Rethinking Hst

So when strength gains stall and you've already increased volume as far as you can, while lifting every single day, what exactly do you suggest a lifter do? Time off or deloads are the only option at that point. You cannot infinitely increase load or volume and frequency is clearly pretty limited by the fact that time is not infinite.

I also disagree with pumping volume endlessly. If you watch to get stronger, lift heavier. If you want to get bigger, get stronger. I mean $hit, Jonnie Candito has a massive physique for a natural at his low bf% and height.
 
Increased volume (provided load is adequate to begin with) and increased load at a minimal volume have measurably similar effects on both size and strength.
 
SD isn't needed for breaking through plateaus... a simple deload would do.
The deloading component of SD wasn't the point of my objection. The purported benefits of submaximal loads+volume to put on new muscle on you were nothing but Mr. Bryan's imagination. Previous loads using greater volume work irrespective of SD, provided the loads are adequate for stimulating growth.
 
So when strength gains stall and you've already increased volume as far as you can, while lifting every single day, what exactly do you suggest a lifter do? Time off or deloads are the only option at that point. You cannot infinitely increase load or volume and frequency is clearly pretty limited by the fact that time is not infinite.

If your gains stall you're not doing it right.
 
If you want to get bigger, get stronger.

Obviously not. When powerlifters turn professional bodybuilders the first thing they do is drop the weight and increase the volume. Stronger is a different type of hypertrophy. With low volume there is not enough lactic acid generated to promote additional myonuclei. As I posted before, for a natural lifter looking for size it's the combination of high volume light weight and low volume heavy weight. Lifting heavy and getting that microtrauma is good for size but only if you have the excess myonuclei to support more mass.

As an aside, the 15s in HST aren't very effective for myonuclei building, volume is too low. The HST book was completed long before the science on this came out. If Bryan was to research again he would be forced to come to different conclusions. That isn't to say HST isn't right about a lot of things.
 
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Having said that, 9 days off is going to do sweet f**k all to impede your progress and gains over time.

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9 days off with zero lifting is likely to decrease the cross sectional area of muscle fibres.
 
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9 days off with zero lifting is likely to decrease the cross sectional area of muscle fibres.

Foy my $0.02, jury is still out as to the composition of that CSA. If the majority of it is glycogen, water, minerals and salts then who cares. That comes back in a heartbeat when you start lifting again.

I personally don't SD anymore, other than holidays (no point trying to fit gym in if you're travelling and sight-seeing everyday ... something isn't wired correctly there if you can't go 2-3 weeks without lifting weights every now and then), but it wouldn't surprise me if in the final analysis, some form of SD is optimal. It wouldn't surprise me if some form of DL is optimal.
 
If your gains stall you're not doing it right.

You are seriously trying to claim that a natural can continue to achieve gains in muscle and strength forever without ever taking a break of any sort, regardless of whether we are talking a deload or an actual SD?
 
Obviously not. When powerlifters turn professional bodybuilders the first thing they do is drop the weight and increase the volume. Stronger is a different type of hypertrophy. With low volume there is not enough lactic acid generated to promote additional myonuclei. As I posted before, for a natural lifter looking for size it's the combination of high volume light weight and low volume heavy weight. Lifting heavy and getting that microtrauma is good for size but only if you have the excess myonuclei to support more mass.

As an aside, the 15s in HST aren't very effective for myonuclei building, volume is too low. The HST book was completed long before the science on this came out. If Bryan was to research again he would be forced to come to different conclusions. That isn't to say HST isn't right about a lot of things.

Considering Bryan has never completed the HST book, I don't think you are talking about what you think you are talking about.
 
Just to add on to the previous one... who are these powerlifters turned bodybuilders that you are referring to? You are pulling that straight out of your ass. Most powerlifters "turned bodybuilder" simply cut down to get the excess fat off and that's about it, because they already had a significant musculature built underneath the fat. There are plenty of examples of this. Zero examples of actually successful bodybuilders who were former successful powerlifters that did what you said. Some guy from the gym who benches, squats and deadlifts a lot is not magically a powerlifter if he is not actually competing. And when that same guy decides to stop focusing on the big three, become a bodybuilder and instead reads that "you gotta work in the 8-12 rep range bro" so decides to do that, that doesn't mean he is now a powerlifter turned bodybuilder.

Stronger is not a "different kind of hypertrophy." Do you know what the definition of the word hypertrophy is? It is a pretty simple definition. You are arguing that somehow the muscle will grow in different ways to support either size or strength. That is ludicrous. Strength is a combination of muscle CSA and neural coordination.
 
Keep in mind that Blade has been known for using testosterone skin gel, so his training advice may not be appropriate for naturally training individuals.

This coming from a guy who used to pester me with all kinds of inane questions in the past...suddenly my 20 years of experience with almost 3000 clients producing world class lifters and athletes (drug-free), and knowledge is suddenly invalid since I’m on doctor-prescribed TRT for life and has been since my teens due to a medical condition? I was never good at anything, and even when I competed in bodybuilding I placed dead last and was the smallest guy on stage. Yes, I admitted to quite moderate use back in my competing days, when it was legal to use in my country. I also stated that I got better results with HST without any pharmaceutical assistance (not even TRT during that time).

