Half-way through the 10s....  Help?

ChrisROCK

New Member
Help me!

I'm half-way through my 10s and I'm having trouble figuring out if HST is working for me. I'm rarely sore, if ever... Occassionally my hams and quads get sore, but I never feel any soreness in my upper body! I've read all the rules about increasing volume, etc...but I thought I was doing enough.

All that said, the routine each day IS tough, I find... The end of the 15s really kicked my butt, but more from a cardio-vascular perspective than anything.

Here is what I've been doing throughout...

This is M, W, F each week.

Squats (2 sets)
SLDL (2)
Incline Press (2)
Dips (1)
WG Pulldowns (2)
T-Bar Rows (2)
Shrugs (2)
Military (1)
Lateral Raises (1)
Reverse Pec Deck (1)
DB Curls (2)
Skulls (2)
Weighted Crunches (2)

So, you see, it's certainly not lacking in volume...or so i didn't think so.

Any thoughts from you experts?

Thanks
 
Soreness is not a prerequisite for growth. It is merely a measure of the extent of damage done to a muscle. With high frequency programs such as HST, volume is spread out over a full week rather than done in one day as prescribed by the "traditional" programs. Therefore you will usually not be sore. However, you are providing much more stumuli for growth.

In other words, don't worry about it! ;)
 
It is possible that you may need to start integrating some fairly advanced techniques (emphasize stretch, loaded or pulse stretches, etc.) and possibly even adding some volume here and there. In the Faq, Bryan talks about how he, and some others who have been training for many years, now trains twice on training days because his body requires a little more at this point.

As Old and Grey says, soreness is not a requirement, but in my experience, my growth periods have always been accompanied by some light stiffness. As you enter the second week of the 10s (you are just getting into the guaranteed "heavy enough" stage), if you still feel no soreness at all, I would also try some of the techniques Vicious talks about in the "options" thread and see if that makes any difference. Either way, I suppose you won't really know how effective this cycle has been until its over. So, ...
 
Actually the only time I ever feel sore is sometimes for the first 2 workouts of the 15's if I have taken a long SD, i.e., longer than 2 weeks.

What I usually feel after each exercise is a 'pump' or 'fullness' in the muscle being worked. I especially feel it in most in my lats, biceps and hamstrings and to a lesser degree in my pecs, triceps, quads and shoulders. The difference may have something to do with muscle size or push versus pull effectiveness. Anyway, if I get that pump I know I have done enough to stimulate growth. If I don't get that feeling, I need to add another exercise to that body part or, on rare occassions, another set of the same exercise. The pumped feeling does not last long, usually 15 minutes or so.

I used to feel the stiffness that semajes mentioned when I was not in as good a shape. However, I'm so freakin old now that my muscles are always stiff so I can't tell if I get that feeling or not anymore.
laugh.gif
dozingoff.gif
sleeping.gif
 
Back
Top