Time to give HST a try

DeMello

New Member
Well yesterday i competed in a BJJ tournament and now that i dont have to watch my weight for awhile i wanna bulk up! I did a 9 day SD of not lifting weights while i cut weight for the tournament but was still doing cardio, and things like pushups, pullups, situps, etc. i know cardio negatively effects results and that adequate rest is necessary but i will still be doing some MMA training during my HST cycle. To make up for calories being burnt and to ensure i have enough to grow ill be increasing my diet by around 1000 calories on days i dont lift, and by around 1500 calories on days i do lift. Lifting is going to be mon, wed, and friday. Tuesday i will be teaching kids swimming lessons, Sundays i host a beachbody fit club so ill be doing something along the lines of P90x or Insanity (no weights in either). Saturday will always be a rest day, and during the week i will be training a few days of MMA but it will mostly be technique. Of course this may slightly hinder my progress but im willing to accept that.

I will be following this chart as close to possible
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heavy deadlifts have been hurting my left hip lately and i have lower back problems so i will be throwing in SLDL (which really helps stretch my back out) starting at 120LBs x8-12 and increasing it slightly every session while doing as many reps as possilbe depending on my hip/back

i will also be trying to apply HST principles to weighted situps but im not really sure how im going to do it yet because even with more then my body weight on my chest i can do 20+ reps and it starts to feel like my chest is getting crushed lol

My supplement stack will be
Nsane preworkout
Pro7 with mass fuzion post workout
shakeology, fishoil, multivitamins, 5g creatine mono everyday

feel free to critique and post suggestions :)
 
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good for you mate. looks like a good program. maybe try something other than weighted situps? i use a crunch machine, its easy to apply HST to it.
 
good for you mate. looks like a good program. maybe try something other than weighted situps? i use a crunch machine, its easy to apply HST to it.

i would love to use a crunch machine but i lift at my house. i have ALOT of stuff but not a machine for abs
 
5/23/22

Well not sure if its typical after an SD but even 75% of my 15RMs were extremly hard to work with today for most lifts. No way in hell i could of done 15reps with my 100%RM so idk whats going to happen on my 6th session. After using my Rip:60 straps to stretch and then lightly warmup all muslces my first HST session looked like this

Using myo reps with 10 second pauses inbetween each set....

115LB bench 15x3x3x2x2
55LB ez bar curl 15x3x3x2x2
19LB dumbell shoulder press 15x3x3x2x2
45LB tricep pull down 15x3x3x2x2
65LB Lat pull 15x3x3x2x2
300LB Leg press 15x3x3x2
115LB seated calf raise 15x3x3x2x2
100LB Leg extension 15x3x3x2x2
28LB Forearm curl 15x5x4x3
120LB SLDL 12x4x4x3
90LB Decline situps 15x3x3x3x2x2
 
You will be capable of doing it by the time you get to your 15RM session, assuming you aren't doing anything like drastically cutting calories or anything.
 
You will be capable of doing it by the time you get to your 15RM session, assuming you aren't doing anything like drastically cutting calories or anything.
im taking in more caloires then i ever have in my entire life! and my 8 pack is now a 4 pack :/ lol

5/24/11

rest day :)

5/25/11

warmup ended up being 30 minutes of fighting with lug-nuts on tire rotation and then a 2 minute stretch
this session ended up taking a full hour thanks to facebook distractions

again, myo reps with 10 second pauses, roughly 80% of 15RMs

Bench 120LBs 15x5x3x2x1
EZ bar curls 60LBs 15x5x3x2x1
Leg press 310LBs 15x5x3x2x1
Dumbbell Shoulder Press 23LBs 15x5x3x2x1
Seated Calf Raise 120LBs 15x5x3x2x1
Lat PullDown 67.5LBs 15x5x3x2x1
SLDL 125LBs 15x5x3x2x1
Tricep Pulldowns 48LBs 15x5x3x2x1
Leg Extensions 102.5LBs 15x5x3x2x1
Dumbell Forearm Curls 30.5LBs 15x5x3x2x1
Decline Weighted Situps 92.5LBs 15x5x3x2x1
 