My TRT puts me square in the middle of the normal range for testosterone levels. Even then, your logic would exclude almost all coaches in existence since the vast majority of them was never any good in their respective sport, and a lot of the authorities on strength and hypertrophy look pretty average. What I have personally done to my body does not in any way reflect what I know about the science and practice involved in improving the human body, and you just blow me away with such a derogatory and insulting comment.
 
you just blow me away with such a derogatory and insulting comment.
Just who would have thought... I'm sorry for having triggered an overreaction to the fact. And I'm sorry for pestering you with questions on myo-reps in the past, inane as they may have seemed, probably reflecting the essence of myo-reps. Another person who praises myo-reps highly is Old & Grey, himself on TRT due to age/whatever. I'm saying this because myo-reps did nothing measurable for me. Well, I probably never used it properly, or in a "proper" combination.

And I'm sure you know the difference between permanently elevated T levels, and the usual natural hormonal spikes....
 
Just who would have thought... I'm sorry for having triggered an overreaction to the fact. And I'm sorry for pestering you with questions on myo-reps in the past, inane as they may have seemed, probably reflecting the essence of myo-reps. Another person who praises myo-reps highly is Old & Grey, himself on TRT due to age/whatever. I'm saying this because myo-reps did nothing measurable for me. Well, I probably never used it properly, or in a "proper" combination.

And I'm sure you know the difference between permanently elevated T levels, and the usual natural hormonal spikes....

From how you described what you did for myo reps previously in this thread (#189) you didn't do it properly, myo reps was for me the best method for growth I found but as I have said before I did burn out doing it, probably because I overdid it in terms of number of exercises per body part rather than the system itself and nearing my 50th year and having lowish T levels (9.5 nmol/L or 279.3 ng/dl) doesn't help either.
 
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Just who would have thought... I'm sorry for having triggered an overreaction to the fact. And I'm sorry for pestering you with questions on myo-reps in the past, inane as they may have seemed, probably reflecting the essence of myo-reps. Another person who praises myo-reps highly is Old & Grey, himself on TRT due to age/whatever. I'm saying this because myo-reps did nothing measurable for me. Well, I probably never used it properly, or in a "proper" combination.

And I'm sure you know the difference between permanently elevated T levels, and the usual natural hormonal spikes....

So, your n=1 datapoint of not getting it to work for you - because you didn’t apply it properly, which is bleedingly obvious - means that you have to resort to ad hominems and blame my TRT? Way to project your insecurities.

Yes, in fact, I know everything about the function of hormones and receptors, and the one thing I know for certain is that permanently elevated levels will downregulate the receptor activity. This is why users always get better results from short-acting esters than long esters - and why the long-acting Nebido needs to be overdosed to be even remotely successful for TRT. Hence, not an advantage, at all.

Again, your pattern is the same...instead of applying tried-and-true programs and methods you think you are smarter than those who have used it before you, mess it up completely with your OCD, then blame other people or outside factors for your lack of progress. You have a clear pattern of seeking advice, then going elsewhere and posting it in order to get validation or counter-arguments instead of forming your own, qualified opinion. There is a fine line between intellectual honesty and curiosity and simply being a troll...not sure what you are, but it screams insecurity.

I suggest you take some time for introspection and seek some professional help. It is glaringly obvious to anyone who has either successfully built their own body or coached others to world-class success that YOU are what is holding yourself back. I have coached several 60-65kg girls who are stronger than you, none of them on TRT by the way, but they have that unique ability to FOLLOW THE PROGRAM vs. thinking they know better than me.
 
Deep breaths gentlemen, looks like a long and protracted game of ping pong has just started!!
 
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I'm happy experimenting and progressing, without following any cooked up training+diet routine, and I don't really need to pay anyone to get their help, all the necessary information can be obtained from certain literature. And most of all, I don't see the need to hide behind low T levels as an excuse for taking steroids. Good luck, and be careful with your overall health and heart/blood condition (google for androgel).
 
I see it is not sinking in yet, which is your typical Dunning-Kruger behavior, so let me be clear: You are in no position to make judgments about my knowledge or a training method I designed, based on my personal medical condition, health or needs thereof.

Case in point: your lack of results with HST, your lack of results with Myo-reps, your lack of ability to get stronger than 20-year old girls who weigh the same as you do...this is not my fault, nor anyone else who have tried to help you or argue with you.

It is all you. And hidden behind that internet bravado of yours, I know it hurts to hear this, and to realize it is true...but your feeble ad hominems are just pathetic attempts to misdirect yourself from the truth staring you in the face right now.

So good luck with that.
 
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Sorry, I was never decisive about getting stronger until relatively recently, misinterpreting the idea behind the "SD+previous loads" concept of HST, which was only my fault. Those girls you're mentioning (or most likely their coach, i.e. you) were attempting to get themselves stronger, succeeding in that. Speaking of truth, the only glaring truth at this time is that you are/were on drugs and are still enjoying the potentially permanent effect of their use, so you're hardly in the position to believe that the results you possess are your own and that you aren't carrying around someone else's muscle mass.
 
But what about the thousands of clients that have had success with Blades coaching, are you saying that they are all on AAS?
 
But what about the thousands of clients that have had success with Blades coaching, are you saying that they are all on AAS?
Not at all, I don't think those 60-65kg girls were on drugs because it's absolutely possible to get stronger than I have faster, girl or not. I know that. My goal has never been to follow some pre-cooked complete training and/or diet advice, but to stay relatively free-minded in how I choose to get where I want. I understand Borge's negative reaction because it's never easy when someone tells you the truth you'd better forget.
 
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