Just did my first day HST! log

jasonjm2005

New Member
background, age 35. Weighed 182 lbs, 6 ft 2, 1 year ago at 16% BF (measured by pro with calipers). Did 5x5 workout, got up to 192 lbs at 16% BF, then plateaued for last 6 months. I just cannot add more weight no matter how hard I train, but that is probably because I do 10 to 20 hours cardio (all through sports) per week. As of now I am cutting cardio to 2 hrs per week. Never really been able to get over 190ish lbs my whole life without going to like 200 lbs 20% BF which doesn't count as its just getting fatter.

Goal: 215 lbs at 12% BF by january 2015 (yeah extremely unlikely, but may as well as make it a really tough goal).

Method: I am going to eat a LOT, but back off if I go above 18% BF. I figure 18% BF should be more than enough "extra" to feed any calories needed for muscle growth.

Here is my first HST workout which took me 65 minutes. I will not lie, I almost puked twice, but it was a good workout, enjoyed it, I like challenges. Some of the exercises I found brutal (like the 2nd set of wide grip chinups and the dips), and a few I never do so I was cautious with weight as I was unsure of technique (like shoulder press I never do, incline bench press almost never) so I played it very safe.

Any advice going forward? I am going to stick to the program exactly for 7 weeks (week 8 rest). On a side note, whether or not HST works, I can see why a lot of people will give up on it, this is not an easy workout, gotta get head in the game to pull off these 15 rep sets.


EXERCISESETSREPSWEIGHT
4 stomach exercises to warm up
SQUATS215225 lbs
STANDING CALF RAISE215 Machine 150 lbs
CHINUPS (1 set narrow 1 set wide)215 bodyweight / wide 33 machine assistance
DIPS215 bodyweight
SHRUGS215 Barbell 135 lbs
INCLINE BENCH PRESS215135 lbs
SHOULDER PRESS115 65 lbs
BICEPS CURL (one dumbell one barbell)215 32.5 dumbell and 65 barbell
ROWS (any other than seated)115 70 lbs barbell
SEATED ROWS115120 lbs machine
LEG CURLS215 110 lbs
LATERAL RAISE115 Dumbell 12.5 lbs
TRICEPS EXTENSION115 Single dumbell 50 lbs


Also just to confirm I understood the Ebook correctly, as there is no clear table that I could find of a sample workout guides as follows? I don't understand what to do beyond the 15s.... I see other peoples workouts have 10 reps x 3 sets and then 5 reps x 5? the book seemed to say as below unless I read an old copy?

1st week : 2 sets 15 on 3 days of week
2nd week : 2 sets 15 on 3 days of week
3rd week : 2 sets 10 on 3 days of week
4th week : 1 set 10 on 3 days of week
5th week : 2 sets 5 on 3 days of week
6th week : 1 set 5 on 3 days of week
7th week : 1 set 5 on 3 days of week, negative reps
8th week : rest

maybe i can dump the triceps extension and lateral raise and move shoulder press to 2 sets? I didn't particularly like those 2 exercises but then again i never ever do them?

the rows are really 1 exercise so that's like 2 sets.
 
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replying to my own thread. Seems every thread is about simplifying so I will do the same to mine, narrowed it down to now

2 sets of

SQUATS
STANDING CALF RAISE
CHINUPS (1 set narrow 1 set wide)
DIPS
SHRUGS
INCLINE BENCH PRESS
SHOULDER PRESS
BICEPS CURL (barbell)
SEATED ROWS
LEG CURLS


I see a lot of people are talking about A/B routines? are you doing this morning /afternoon? or day 1 / day 2? Is there any benefit to this if I can give it 100% effort in one session instead of an A/B (which I believe I can).

PS I left deadlifts off there as I have a bad history with deadlifts and do not like them.
 
Your exercise set up looks really good. I personally like to mix things up by alternating exercises. for example, there are many different forms of squat, so during on 6-8 week cycle I may alternate Squats with Zurcher squats. I also alternate Bench with incline bench. Just helps to keep things fresh and interesting. For example

Week 1
Mon - A
Wed - B
Fri -A

Week 2
Mon - B
Wed - A
Fri -B

*and so on.

Workout A
Squats
Calf Raise
Chinups
Dips
Shrugs
Inc Bench
Shoulder Press
Bicep Curl
Seated Row
Leg Curl

Workout B
Zurcher Squats
Seated Calf Raise
Lat Pull Down
Dips
Shrugs
Flat Bench
Military Press
Hammer Curl
Seated Row
SLDLs

That is not my exact program, but is an example of how you can mix up exercises.

With Deadlifts, I usually bring them in at the 5 rep stage. If you have had bad experience, it may be worth working on your form, say bring them in at 10 reps, but start extremely light, to make sure you are getting your form spot on. Deadlifts are on of the best exercises, not only do the work piratically every muscle in your body, but also helps you to produce more growth hormone, enabling the rest of your body to grow. I personaly thing Squats, Deads and Bench should be the fundamental exercises that your program is built around

good luck!! keep us posted!
:cool:
 
deadlifts is about only exercise in gym I just never felt comfortable doing. don't like the weight on my lower back. So definitely skipping that. I got squats in there at least, and rows, so I figure I should be covered for lack of deadlifts.

Also dumped benchpress in favor of incline press (which I never do) after reading about bench press injuries. Anyways I need much less weight on incline press to reach my max which seems better.

gonna do 1 cycle and see what happens. 15 x 2 then 12 x 2 then 10 x 3 then 8 x 3 then 6 x 3 then 4 x 4 then 5 x 3 neg and week 8 rest.
 
Let us know how the rep breakdown works for you. Im doing the standard 15/10/5/negs are present, but next cycle, im thinking of mixing up the rep ranges a bit.
 
ok well after my first week on HST I understand a few things

1) whether this program works or not (we shall see), I understand why very few people do it - it is brutal. that was one of the hardest weeks workouts I have done ever. Day 1 was ok, day 3 hard and day 5 just brutal.
2) I might have been a bit ambitious with 10 x 3 for week 3. Might be changing that to 10 x 2. 8 x 3 i can do, not sure about 10 x 3.
3) I am packing on weight already on week 1. A lot of it must be fat though as I am eating a lot (4000 cals on off days and 5000 on training days).
 
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