Hst Beginner Routine Review !!!

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nick319

New Member
Hi everyone. I've recently stumbled upon the HST method of training and it piqued my interest; I've always preferred high frequency over high volume personally and so I've decided to try this out.

I've been training about a year now (of which 1-2 months were injury ridden). About 70kg @ 174cm and am rather weak for my BW (S-100kg, DL-120+kg, Bench-70kg for 3-5reps)

Please take a look at my take of the HST routine. I've decided to go for the 1x15,2x10,3x5 set/rep progression that's been recommended for newbs.

Squats
Deadlifts
Bench
Dips
Pull Ups
Pendlay Rows
Military Press
Upright Row
EZ Curl
CGBP
Calf Raises
Leg raises

Compared to the Vanilla HST, I have many more exercises but it's my thinking that a total of 12 sets for the whole body seems pretty reasonable. Please critique this so I can improve upon it. Thanks very much in advance!
 
Too many exercises IMO, I would drop upright row (high risk of injury particularly as the loads increase), EZ curl, (biceps already getting hit with deads, pull ups and Pendlays) CGBP (triceps already getting hit with bench, dips and military press) - leg raises? For abs or are these leg extensions?

You state only 12 sets but during the 10s it would be 24 and the 5s would be 36 sets, far too much

Personally I would do 2 sets in the 15s and 10s and 3 sets in the 5s of the following exercises - Squats, Deadlifts (maybe alternate these each workout if it gets too much), flat bench, overhead press, Pendlay rows, pull ups and calf raises - if you can handle that volume then maybe add dips back in for one set as this is probably too good an exercise to drop.
 
I would really like to do some curls as the past progs I have done have not included them so far, and I don't think they really impede recovery very much! Also, I've thought of alternating Squats&DLs but was afraid that the increments would be too large a jump between each squat/dl workout. My initial HST routine was loosely based off the sample routine on the official site which suggested an exercise for bis and tris too, actually. Thanks a lot for the recommendation; the routine, imo, looks much better now (except squats+dls(2+2sets) 3x a week might seem hardcore)

Squats 2 x 15
Deadlifts 2 x 15
Bench 2 x 15
Dips 1 x 15
Pull Ups 2 x 15
Pendlay Rows 2 x 15
Military Press 2 x 15
EZ Curl 1 x 15
Calf Raises 2 x 15
Leg raises (Abs) 1 x 15
 
nick319 said:
Thanks a lot for the recommendation; the routine, imo, looks much better now (except squats+dls(2+2sets) 3x a week might seem hardcore)
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Assuming your 100kg squat and your 120kg deadlift are for 1 rep then the increments would not be too big if you alternated, based on 3 increments over the two weeks (80, 90 and 100% of each rep max) your approximate loads for squats during the 5s would be 67.5 or 70kgs , 75 or 77.5kgs and 85kgs and deadlifts would be 82.5kgs, 92.5kgs and 102.5kgs
 
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mickc1965 said:
Assuming your 100kg squat and your 120kg deadlift are for 1rm then the increments would not be too big if you alternated, based on 3 increments over the two weeks (80, 90 and 100% of each rep max)
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Makes sense. However, I'm still thinking whether I want to do hack squats instead cause I recently may have hurt my lower back so I either go from low to high bar squats or do hack squats. But either way, the increments would be manageable as you said.

However, how do I know if I should do it thrice weekly or alternate? Would the first two weeks be a test then?
 
nick319 said:
However, how do I know if I should do it thrice weekly or alternate? Would the first two weeks be a test then?
Click to expand...

Personally I would struggle at my age with your proposed routine which is why I currently have an A/B routine and train 6 days per week to spread the volume.
 
mickc1965 said:
Personally I would struggle at my age with your proposed routine which is why I currently have an A/B routine and train 6 days per week to spread the volume.
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I guess CNS recovery often isn't really an issue for me since they're still relatively light weight. The vanilla HST seems to recommend one fixed workout 3x a week for newbs and I'll probably stick to that first and auto regulate as I go along. Thanks a lot for the advice. I hope HST willl work better than other routines have for me. I can't fathom how people can do linear progression to 2(bench)/3(squat)/4(deadlift) in less than a year.
 
