My HST Program [Did I misunderstand?]

I try to keep rest to 2mins maximum and if needs be cluster my reps, noticeably on last sets of BP, Pullups, and military press. Weights NEVER went down and I would say I was at my 5RM because I felt I could not do another rep without feeling as if it would be to failure.
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You mean clustering for the initial sets? Otherwise you get fatigue anyway, and adding to that with clustering looks like some exhausting work. You're probably much more experienced than I am :)

Bravo, what can I say. Sorry for asking, I assume you're training naturally?.. I wonder if you also felt you were getting close to hitting failure at the end of the first set? If not, that probably wasn't your max. 5x5 with 2 minute rest definitely couldn't be max. Same for 2x5. 2x4 (with a 5RM weight) sounds more like it.

You need to make sure your diet is in check and I believe supplements help also.
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Yeah, I probably need to eat a bit more food rich in protein, like chicken breast.
 
I doubt 3's would be as good as 5's as far as hypertrophic response is concerned. Increased injury potential aside, they're just not long enough.
 
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What about if I was to increase duration of the contraction/time under load?

My normal count is 2 up 4 down (seconds), maybe this could be increased to 3/6 or 4/8 (although 8 seconds seems a long time on a eccentric contraction and would probably do more damage than good?)
 
AderynGlas said:
What about if I was to increase duration of the contraction/time under load?

My normal count is 2 up 4 down (seconds), maybe this could be increased to 3/6 or 4/8 (although 8 seconds seems a long time on a eccentric contraction and would probably do more damage than good?)
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Quite the contrary. At lighter loads you're advised to "explode" the weight out of the bottom, probably in an attempt to activate all fibers despite the lighter load. At heavier loads the speed you move the weight at will just come naturally :) It *will* already be slow because it's just soo heavy. As to the way down.. 6-8 sec. etc. is just too slow, it's not recommended to go beyond 2-3 seconds:
HST FAQ Part 1 said:
During negatives you should lower the weight in about 2-3 seconds. This may seem too quick
to most traditionalists. Research has shown that if you go too slow during negatives you don't
get the same growth stimulus. It begins to resemble the effect of isometrics if you go too slow.
This is one reason why the old principle of "time under tension" isn't so simple as just time. The
action of the muscle while under load is very important when trying to produce a specific
effect.
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Thanks for the advice, now in a quandary whether to bother with a week/ two weeks of 3s or an extra week of 5s. (don't fancy repeating the 2 weeks of 5s due to boredom and it's not also increasing anything).

Guess I'll just have to see how I feel... Thanks again.
 
This M-Time/MaxStim thing looks pretty darn similar to myo reps, which is itself similar to rest-pause stuff. Go figure. Wait, M-Time uses short pauses right from the start, irrespective of fatigue. So it IS different :)
 
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I like the sound of this MaxStim training, althought the science part was way too much information!!!!

Has anyone tried it in place of the last two weeks at 5RM and does it allow you to progress to heavier loads?

More importantly is there any significant advantage?
 
I’ve used it to great effect during and at the end of a cycle for some exercises, like Deadlift and other Concentric (bottom up) lifts. The advantage I’ve found is being able to do more total reps in a session with less cumulative fatigue so I can get in more total reps than if I was doing standard sets or even clustering. However, I don’t use it on all exercises just the ones I want to work very heavy and don’t mind going into a low rep range. There’s also less chance of your form breaking down since you reset after each and every rep.
 
Isn't it harder to lift a non-moving weight (like after some rest), than a weight that was moving down in a controlled fashion at a smallish speed? For this reason, with a 4-5RM weight, a BB curl movement is harder on the first rep than on the second, unless you help yourself by swinging the bar a bit before starting to give it some momentum. Same goes for deadlifts. But not for squats because you start by going down anyway.
 
HST_Rihad said:
Isn't it harder to lift a non-moving weight (like after some rest), than a weight that was moving down in a controlled fashion at a smallish speed? For this reason, with a 4-5RM weight, a BB curl movement is harder on the first rep than on the second, unless you help yourself by swinging the bar a bit before starting to give it some momentum. Same goes for deadlifts. But not for squats because you start by going down anyway.
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I'd have thought that to slow-down, stop and then reverse the direction of something would require more energy than to start moving a stationary object, especially if there are forces working against the direction of travel (the uplift on a curl)?
 
AderynGlas said:
I'd have thought that to slow-down, stop and then reverse the direction of something would require more energy than to start moving a stationary object, especially if there are forces working against the direction of travel (the uplift on a curl)?
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That's where momentum kicks in. Reversing the direction of a force (induced on the weight by gravity) from down to up uses some of its energy for the lift. That's why it is easier to lift without stopping. And this is also the reason that during competition bench pressing candidates are required to clearly stop the bar at the bottom before pushing it up. Now with MaxStim you're essentially doing a series of "first reps". Not sure if it's good or bad results wise.
 
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