critique my routine please

J

jwbond

New Member
Hey guys, I joined this forum earlier this week and I have to say I am very impressed with the knowledge and overall friendlyness of the members.

I have been lifting for 5-6 years and am starting to wish I knew about hst a long time ago (provided it works for me like I am hoping it will)

I am cutting my SD a little short due to pure excitement to get started and the fact that I'm cutting right now and am scared of losing lbm (I think I already have, but it might just be in my head) I start my first HST cycle tomorrow and I wanted to get some opinions on my routine...

Sun, Tue, Thurs:
Squats
Incline Bench
Inner Pulldowns
Stiff Legged Deads
BB Shoulder Press
BB Curls
Skull Crushers

I would be performing them in that order, and will alternate squats and deads if I feel both in the same day are too much. I don't have all that many exercises, but everything should get hit.

Does any recommend I add anything? Take anything out? Keep in mind I will be on a calorie deficit diet for at least half of the cycle if not the entire thing.

Thanks everyone...I am very excited about my new knowledge of HST and excited to be part of such a great community. :)
 
also, just to make sure I understand this right...Every exercise is to be brought to almost failure, but only to failure on the last day of the 15s, 10s, and 5s right?

so if i do two sets in the begining of the 15s and i have little fatique then i either should do them slower or do a third set so i am 1 or 2 reps from failure on my last set? what would be preferred slower reps or a 3rd set?
 
jw, first, cutting your SD short will have a negative impact on your results if you have been seriously training beforehand. Proper deconditioning is the hardest principle to put into practice and the most misunderstood principle of HST. It is counter to traditional training philosophy.

You can certainly slow your tempo down with the lighter weights to get a more effective workout. I would slow down my tempo before adding additional sets. Actually my preference, and what works best for me, is to add additional exercises rather than additional sets of the same exercise. From my perspective, I would like to see you add in a set of dips, seated rows and leg presses to hit the major muscles better and from multiple angles. Also if you added a set of shrugs to round out your shoulder program, you could get away with doing just one set of each of the 11 exercises and have a well rounded workout scheme. You shouldn't have a problem with squats and SLDL's in the same workout. If you adopted these suggestions, I would suggest working out 4, or even 5, times per week instead of 3. I have found frequency to be a better friend to me than volume.

Good luck. ;)
 
thanks for the advice OG...

couple questions about it though, if i lift 5 days a week do I split the workout up at all or do it all m-f?

I will definatly throw in some seated rows. I was thinking about throwing dips in there, but was scared it would be too much. I guess the best way to find out is to have it in there and see if im too soar the next day right?

leg presses i cant do, don't have the equipment for it in my home gym, but i could throw in some leg extentions.

now just so i get this right...i am suppose to do no more than 2 sets per exercise and always stop 1-2 reps before failure except for the last workout of the 15s, 10s, and 5s right?
 
jw, I would suggest doing the entire workout 4 to 5 times per week. It is only 11 sets in total and can be finished in 30 minutes pretty easily.

Leg extensions are okay. However, to protect your knees, do not bring your toe back farther than straight down from your knee. Pulling your lower leg back further will not help appreciably with building muscle but can put too much strain on your knees.

You then ask:

"now just so i get this right...i am suppose to do no more than 2 sets per exercise..."

I guess I lost you somewhere as the program I was suggesting is just one set per exercise. If you want to keep your original program, then 2 sets would probably be appropriate since it is only 7 exercises, three times per week. The program I suggested was for 11 exercises of one set only 4 to 5 times per week.

You also ask:


"...and always stop 1-2 reps before failure except for the last workout of the 15s, 10s, and 5s right?"

No, you lift the prescribed number of reps with the selected weight. That may or may not be 1 or 2 reps short of failure. The last workout in each rep range should be done with a weight that allows you to perform no more than the precribed number of reps keeping good form and not compromising your dersired tempo.


Hope I haven't confused you more.
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OG, thank you for your advice...you cleared a lot of things up. i will give the 5 days a week thing a try as i hate cardio and that will allow me to do less of it ;)

i think i will throw dips and rows into the routine. ill keep ya posted on progress, thanks again!
 
just finished my first day of the 15s...my arms feel like they got a good pump, but im thinking maybe i should have thrown in another set on the larger muscle groups: legs, back and chest. i thought id play it safe though and just do 1 set per exercise like you recommended.

i couldnt do seated rows bc my machine freakin broke after 1 rep! im going to run to home depot to fix the old thing later today.

one thing i am confused about is the weight increase increments. i read that for larger groups ie legs you should do 10-15lb increments and 5-10 for smaller. but if you do this then arent you just making it lighter in the begining for the larger muscle groups?

ie:

say 100lbs is your RM, if you did 5 lb increments it would look like:
75,80,85,90,95,100

but if you did 15lb increments it would look like
25,40,55,70,85,100

so why would you want to take it easier on the larger muscle groups? what am i missing here?



thanks for all your input OG...its very much appreciated! how long you been lifting? how long ya been lifting hst? what is your weight/bodyfat? just curious! thanks again! :D
 
You only can use large increments when the amount of weight you are using is heavy. I usually use about 70% of my RM for a starting weight. I find that anything too much below that is not very effective. So, in your example, I would start at 70 pounds or so and increment up to the 100 pound RM.

