Increasing Work Capacity In Hst And Volume?

M

Mojo77

Member
Hi folks,

been awhile but i'm still at it.
Recently came accross this article by Greg Nuckols:

https://www.strongerbyscience.com/increasing-work-capacity/

it states in order to continue progression one should imperatively increase volume overtime. Ok, I see no such thing in HST. It has the exact same volume cycle after cycle after cycle.

Lookin at other programs like Wendler 5/3/1 it is the exact same thing, no volume increases over the time, per cycle volume is the exact same, only intensity varies within the cycle

So what is this about? Confused...
 
I would say as long as you are increasing load on the bar from one cycle to the next I don't see any issues with the HST setup.
 
You need to increase volume if you keep the weights and reps the same. Adding weights or reps does not necessarily require an increase in volume also. He is talking about total work and not just volume which is just one compnent of work. Reread the article as I think you may have misinterpreted what he is trying to say, albet a bit clumsily.
 
As you probably know from reading the articles here on the HST site, it is load over time that needs to increase rather than volume. This is the primary growth stimulus. Sure, you can increase volume over instead, but that will limit the load you can use. Also, consider the fact that volume is rather finite. You only have so many hours in a day to work out, right? Unless you are independently wealthy and can dedicate six or twelve hours a day to working out, you are only going to be able to increase volume so far. Load, on the other hand, is theoretically infinite. You can keep adding weight to the bar as your strength increases and thus keep growth going.

It's worth pointing out that his article was based more on increasing actual work capacity and strength. HST is, as the name implies, hypertrophy specific.
 
As Totentanz notes in HST it is called load over time and that is basically what Gnuckols is describing with slightly different methodology than HST:

Let’s say you can do 3 sets of 3 with 315 on squat. What’s easier? Trying to go 325 3×3 (assuming you’ve exhausted your linear gains), or doing another single with 315 at the end? The single, obviously. Then a double the next session, then a triple the one after that. Once you could do 6-8 triples, you could drop back to 3 sets, and probably go 335 3×3 and do it all over again. That’s a 20-pound increase in about 2 months. Not too shabby. The key is that adding one rep per session isn’t all that taxing on your body over your established baseline. Then when you drop back to just 3 sets, it’s less volume than you’ve grown accustomed to, setting you up nicely for the subsequent re-ramping of the volume.
Click to expand...

So while he may increase a rep or two through workouts, HST would instead increase a bit of weight. The effect is virtually the same, when you look at reps x weight you can increase either to get a greater stimulus. Basically, its the same thing just changing reps instead of weight.
 
Hi Mojo77. Its also important to note that "HST" is not a specific routine, it is a set of principles based on the physiology of training-induced muscle growth. One underlying principle is, "The effectiveness of any load depends on the condition of the muscle at the time to load is applied." This principle can also be extended to other variables such as volume.

We know that because of the repeated bout effect, the training stimulus becomes weaker and weaker over time as the body adapts to it. In order to compensate, we use the principle of "progressive overload". We can progress the overload both by increasing the weight and/or the volume (i.e. time under load). As others have mentioned, increasing the volume is just another way of increasing the load on the muscle over time.

It should be remembered that there is a point of diminishing returns and even detriment with volume. So, find your "sweet spot" and then adjust your volume as your body changes over time.
 
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