Increasing weights during HST

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cookieman9000

New Member
Sorry for the multiply threads. I have stumbled in yet another two questions I couldn't find an answer to.
When I increase the weights during say 15's. Does it have to be the same weight increase per session. Can I add 10lbs in one session, then 5lbs the other, then 10lbs again, etc...

Also what is the minimum amount of weight I should increase in. Is increasing by 2.5lbs per session too little? Or is it fine?
 
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I think this was covered in the eBook or maybe somewhere in the past, but basically 2.5lbs isn't really enough for your body to feel the difference. What I see most commonly is 5lbs on upper body and 10lbs on lower (maybe they were talking kgs), personally I do it by percentage. I think the more important function is keeping it relative to your lift, once you exceed 200lbs in a lift (or really any of your compound lifts) you won't notice a 5lb change that much. But if it's a smaller lift 5lbs can feel pretty drastic. As far as oscillating progression I doubt it will be an issue (though does it actually provide a purpose in your cycle?) since many people rubber-band a bit when they progress from 15-10s or 10-5s.
 
What counts the most is the difference between where you start each mini-cycle and end each mini-cycle as long as you are starting with a weight at least equal to 60% or so of your 1 RM and progress each session.
 
Old and Grey said:
What counts the most is the difference between where you start each mini-cycle and end each mini-cycle as long as you are starting with a weight at least equal to 60% or so of your 1 RM and progress each session.
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Does it mean that during most of the 15's I won't be building muscle, since a percentage of my 15rm is going to be less than 60%?
 
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cookieman9000 said:
Does it mean that during most of the 15's I won't be building muscle, since a percentage of my 15rm is going to be less than 60%?
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Yeah, it's a lot harder to properly stimulate growth with sub maximal 15s. It's probably my better to do only one week of 15s, and start at around 90% of your 15RM for all your exercises, and progress quickly to your 15RM. Even if you do two weeks, I would do 90/90/95/95/100/100 as the workout progression %.
 
cookieman9000 said:
Does it mean that during most of the 15's I won't be building muscle, since a percentage of my 15rm is going to be less than 60%?
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No, after a proper SD you can build sarcoplasmic muscle with the 15's. However, the primary purpose is to prepare your muscle/joints for the heavier weights. You can do only one week (or even no weeks) of the 15's if you have no apparent joint or tendon problems or soreness. Otherwise, 15's are a necessity to maintain your health so you can lift heavy and starting with a lower weight is part of that rehab. I usually do one week of 15's as a preventative measure as I have had a shoulder impingement in the past. I will go from 70% of my 15 RM to 100% of my 15 RM in however many workouts I may be doing per week during that particular cycle. If you have an injury, you cannot workout at all so just consider the 15's as an insurance policy.
 
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I guess I should explain the apparent inconsistency of my posts. In the first post I was talking strictly about muscle building without reference to 15's. In the second post, I was talking about the true purpose of the 15's and not muscle building. My first post would probably mathematically agree with Sci's while the second addresses joint and tendon health. Hope I didn't inadvertently confuse anyone before posting this explanation. Sometimes my fingers type faster than my brain thinks.
 
Old and Grey said:
No, after a proper SD you can build sarcoplasmic muscle with the 15's. However, the primary purpose is to prepare your muscle/joints for the heavier weights. You can do only one week (or even no weeks) of the 15's if you have no apparent joint or tendon problems or soreness. Otherwise, 15's are a necessity to maintain your health so you can lift heavy and starting with a lower weight is part of that rehab. I usually do one week of 15's as a preventative measure as I have had a shoulder impingement in the past. I will go from 70% of my 15 RM to 100% of my 15 RM in however many workouts I may be doing per week during that particular cycle. If you have an injury, you cannot workout at all so just consider the 15's as an insurance policy.
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Are you doing the traditional 15/10/5/5 rep scheme?
 
Typically I would do a 15, 10, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5 routine. Sometimes I will mentally burn out before I complete the 6th or 7th week and then SD. The last two weeks of 5's are at 5 RM's whilst trying to increase them to 6 or 7 reps. This cycle I am experimenting with undulating reps where, at a minimum, I do 5, 15, 5 and 10 reps each week. If I have an extra free day, I throw in a repeat of my last set of 5's. There is some fairly new "science" that claims as much as a 10% betterment over the traditional rep weekly rep scheme. I have targetted to hit my RM's on Week 6 and may continue unless I need an SD. However, I think I can do longer cycles with this type of routine as I am not doing multiple weeks of just 5's. I may continue with just 10's and 5's. We'll see. I also am incorporating modified myo reps by keeping progressive loading instead of the true myo close to failure scheme.
 
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cookieman9000 said:
Sorry for the multiply threads. I have stumbled in yet another two questions I couldn't find an answer to.
When I increase the weights during say 15's. Does it have to be the same weight increase per session. Can I add 10lbs in one session, then 5lbs the other, then 10lbs again, etc...

Also what is the minimum amount of weight I should increase in. Is increasing by 2.5lbs per session too little? Or is it fine?
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http://thinkmuscle.com/forum/showthread.php?41974-The-HST-Ebook
 
Old and Grey said:
Typically I would do a 15, 10, 10, 5, 5, 5, 5 routine. Sometimes I will mentally burn out before I complete the 6th or 7th week and then SD. The last two weeks of 5's are at 5 RM's whilst trying to increase them to 6 or 7 reps. This cycle I am experimenting with undulating reps where, at a minimum, I do 5, 15, 5 and 10 reps each week. If I have an extra free day, I throw in a repeat of my last set of 5's. There is some fairly new "science" that claims as much as a 10% betterment over the traditional rep weekly rep scheme. I have targetted to hit my RM's on Week 6 and may continue unless I need an SD. However, I think I can do longer cycles with this type of routine as I am not doing multiple weeks of just 5's. I may continue with just 10's and 5's. We'll see. I also am incorporating modified myo reps by keeping progressive loading instead of the true myo close to failure scheme.
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I see. When you complete the whole cycle, do you usually progress in strength on all lifts?
 
cookieman9000 said:
I see. When you complete the whole cycle, do you usually progress in strength on all lifts?
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I do but after 50 years of training my strength gains are very very small compared to newbies. If I can add a 6th rep to my 5 RM at the end of my post 5's, I am happy. That does not happen every time now so I am mixing things up to push my body more efficiently.
 
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