Total Rep Volume and Rep Ranges

ok. The RPEs are done. Here it goes:

15 /10/ 5
Bench 65/ 75/ 80
CableRow 55 /65 /70
Dumb.Press 22.5/ 27.5/ 30
Pulldown: 57.5 /67.5/ 72.5
Cable Curl: 40 /50/ 55
TricPushdown 60/ 70/ 75
CloseGripBench 55 /65/ 80
Leg Press 70 /90/ 140
Leg Curl: 17.5 / 27.5 /32.5
---------------------------------------------

Comments:
-Sorry for the form of the matrix.
-The testing went well. Some lifts were all out. Some were a bit more conservative. In some lifts there would have been PERHAPS a bit more in the tank. But not more than 2-2.5kg. So for beginning I think the lifts are ok.
-I was surprised on Close Grip bench. thats the only exercise were the difference between the 10 and 5RPM is quite huge. Also I seem to be quit triceps dominant (look at the regular bench press as comparison...)
-I will pick the Cable pushdown OR the CGP for triceps-not both. I will decide during the SD wich to pick.
-Leg Press/Legs: Also here the jump to 5RPM is quite big: Keep in mind that I didn´t do legs (expect runnning) for over a decade. So I already got a adaption during the testing.

Well thats it. I will SD for 12-14 days and will start on monday the 3rd or tuesday the 4th.december.

Some gains for santa claus.
TG
 
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Ok.
This week will be pure SD. I neverthless will do some cardio.

Thoughts:
I am still bothered a bit regarding fatigue build up during the HST cycle.

I had mind games like doing shorter ramp ups for each rep range. Via this the weight increamanets are higher-which could faccilate more impact on hypertrophy but also back off faster to eliminate fatigue.

Like 75%of RPM next time 85% and then 100%. Then start over with next rep range.

Thats similar to a 3:1 approach regarding deloading or shorter wave cycles.

Just a thought. Its still in the HST lines though.
Might be interesting.
 
You really need to mentally release yourself from this obsession w/fatigue. Millions of people are putting on muscle without being crippled by 'fatigue'. Fatigue does not 'build up'. There isn't a mythical storage unit for it. The only possible exception I can think of is regarding injured/over worked joints, but your workouts don't put you anywhere NEAR that scenario (unless you've become a professional sportsman overnight or something). Muscles are designed to be used every day, this is how homo sapiens made it through the first 40,000years - being active, being strong and fast enough w/some mild brain power thrown in. Your nervous system can handle being used as well. Additionally, for someone only working out twice per week, your problem is not going to be OVER-loading your body, if anything it will be the reverse and the 2-3day gap in between workout will create a more significant DOMS than working out 3-4x per week would.

Secondly, do not do cardio during SD, you'll just burn away fat and muscle together.

Thirdly, don't increase the weight increments, you will feel MORE fatigued, not less. DOMS is greater the bigger the increment.
 
Thank you alex for your fast reply. So nice.

Ok I will stick to it and will use 5% increaments. From 75%to 100%.
Well with cardio I meant slow steady state.(123 BPM) Not sprinting or sth.
 
Re: cardio - totally your choice. For me, I prefer to do nothing on an SD. I just want my muscles to get used to doing as little as possible so the 15s have their greatest impact.

I'd still suggest getting into the gym 3x per week if you possibly can.
 
Thanks. i will stick tot he low intensity cardio. For a total SD you have to lay in the bed for 14 days;)

It will be 2xthe week. No chance. Perhaps i will increase the volume though.

I have drawn down the plan for bench to visulize it and its true that the load is REALLY submaximal 70% of the time.
It might be interesting to compensate the lower intensity weeks for higher volumes. But this would be too much for all exercises.
 
Well I don´t insist but my activity level is quite low at the moment. So some low intensity cardio is ok with me-especially because I am hypotonic.
 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonicity - what does this have to do with cardio or not?

If you do cardio, you will;

a) Impede the effectiveness of your SD - you really should do as LITTLE as possible in terms of physical activity. The entire point of an SD is to stay at a low activity level.

b) Burn muscle



Go and find pictures of Totentanz, he's a monster. An actual monster. The Incredible Hulk is his baby brother. And he does zero cardio, and especially zero cardio during an SD.