5/26/11

Rest day since i cant rest saturday this week

5/27/11

once again my warmup was doing a tire rotation and quick stretch
85% 15RM day, myo reps with 10 second pauses except 15 seconds on curls

along with going up 5% im also adding 1 rep per day

EZ bar curl 65LBX 15x3x2x2x3x2 - extremely difficult, got a great pump from it tho
Dumbbell shoulder press 25LBS 15x3x2x2x3x2
Leg Press 320LBs 15x3x2x2x3x2
Lat Pull 70LBs 15x3x2x2x3x2 - too easy, going up 10% next session
Tricep pulldown 51LBs 15x3x2x2x3x2
SLDL 130LBs 15x3x2x2x3x2 - near failure
Forearm Curls 33LBs 15x3x2x2x3x3 - accidentally did extra rep at end lol
Bench - 125LBs 15x3x2x2x3x2 - shocked at how much stronger i got at it since monday
Leg Extensions 106LBs 15x3x2x2x3x2
Seated Calf Raise - 125LBs - forgot to do it LOL
Weighted Decline situps - 95LBs 15x3x2x2x3x2
 
Hi DeMello
First off, I look forward to follow your your log, as active Vanilla-HST logs, are a little hard to come by.

Can I asume the missing Squat's are due to your lower back problems?

Also I find it hard to belive, you're able to add your BW to weighted crunches @20+ reps, without fixating your legs. In case you do, whouldn't it be more of a hip flexor workout, rather than an abb workout?
(In case you don't, and this is the norm, i'll definitely need to work on my abbs :p)

I'd go for abb-work on a flat bench, with feet on the edge of the bench, holding the weight behind my head, for the added leveredge. This works for me with as little as 5-10 kg (~11-22 lbs) @BW 97 kg (~213 lbs)
 
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Hi DeMello
First off, I look forward to follow your your log, as active Vanilla-HST logs, are a little hard to come by.

Can I asume the missing Squat's are due to your lower back problems?

Also I find it hard to belive, you're able to add your BW to weighted crunches @20+ reps, without fixating your legs. In case you do, whouldn't it be more of a hip flexor workout, rather than an abb workout?
(In case you don't, and this is the norm, i'll definitely need to work on my abbs :p)

I'd go for abb-work on a flat bench, with feet on the edge of the bench, holding the weight behind my head, for the added leveredge. This works for me with as little as 5-10 kg (~11-22 lbs) @BW 97 kg (~213 lbs)

ive been doing it on a decline bench with my feet in leg extension part of bench
and no squats because my gmy is currently too messy to get to my squat rack lol, next cycle ill replace leg press with squats

and while im on here

5/28/11

6 hours of washing cars = burnt

5/29/11
burnt = skipped fit club
hope im ok for tommorows workout

gonna have to try abs with 10LBs behind my head, thanks for the advice
 
5/30/11

90% 15RM Day
crappy minute warmup/stretch
myo reps were with 10-20 second pauses, all 15+ 5+3+4+1

distracted by an attractive female friend that was over and with workout already going on 80 minutes i skipped leg press and abs

Bench 130LBs
EZ bar curl 70LBs, brought me 99% to failure
Seated Calf raised 130LBs
Lat pull 77.5LBs which is my "95% 15RM"
Tricep pulldown 55LBs
SLDL 135LBs
Dumbbell shoulder press 38LBs (instead of 28s)
Leg extension 110LBs
Forearm wrist curls 35.5LBs

And i just realized why shoulder press was so hard today! i accidently went 10 pounds heavier with each dumbell!!! Pretty happy right now because i was able to do all the reps even though form wasnt perfect on some of them i was able to push through. Also shoulder press is something ive never really done, so i have been expecting to get alot stronger in it as i go through this cycle and just estimating on 10RM and 5RM when i get there like i will be doing with SLDL
 
5/31/11

spent about 10 minutes in the gym stretching my lower back, hitting abs, and 4 minutes on a stationary bike which also uses arms at a moderate pace
 
6/1/11

no warmup or stretch
decided to skip leg extension, SLDL, and forearms because tommorow ill be doing some manual labor and skipped abs since i did them yesterday

95% 15RM day
myo reps all brought me as close to failure as possible instead of doing same sets on all lifts like ive been doing

Bench 135LBs 15+4+2+2+1.8? lol, limited time with spotter = extremely short pauses (5 seconds or so) and at top 2nd rep on last set the bar came back down

EZ bar 75LBs 13+4+3+3+3 ridiculously difficult, every rep pass the first 10 put me near failure
Leg press 340LBs 15+4+3+2+3
Lat pull 80LBs (100% 15RM) 15+7+8+7+7
Tricep pulldown 56LBs 15+6+4+4+5
Calf raise 135LBs 15+10+8+7+7

Shoulder Press 38LBs, same weight as last session but is 10 heavier then what i thought was my 15RM so i figured id use it again and go for better form since its so difficult for me to do. felt it more along my sides then shoulders, not sure if thats normal? anyways 15+6+4+6+5 and since im an idiot my weaker side only had 35.5LBs on it
 
