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(Mont @ Aug. 19 2008,5:16)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Hi everyone!
First of all im new to the site and would like to say hello to everyone here, my names scott mont im from ellesmere port (just outside liverpool,uk). Im almost 21 and have been lifting since i was 16. not to sure on height/weight at this time but will update shortly.
Anyway ive been doing a typical 3x week back/bi, chest/tri & delt/legs routine but i am oing to convert to HST
! I have a few questions and wondered if you guys could help me out.
Do i only include iso's for bi's n tri's etc. in the 10's & 5's and use only 12 compounds for the 15's? Do you use 1x15, 2x10 & 3x5? Why do people say to switch between deads and squats? I thought deads were for back and squats are for legs? And finally I struggle with chin ups so are pulldowns ok until i can do chin ups? also, which rows are better Bent Over Barbell or T-Bar?
Any help from you guys is appreciated as i am really excited about using HST, Thanks again, Mont.</div>
First off welcome Mont. I am a new poster here but have been reading these forums for a year or more as I researched HST as well as other new protocols to me. I really like the good solid principles this routine is based upon. My recent lifts have been using volume / failure training for the last two years. They were productive in their own right but not so much in the strength department. At least not like my old power lifting days. Im too old for that level of lifting now. I still lift fairly heavy but I have let all of my lifts go down a considerable amount and opted for less explosive / power training methods. It has been fun and educational for sure. I tried volume / failure training for so long to assist my current partner who has more of a body building agenda than a power lifting agenda. He made great progress on it in size, quality and strength. Me, not so much in strength but I lost quite a bit of weight and gained some interesting seperation of muscle heads and the like for my effort. HST is more like what I am used to in the 5X5 routines I used as a staple when I PLed. So we are giving it a go together then. This is my first week so no real opinion of HST as of yet.
Why switch between deads and squats? Well those two lifts (and a few others) are the most productive lifts ever devised for gaining mass and power. They both use so many muscles in the execution and the intense effort tends to result in an increased hormone release that spills over into helping you grow the other muscles not directly hit by the lifts. Both work the legs and back but IMO the squats are more focused on the legs where as the deadlift is more focused on the back. This goes for many of the olympic lifts as well, Cleans, Snatches, Clean and Jerk...etc. They are all great and I would encourage anybody to learn to do them correctly and regularly include them in their own routines. Plus these two particular tend to compliment each other very nicely. Meaning that some of the progress made in each respective lift physically and neurologically will spill over into the other lift. Plus you get variety. Eh a win win.
I too opted for many isolation exercises in my routine. I am a long time trainer (25 plus years now) and I feel as though I will be able to handle the volume. Especially coming right out of a volume routine as I have. If it gets to be too much later in the cycle (10s, 5s) then I will begin to remove isolation work as indicated by fearfactory in his suggestion. This is where instinct and listening to your body comes into play. Look for the overtraining signs early. Restless sleep, eye twitch, chronic fatigue etc. And monitor closely your performance. You should gain strength over the course of the meso cycle. If you appear to be losing some then that is another good sign you are doing too much and adjust. My first choices will be to remove isolation work at the torso level and then move to the extremities if I need to reduce volume further. Hopefully I wont need to d othat. I really like doing some of those lifts. Heh
I use both the BB Row and T-Bar row. I frequently alternate the two and swap hand positions on the BB row. Pronated, supinated, grip width etc. I even do a variation of the BB row for rhomboids with my hands all the way out to the collars. So the BB row wins in the variation department but both are very productive lifts. I feel as though I get a greater range of motion from the BB rows compared to T-bar rows. The wider hand positioning of BB rows seems to activate my rhomboids and deltoids a little more as well. I lift slightly higher weight in the T-bar rows. I seem to get more lower lat activation from the T-bar rows. Both have merits and I would suggest perhaps alternating each macro cycle or even in an A/B meso cycle. Again a little variety to keep you interested never really hurt as long as you are choosing good productive lifts.
(BTW, fearfactory has made several really good posts on here and appears to have a good experience base even if he only has been at it a few years. Plus he is very encouraging in his words. Like so many of the helpful people on this forum, give his words some consideration.)
! I have a few questions and wondered if you guys could help me out. 