Your body is not drastically different from the rest of the species, just try and do it the HST way for a cycle and see what happens.
 
AlexAustralia said:
Don't increase the volume further, it won't compensate for the slightly reduced frequency.
Click to expand...

Hm ok.

I have made my Bench Cycle on paper. it will look like this:

15´s: 45/45/50/55/60/65
10´s: 55/60/60/65/70/75
5´s: 60/60/65/70/75/80
---------------------

As seen I have to use some weight twice to get the stretch to 6 sessions.(from 75%-100%)
I quite often have 60 kg in this cycle. Perhaps I should double a session later. The load will be a bit longer effective and heavier then. And not so often repeated.

Lets see:
15s 45/50/55/55/60/65
10s: 55/60/65/65/70/75
5s: 60/65/70/70/75/80

Think thats better.
Also too much detail i think.
 
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AlexAustralia said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonicity - what does this have to do with cardio or not?

If you do cardio, you will;

a) Impede the effectiveness of your SD - you really should do as LITTLE as possible in terms of physical activity. The entire point of an SD is to stay at a low activity level.

b) Burn muscle



Go and find pictures of Totentanz, he's a monster. An actual monster. The Incredible Hulk is his baby brother. And he does zero cardio, and especially zero cardio during an SD.



Your body is not drastically different from the rest of the species, just try and do it the HST way for a cycle and see what happens.
Click to expand...

thanks alex.
Well with the cardio the blood pressure raises because the heart is bumping faster.
The vascular system gets trained and reacts better to given situations. (like getting up fast in the morning without swooning).
Regarding the osmotic stuff-thats why I also eat more salt.

Don´t worry about loosing muscle - I am not in a deficit.

My lower body is deconditioned since years and I don´t see the cardio impacting the SD. The intensity is too low for that. I am walking on the treadmill with 123bpm-thats really nothing to worry about.
Sprinting would be another issue
 
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thegentleman1981 said:
Well I don´t insist but my activity level is quite low at the moment.
Click to expand...

Strange, I always thought that was the point of SD. Low activity level. You do know what the benefits of an actual SD are, correct? That the lack of activity causes your muscles to become more responsive to lower loads? That no exercise for 9 days causes a spike in satellite cells on the 10th day, which translates to increased growth potential? Doing cardio is going to compromise your gains in your lower body. Just saying. You're not the only one, people all the time are insisting on doing cardio and/or bodyweight exercises during cardio. This is counterproductive for the purposes of HST. If you are going to exercise during SD, you might as well just skip the SD completely.
 
AlexAustralia said:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonicity - what does this have to do with cardio or not?

If you do cardio, you will;

a) Impede the effectiveness of your SD - you really should do as LITTLE as possible in terms of physical activity. The entire point of an SD is to stay at a low activity level.

b) Burn muscle



Go and find pictures of Totentanz, he's a monster. An actual monster. The Incredible Hulk is his baby brother. And he does zero cardio, and especially zero cardio during an SD.



Your body is not drastically different from the rest of the species, just try and do it the HST way for a cycle and see what happens.
Click to expand...

I just have to say... this was hilarious. I laughed for like three minutes straight.
 
Totentanz said:
Strange, I always thought that was the point of SD. Low activity level. You do know what the benefits of an actual SD are, correct? That the lack of activity causes your muscles to become more responsive to lower loads? That no exercise for 9 days causes a spike in satellite cells on the 10th day, which translates to increased growth potential? Doing cardio is going to compromise your gains in your lower body. Just saying. You're not the only one, people all the time are insisting on doing cardio and/or bodyweight exercises during cardio. This is counterproductive for the purposes of HST. If you are going to exercise during SD, you might as well just skip the SD completely.
Click to expand...

Thank you Totentanz for the feedback. I understand what you mean and will skip my cardio.

btw:were can i view pics of yours?
 
Cardiovascular fitness adapts very quickly anyway. If you stop cardio , you'll lose some cardio fitness in a short time. On the other hand, when you go back to cardio, you will gain all your cardio fitness back in a very short time. Easy come, easy go.


One or two weeks off from cardio is NOT going to hurt your health or fitness at all. Just go back to your cardio routine when you are done deconditioning.
 
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