First time on a restricted 5 week schedule!!

T

torelli

New Member
HI there,

This is the first time I am posting I just found you guys while looking for something new and I want to give it a try. My only problem is I leave for europe June 8th. I have been lifting for about 5 years and will need to go in and get my rep max's and then do a week of deconditioning. I then can see that I can get 4 weeks of training before I take off to europe where training will be sporadic at best for 5 weeks.

So:
What would you recommend for a layout plan of setting up a short cylce. Can I do only one week of each rep range and then one week at 5 max's and expect good results, or should I just go ahead with a normal plan and just never get to the week of max's at 5's.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
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if you have been lifting for 5 years, you probably have a pretty good idea of what your 15, 10 and 5RM's are. so with only such a short space of time, i would just estimate. but you would be better underestimating than overestimating. its the load progression from session to session that counts, not the RM. you definatley dont want to mess up the cycle by going too heavy too early.

you could also skip the 15s if you want
 
Thanks for the advice. I have been lifting for awhile now without any real break, so I think that at least a 5-7 day deconditioning period is in store. Is that a good bet?

Then I think I will skip 15's and do 2 weeks at 10's and 2 weeks at 5's. That will leave me just enough time to hit 1 extra session of just 5's.

Another question too.
If I have a 10 rep max and then work up to it over a 2 week period that means that most of my workout will not be extremely difficult right? If I have it right I hit 2 or so warm up sets and then pound out the prescribed weight to 10 reps and no more. Or do I go for as many as I can hit at that weight on the last set?
 
Okay so I am ready to try my first round on HST.

I have one more question though.

So my max bench is 285 for 5 reps. And I stick that at the end of a two week period.

For the other workouts I lift less than that say on one of my workouts I put down a decrease of 10 pounds. That is 275 for 5 reps.

On that workout after I warm up I go for my one set at 275 do I stop at 5 reps? or do as many as I can w/o a spotter?
 
You'd stop at 5 reps. Although going to failure is what causes most fatigue, it isn't quite so black-and-white. A few weeks of lifting even stopping right before failure will probably burn you out a lot faster than just sticking to the rep range.

-Calkid
 
Torelli, you've been lifting for a long time, so estimating your weights is cool. Also, abbreviating the cycle is cool, too. The progression will have good results even though it's a steeper curve -- in fact, it will have better results per week than the traditional progression. (The reason it's not recommended is because having only four weeks of growth for each week of decon will be worse over time than having six weeks of slightly lower growth.)

HOWEVER, if you have not been lifting in the high-rep ranges for a long time, I think you should do two or three workouts of 15's first, going for a serious burn. If you've only been lifting in the 5-10 rep range for months, you will benefit tremendously from introducing the 15's. It will increase your muscles' metabolic potential, which will increase your rate of recovery and growth BETWEEN workouts.

Don't worry about the progression on these brief 15's. Just make sure you get a good burn, and then set into your 10's cycle.

If you really, really don't want to waste any time, and want to set in on the 10's, at least add drop sets and go for a burn. I wouldn't recommend that on the first HST cycle for a first-timer, but you've been around the block.
 
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