Hi, I notice on some threads people were talking about doing as many as 4 sets while doing their 5's. I thought with HST you were only supposed to do 1 or at most 2 sets? I'm confused. Thanks. P.S. Also, how long should you pause after doing a warm up set before doing a work set? Thanks again.
how many sets with 5's?
- Thread starter bilknu
- Start date
Hi,
To answer your first question, I think the main reason for doing multiple sets during the 5's is, that many people training the HST are focusing only on the power excersises (e.g. bench press, squats) when doing such low rep training. To compensate for the fewer excersises you can do multiple sets in order to keep the total workload on each muscle group the same as the previous weeks.
Regarding your warm ups - weel, to keep things simple, just don't let your muscles get cold, and you'll be on the right track!
To answer your first question, I think the main reason for doing multiple sets during the 5's is, that many people training the HST are focusing only on the power excersises (e.g. bench press, squats) when doing such low rep training. To compensate for the fewer excersises you can do multiple sets in order to keep the total workload on each muscle group the same as the previous weeks.
Regarding your warm ups - weel, to keep things simple, just don't let your muscles get cold, and you'll be on the right track!
The reasoning is the following:
if you keep your number of sets constant, when you go from 10's to 5's, your total volume is cut in half. Upping the sets so much is just a way to perform the same total number of reps.
I used to get less results during the 5's, probably due to this. This time I'm increasing volume and we'll see what happens.
if you keep your number of sets constant, when you go from 10's to 5's, your total volume is cut in half. Upping the sets so much is just a way to perform the same total number of reps.
I used to get less results during the 5's, probably due to this. This time I'm increasing volume and we'll see what happens.
In this case, and if I understood your statement, your total volume is decreasing as you go thru the 15s to 10s to 5s.[b said:
2 sets x 15 = 30 reps (each lift)
2 sets x 10 = 20 reps
2 sets x 5 = 10 reps
If you see your growth slowing as your cycle progresses, this is probably why.
As far as # lifts decreasing/dropping lifts in 5s, that's another issue altogether.
I would be very interested in the out come of this debate. I have been doing HST in the same way Scott and bilknu have - keeping 2 sets per exercise from 15s-5s. I haven't actually tried to start gaining yet (trying to do some heavy cutting 1st), but I want to make sure I'm doing this correctly. My personal interpretation of this is to increase volume if you aren't seeing or feeling anything. To grab a quote from the FAQ:
Increase volume if:
You are never sore
You are never tired
You are not growing
Maintain volume if:
You are slightly sore most of the time
You are tired enough to sleep well, but not so tired you lose motivation to train.
You are noticeably “fuller”
Decrease volume if:
You are experiencing over use pain, and strain symptoms in joints and/or muscles.
You are tired and irritable all the time, yet don’t sleep well.
Strength levels are significantly decreasing.
Increase volume if:
You are never sore
You are never tired
You are not growing
Maintain volume if:
You are slightly sore most of the time
You are tired enough to sleep well, but not so tired you lose motivation to train.
You are noticeably “fuller”
Decrease volume if:
You are experiencing over use pain, and strain symptoms in joints and/or muscles.
You are tired and irritable all the time, yet don’t sleep well.
Strength levels are significantly decreasing.
Good post, Techo
Bilknu, this discussion is about how to fine tune HST once you have your program up and running. A newbie should get good results with the basic program assuming s/he follows the basic principles and eats to support her/his goals.
However, once you've gone through a cycle or two and have a better understanding of the basic principles, you can use the knowledge you have gained to tweak it so that it works even better.
Don't sweat the small stuff until you have a better understanding of the big picture...
Happy hypertrophy!
Kate
Bilknu, this discussion is about how to fine tune HST once you have your program up and running. A newbie should get good results with the basic program assuming s/he follows the basic principles and eats to support her/his goals.
However, once you've gone through a cycle or two and have a better understanding of the basic principles, you can use the knowledge you have gained to tweak it so that it works even better.
Don't sweat the small stuff until you have a better understanding of the big picture...
Happy hypertrophy!
Kate
Firminator
New Member
I gotta agree with the majority here. I've done HST cycles for about 1 1/2 yrs now. For quite a while I swore that I was losing size during my 5's. I always did 2 sets for every rep range, 15's, 10's and 5's. Well the last couple of cycles I started doing 3 sets when I got to 5's. My growth now continues through the entire cycle.
The only drawback for me is that I get beat-up a little sooner this way(I'm 50 yrs old). It seems that I must SD approx. a week sooner than when I was doing 2 sets but that's worth the continued growth.
Like someone mentioned, do a few cycles then you will start to feel that you need to make some changes in a few places. I have tried everything at one time or another and it all seems to work if you keep the HST principles in effect.
Good Luck
Firm
The only drawback for me is that I get beat-up a little sooner this way(I'm 50 yrs old). It seems that I must SD approx. a week sooner than when I was doing 2 sets but that's worth the continued growth.
Like someone mentioned, do a few cycles then you will start to feel that you need to make some changes in a few places. I have tried everything at one time or another and it all seems to work if you keep the HST principles in effect.
Good Luck
Firm