6/2/11

6 hours working on a pool, replacing the skimmer
2 hours involved digging and jack-hammering...nasty workout

6/3/11

my diet was complete s**t today and i felt it during workout. my preworkout NO supplement doesnt do much for me and with not eating much i was actually getting light headed during lifts. since today was my 100% 15RM day i did 2 sets of each lift trying to break past 15reps instead of myo reps

140LBs Bench - 16
85LBs Lat pull (110% 15RM) - 19 with perfect form and full extension on each rep
350LBs Leg press - 18
140LBs Bench - 14.5 (failed on 15th)
85LBs Lat pull (110% 15RM) - 17, again with perfect form
350LBs Leg press - 17

5 minute break

80LBs EZ bar curls (14RM) - 13 1/2 (Failed on 14th)
50LBs dumbbell shoulder press (140% 15RM) - 14, bad form
115LBs Seated Leg Extension - 17
80LBs EZ bar curls (14RM) - 12 1/2 (Failed on 13th)
50LBs dumbbell shoulder press (140% 15RM) - 15, bad form
115LBs Seated Leg Extension - 18

5 minute break

60LBs Tricep pull down - 14
140LBs SLDL (huge jump from where i was 3 weeks ago) - 18
140LBs Seated calf raise - 20
60LBs Tricep pull down - 16
140LBs SLDL (huge jump from where i was 3 weeks ago) - 16
140LBs Seated calf raise - 19

I felt no need to do forearms today and was too exhausted to hit abs

Also next week im going to change up forearms and calfs to lower weight with higher reps and better form because im not getting anywhere near the workout i should be getting by using heavier weight

15s have kicked my a$$, cant wait to start 10s on monday
 
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140LBs Seated calf raise - 20
....
Also next week im going to change up forearms and calfs to lower weight with higher reps and better form because im not getting anywhere near the workout i should be getting by using heavier weight
Hi DeMello
I was wonderdering, what makes you think/feel your workouts aren't insufficient?
A repcount of 20/set (or 15 for that matter) already wouldn't let you lift enough weight to gain any real size. Going any higher than that: i'd call it cardio.
 
Hi DeMello
I was wonderdering, what makes you think/feel your workouts aren't insufficient?
A repcount of 20/set (or 15 for that matter) already wouldn't let you lift enough weight to gain any real size. Going any higher than that: i'd call it cardio.

ive always trained forearms and calfs with less weight, and better form. doing the routine slow and getting a good pump/burn. now i feel it with all lifts except for these 2 so i figured its not as effective. if that makes ANY sense
 
Well, I can see where you're comming from, but pump and burn realy dosn't promote hypertrophy. Good form is important, of course, but you need to load the mucle with heavy weight, to cause enough damage. That would go for calfs and forearms, as any muscle.
 
Well, I can see where you're comming from, but pump and burn realy dosn't promote hypertrophy. Good form is important, of course, but you need to load the mucle with heavy weight, to cause enough damage. That would go for calfs and forearms, as any muscle.

maybe what ill do is pick a weight that allows me to do the lift slow and perfect, full extension and flexing at top, while only being able to do it 10 times
 
Treat all muscle groups the same with progression and load (as in % of RM) used, for best results...
 
Treat all muscle groups the same with progression and load (as in % of RM) used, for best results...

thanks for input, much appreciated

6/4/11

5 minutes of hitting abs, light short stretch

6/5/11

Fitclub - Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning (45 minutes)
 
6/6/11

decided to forget my spreadsheet and trust my body more then my math since ive already gotten a bit stronger in some areas and have put on some weight since b4 my SD

today started 10RMs and i chose to pick weights that would allow me to do 10 reps, wait 10-15 seconds and do another 10 as close to failure as possible without actaully failing and surprisingly i was spot on with EVERY workout!!!

Bench 135 (85%10RM)
Lat pull 90 (100% 10RM)
EZ bar 70 (78%10RM)- curls seem to be getting hard for me for some reason
Leg EX 120 (92%10RM)
Shoulder Press 40 (115% 10RM)
Tricep pulldown 60 (86% 10RM)
Calf rasie 130 (84%10RM)- full range of motion and holding at top now
SLDL 160 - hardest lift of the day, went too heavy IMO
Forearm curl 38 (93%10RM)- better form then last week and when i got RMs
Leg press 340 (88%10RM)

and i did the same workout with abs using my Rip:60 straps to suspend feet with knees at at 90 degree angle, doing cruches with 13 pounds held above chest
 
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