10 pound increments would be practical for a 200 pound RM and 15 pound increments would be practical for a 300 pound RM.

You should always feel a pump in the muscle being worked. If you don't feel a pump, then you have not worked it enough. Once you feel that pump, it is not necessary to work that muscle more when you are on a high frequency program such as HST. It is never necessary to lift until you reach DOMS.

I have been lifting for almost 47 years with short periods off for military duty, etc. I started when I was 13 years old. My weight is 185 at a height of 5'8" ( I used to be 5'9 1/2") and a bf% of 9%. I started HST 2 1/2 years ago when I felt that I had reached my maximum potential (naturally) at a weight of 170 and a bf of 15%. HST has been great for me.

Measurements when last checked were chest 47", arms 17", waist 32" and thighs 25". Strength is still increasing, even at this advanced age, as I am now squatting over 400 pounds for my 5 RM. My goal is to hit a bench press of double my bodyweight even though I don't specifically train for strength. However, I make all my heavy concentric lifts explosively to help with strength and it seems to work pretty good.

Keep at it and HST will be good for you too.
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og, good stuff...you certainly have me beat as far as years lifting, as well as some of your measurements, congrats!
last question, i hope...if i do a 6 day routine should the weight still be increasing everyday and just do a smaller increment?  or keep make it so day 1 & 2 have the same weight, followed by 3 & 4 with their weight, etc. etc.

should i run my cycle shorter?
 
Choose whatever method you like. On a 5 or 6 day cycle, I usually keep the same increments as a 3 day type cycle but usually just do 1 week of 15's and 10's. Then 2 weeks of 5's followed by 2 weeks of 5's plus drop sets.
 
how do you do your weight increments for the 5s then if there are twice as many days you are actually doing the 5s?


also will 5-6 days a week be overtraining, shouldnt the muscles get more rest to grow properly? possibly a routine of

mon, tues = lift
weds = off
thurs, fri = lift
sat, sun = off

i guess it all depends on each person and how soar you are the day after lifting right?
 
I repeat more weights with the 5's because of the extra week.

You can workout 5 to 6 days per week without overtraining because the daily volume is lower. You should not be sore with this low daily volume except, perhaps, the first few days after SD. My personal experience has been that "rest" is not necessary except when you need to decondition to set the stage to stimulate growth again. Many studies suggest, in fact, that a constant loading of a muscle will lead to the fastest gains. 'Constant' meaning with the muscle always under a load. Obviously, though, that is not practical.

There is nothing wrong with the schedule you suggested. In fact, it is what I am following for myself with this cycle except that I am doing two full body workouts of 7 sets each twice per day and three times per day for lats for the 4 days that I work out during the week. I posted this elsewhere but repeat it below in case you missed it:

AM:
Incline bench press
Chin ups
Shoulder press
French press
squats

Mid Day:
Pull ups

PM:
Dips
Seated rows
Shrugs
DB preacher curls or concentration curls
Leg press

One set of each. 1 week of 15's, 1 week of 10's, 2 weeks of 5's and 2 weeks of 5's with drop sets. I typically workout M,T,Th,F.I did a similar workout routine last cycle without the arm isolation movements and mid day lat exercise, 5 days per week.

I am fast becoming a believer that the key to more hypertrophy for me is more frequency with a multitude of exercises rather than more volume, multiple sets of the same exercise and less frequency. However, you need to experiment and see what works best for you under your unique set of conditions.
 
[b said:
Quote[/b] (Old and Grey @ April 26 2005,5:10)]However, you need to experiment and see what works best for you under your unique set of conditions.
Click to expand...
Agreed, everyone is different so it isn't one size fits all...
currently i am on a calorie deficit diet to lose a little more body fat before summer.  
I am thinking that the standard mwf - 2 weeks of 15s, 2 weeks of 10s, 2 weeks of 5s, weeks of 5s with dropsets would be best for me to start with to compare future cycles to, to see what works best for me.  
however, I am thinking that maybe a 5-6 day a week schedule might be best to lose the least amount of lbm while I'm cutting?


Does an AM/PM split help that much? I'm not a morning person, but I do want to get the most out of my cycle as possible. I would guess anything in the AM will only help to burn fat though...
 
The best time to work out is when you can. AM/PM splits and every day routines are pretty hard for the average working stiff or student to do. You have to work for about 40 years before you earn the luxery of having the time to do that.
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Since this is your first HST cycle, I think you should go with the standard 3 day per week cycle and see how you like it. You can tweak it to your specific needs as you see how your body responds. ;)
 
thanks for all the input og i really do appreciate it!

I am going to try the mwf routine w/ cardio on tue,thur,sun i'll keep you posted on my progress. i am very excited to see how my gains are by the end of the cycle!

for your drop sets...how much weight do decrease it by for the drop set?
 
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