know.. your workout. As for the seated calf raises, I'd do standing using your smith machine which you must have since you have smith shoulder press listed. Any seated calf raises use your soleus, not your gastrocnemius. Anything standing is vice versa, which is the part I'm assuming you want to build which is the upper part.

Also, do you have a way of doing dips? I feel like those would build your tri's (and gets some chest in) better than a cable anyday.

Hope that helps.
 
Thanks for the advice on DL's, are you talking traditional deads or SLDL's? I haven't trained hams in so long so that was my reason for choosing lying curls for my first cycle. Let me know what you think!
Great calf advice, I am looking to build the upper part, I can do them on the Smith. Didn't really know there was a difference.
On the dips, my strength is so low on them that I can only do 2 or 3 reps. We do have an assisted dip machine which you can counter balance your weight, would you advise using it or just doing as many BW dips as I can until my strength goes up?

Again, thanks to all, it feels good to see that people are willing to help!
 
I'm just going to echo the senitments of LOL. Trying to "bulk" and "cut" at the same time is a recipe for disaster.

Best thing to do is pick one direction, and follow it through until you reach a predetermined goal, then re-assess.
 
My 2 cents, I agree to alternate deadlifts with squats and forget about anything requiring a machine or pulleys. I would do Pendlay rows instead of seated rows and also do standing OH press instead of laterals or anything in the smith machine. Full ROM olympic squats and deadlifts should be all you need for calf work
 
Thank you liegelord!

I will have to establish maxes for Pendlays and deadlifts, but I do want to do what's best.

Thanks!!
 
Traditional deads.... they do the body good.
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I don't like pendlays but that is entirely a personal thing. I cracked my tailbone when I was younger and have had a bad lower back. But I definitely would rate them over seated rows too... good call Liege.
 
Ok Fellas,
I came here for advice, and I will take it. My routine will be

Squats (alternate with deadlifts)
Leg Press
Pendlay Rows
Incline DB Bench
Dips (assisted til strength increases)
DB Shoulder press
DB Curls
Pressdowns
Smith Calf Raises

I have taken a bit of advice from all, and I will adjust as needed. I don't want any of you to think I have discounted your advice, but this is a routine that I think I can progress with. Any further advice will be taken and greatly appreciated.
 
I was thinking

Week 1 and 2---1x15
Week 3 and 4---2x10
Week 5,6, 7 and 8---3x5
1 week of SD
repeat as needed

Then I read that someone did

week 1--2x15
week 2--1x15
week 3--2x10
week 4--1x10
week 5--2x5
week 6--1x5
week 7--1x5
week 8--1x5
week 9--SD

Don't know which would be better, again, any advice will be greatly appreciated!!
 
I have decided to follow the following set/rep scheme after researching this site and a couple of others that had info on HST,

week 1--2x15
week 2--1x15
week 3--2x10
week 4--1x10
week 5--2x5
week 6--2x5
week 7--2x5
week 8--2x5
week 9--SD

This looks like a volume of work that I can handle and will allow me to progress and to get adequate rest.
 
BigJohn, a bit late in the day but a few thoughts: Depending on how much zig-zag you have between mesocycles, you will accumulate fatigue at a different rate. If you have some zig-zag you could do:

2 x 15
1.5 x 15 (RM)
2 x 10
1.5 x 10 (RM)
3 x 5
2 x 5 (RM)
3 x 3 (you could try 4 x 3 if you feel fine to do so)
3 x 3
SD

Depending on how strong you are, you will tax your CNS to a greater or lesser degree during your RM w/os. Doing 3 x 3 after your 5RM w/o with the same load will help you get through the following 2 weeks doing about the same amount of work but with reduced fatigue.

Treat this cycle as a bit of an experiment and take notes along the way (eg. how hard the second sets of your 5RMs were). If you can increase the load for the final week and try for some new 5RMs that would be useful for setting up your next cycle. Otherwise just add 5 or 10 lbs to your previous RM loads and try for them next time around. Always aim to add load to the bar each cycle.

If you find that leg-presses after squats seem too much once the loads have ramped up then just drop them out altogether. If you are deep squatting you won't find a lot of extra benefit from leg pressing anyway. I'd rather do an extra set of squats. Depending on the kind of legpress you have access to, it could be better for your knees too.
 
Thanks Lol.

I had thought about the fatigue factor of leg press after squats, I will probably drop leg press during the 5's.

I do have a question maybe you or someone else can answer. When you suggest 1.5x10, what do you mean with the 1.5? A bit confused!
 
John, by 1.5 x 10, say, I just mean one full set of 10 reps and then a second set of just 5 reps with the same load. So, the 'half-set' with the same load adds more work but is less fatiguing than doing another full set.

I think on your 5RM workout it would actually be good to do 1 x 5, 1 x 3, 1 x 2, but if you have gained strength during the cycle and the first set is not too bad then by all means push for 2 x 5. I found this was the case for my first three or four cycles.
 
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