Seeing that squats and DL are going to be your two biggest lifts, and seeing that your lower back will be working hard in both, it would be good to put them further apart in your list. In fact, I'd puts squats at the start and deads at the end.
Also, during 15s, your goal is to get a bit of a burn going on, so don't take long pauses between reps. Keep pumping out the reps until you are done. As the 15s get heavier, and seeing you are performing two sets for most of your exercises, don't feel you have to get all the reps for your second set. If 10 reps is tough for a 2nd set, then job done.
For the first week of 15s, when loads are lightest, there's no need to stop at 15 reps. Just keep going until you get a burn.
It's not essential, but during heavy 5s, it's a good idea to add in a single higher rep set (~10 reps) for each main muscle group. This will maintain intramuscular glycogen stores and keep your muscles feeling full following 10s.
All the best!
 
I've recently transitioned back from low bar to high bar ATG squats. I actually did high bar when I started out but moved to low bar after hearing how I could lift more weight, but after a couple months my lower back just felt thrashed and low bar never felt comfortable as high bar did. I don't think lower back will be much affected by the squats though, but i'd still try to leave some time in between squats and DL just to ensure my legs recover well enough. I'm currently in the midst of tracking my rep maxes- tested my 15RM and 10RM so far; for exercises like DL, where there's greater room for injury, I tend to be more conservative with my maxes and ensuring that my last rep still maintains relatively clean form.

Regarding your single high rep set, can it be the same exercise at a lower weight? I will definitely try it out if I don't feel too bushed after the (relatively) heavy sets.

Thanks a lot for the help :) I will check back in with results, even though hypertrophy isn't my main goal- 60% strength 40% aesthetics for me. But strength training hasn't seem to paid off too well so far; could be the diet since I refuse to get too fat or could be the fact that every time my lifts climb, I tend to stumble upon an injury (non-lifting) which impedes my progress.
 
For the higher-rep, metabolic set, just strip off about 20% of the load on the bar. It's not important to be exact but just use a load you know you can get around 10 reps with. Your 15RM load should be fine. You will be fatigued after the heavy sets so even that may be too much.
 
Also, there's no real need to do a met-set for all your exercises (as you have a lot). Just pick one exercise per muscle group.
Eg. for chest, if you were benching, you could do a lighter set of bench to finish up or do a higher-rep set of dips.
You could save all the metabolic work for the end of your workout but that tends to be an inefficient use of time.
 
Lol said:
Also, there's no real need to do a met-set for all your exercises (as you have a lot). Just pick one exercise per muscle group.
Eg. for chest, if you were benching, you could do a lighter set of bench to finish up or do a higher-rep set of dips.
You could save all the metabolic work for the end of your workout but that tends to be an inefficient use of time.
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Ahh I'm actually doing 1 set for those metabolic sets (not sure what they are but I usually judge it as an accessory if it's the second exercise for thst body part). My impression is that an accessory would address the strength aspect further (Dips as an accessory to bench might help me bust my plateau). Anyways, would you think that cable rows can substitute pendlay since my lower back is feeling over worked?
 
nick319 said:
Anyways, would you think that cable rows can substitute pendlay since my lower back is feeling over worked?
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If you feel that your lower back is already overworked then why do more work for that area that could potentially make the situation worse
 
A metabolic set is for a very specific purpose. It's not an accessory exercise to help your performance in some other lift. It's purpose is to activate the MAPKerk1/2 pathway because there is a lack of metabolic demand when doing heavy 5's. So, a metabolic set is to help boost the overall hypertrophic signalling during heavy 5's, particularly if you extend the 5s for more than a couple of weeks and/or do negatives.
 
mickc1965 said:
If you feel that your lower back is already overworked then why do more work for that area that could potentially make the situation worse
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I'd opt for the cable rows in a heart beat if the machine showed the actual weights, rather than some arbitrary number. But i guess I could do half plate increments by using those little plates at the side that can be added to the machine. They probably weigh about 5kg
 
Lol said:
A metabolic set is for a very specific purpose. It's not an accessory exercise to help your performance in some other lift. It's purpose is to activate the MAPKerk1/2 pathway because there is a lack of metabolic demand when doing heavy 5's. So, a metabolic set is to help boost the overall hypertrophic signalling during heavy 5's, particularly if you extend the 5s for more than a couple of weeks and/or do negatives.
Click to expand...

For example, I do 1x10 dips (instead of 1x5) during the 5rep weeks since my volume is relatively high already; or do i add on a third metabolic set?
 
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