Wildmans log of HST trial cycle one...
- Thread starter Wildman
- Start date
Friday - Week Four
I have a rare opportunity to go on a weekend camping trip with my family and two neighboring families. I will be working out at the office gym for a quicky today and then gathering the massive amount of crap it takes to camp with two women. No offense to you women but my girls like amenities.
It should be fun to use the office gym. All Cybex pieces for the most part with a sprinkling of Hammer Strength. Ill try and remember the machine names I choose and post it up. If I recall they are named like robots would be, heh.
I have a rare opportunity to go on a weekend camping trip with my family and two neighboring families. I will be working out at the office gym for a quicky today and then gathering the massive amount of crap it takes to camp with two women. No offense to you women but my girls like amenities.
It should be fun to use the office gym. All Cybex pieces for the most part with a sprinkling of Hammer Strength. Ill try and remember the machine names I choose and post it up. If I recall they are named like robots would be, heh.
Friday - Week Four
Cybex Chest Press - The whole stack 1X10, 1X12
Lat Pull - 320# 1X10, 1X11 - It had one more plate on the stack. Wish I had went for it.
Dumbell Fly 55# 1X15, 1X16 - Biggest dumbell they had.
Wide Grip Barbell Row - 220# 1X10, 1X11 - Nice to do this varient again.
Leg Press - The whole stack + all one very cute attendant could push into the chair on second set.
1X20, 1X15
Leg Extension - 260# 1X10, 1X12 - A different feel from home
Reverse Lunges - 60# 1X10, 1X12
Goodmorning - 145# 1X10, 1X12 - Had to do something more to replace no deadlift
Cybex Shoulder press - The whole stack - 1X10, 1X8, 1X2 - I liked this machine
Cybex Shoulder shrug - The whole stack - 1X15, 1X16 - What can I say, Wildman can shrug
Hoit Tricep push down - 260# 1X10, 1X9, 1X1 - This was fun too
Barbell Curl - 130# 1X10, 1X10 - Cheated a rep there
Dumbell forearm curl - 55# 1X10, 1X11
Cybex calf raise - The whole stack 300# 1X10, 1X12
Notes: The attendant was a little distracting. Good work out all in all. No way to deadlift though.
Felt sorry for the new gym attendant guy in training. Cute girl attendant made him demonstrate the machines as if he were training her and she would then follow in bad form for him to correct. Nice idea for a training exercise though. They followed along behind me on the machines and he had to reduce the weight on each machine. The girl was finally kind enough to him to suggest stop following me, the other machines are already set lower. Made me chuckle.
Cybex Chest Press - The whole stack 1X10, 1X12
Lat Pull - 320# 1X10, 1X11 - It had one more plate on the stack. Wish I had went for it.
Dumbell Fly 55# 1X15, 1X16 - Biggest dumbell they had.
Wide Grip Barbell Row - 220# 1X10, 1X11 - Nice to do this varient again.
Leg Press - The whole stack + all one very cute attendant could push into the chair on second set.
1X20, 1X15
Leg Extension - 260# 1X10, 1X12 - A different feel from home
Reverse Lunges - 60# 1X10, 1X12
Goodmorning - 145# 1X10, 1X12 - Had to do something more to replace no deadlift
Cybex Shoulder press - The whole stack - 1X10, 1X8, 1X2 - I liked this machine
Cybex Shoulder shrug - The whole stack - 1X15, 1X16 - What can I say, Wildman can shrug
Hoit Tricep push down - 260# 1X10, 1X9, 1X1 - This was fun too
Barbell Curl - 130# 1X10, 1X10 - Cheated a rep there
Dumbell forearm curl - 55# 1X10, 1X11
Cybex calf raise - The whole stack 300# 1X10, 1X12
Notes: The attendant was a little distracting. Good work out all in all. No way to deadlift though.
Felt sorry for the new gym attendant guy in training. Cute girl attendant made him demonstrate the machines as if he were training her and she would then follow in bad form for him to correct. Nice idea for a training exercise though. They followed along behind me on the machines and he had to reduce the weight on each machine. The girl was finally kind enough to him to suggest stop following me, the other machines are already set lower. Made me chuckle.
Monday - Week Five
Bench Press 255# 3 X 5
Barbell Row 200# 3 X 5
Squat 305# 3 X 5
Military Press 150# 3 X 5
Barbell Shrug 325# 3 X 5
Barbell Calf Raise 325# 3 X 5
Lying Tricep Extension 105# 3 X 5
Barbell Curl 100# 3 X 5
Weighted Situp BW + 25# 3 X 5 - Got stronger on these so increased up from the estimate.
Notes: We decided to reduce the volume of exercises. The workout lasted 45 minutes this time with minimal rest periods. The rest periods will certainly have to increase as we progress and I suspect going to 70 minutes easy.
I think that the reduction will allow us to push harder in the core lifts and perhaps we can get more out of the program. We may yet add in some of the exercises we removed depending upon how this week goes.
I recall Fausto posting about adding isolation work incrementally in the 10s and even more into the 5s. Perhaps that would be a reasonable approach to spread the extra volume out a bit and finish the cycles fatigued as opposed to the level of fatigue we were seeing in the 10s.
Bench Press 255# 3 X 5
Barbell Row 200# 3 X 5
Squat 305# 3 X 5
Military Press 150# 3 X 5
Barbell Shrug 325# 3 X 5
Barbell Calf Raise 325# 3 X 5
Lying Tricep Extension 105# 3 X 5
Barbell Curl 100# 3 X 5
Weighted Situp BW + 25# 3 X 5 - Got stronger on these so increased up from the estimate.
Notes: We decided to reduce the volume of exercises. The workout lasted 45 minutes this time with minimal rest periods. The rest periods will certainly have to increase as we progress and I suspect going to 70 minutes easy.
I think that the reduction will allow us to push harder in the core lifts and perhaps we can get more out of the program. We may yet add in some of the exercises we removed depending upon how this week goes.
I recall Fausto posting about adding isolation work incrementally in the 10s and even more into the 5s. Perhaps that would be a reasonable approach to spread the extra volume out a bit and finish the cycles fatigued as opposed to the level of fatigue we were seeing in the 10s.
Wednesday - Week Five
Dumbell Bench Press 65# 3 X 5 - Feels light to me
Lat Pull 225# 3 X 5
Deadlift 320# 3 X 5
Dumbell Press 60# 3 X 5
Dumbell Shrug 155# 3 X 5
Dumbell Calf Raise 155# 3 X 5
Close Grip Bench Press 220# 3 X 5
Seated Dumbell Curl 35# 3 X 5
Cable Crunch 120# 3 X 5
Notes: The workout lasted about 70 minutes total with a forced two minute rest between sets. This leaves enough time in the 90 minute maximum I am shooting for to include back two of the movements that re removed. My partner and I will be discussing the merits of this for Friday.
Some of the weights felt light and probably are. We didnt set our 5s weights in the start of the program due to my partners injury so we estimated 10% above our final 10s weights. This may not have been enough. We will adjust our weights up if need be on the second set of the coming day two of the A/B splits.
Dumbell Bench Press 65# 3 X 5 - Feels light to me
Lat Pull 225# 3 X 5
Deadlift 320# 3 X 5
Dumbell Press 60# 3 X 5
Dumbell Shrug 155# 3 X 5
Dumbell Calf Raise 155# 3 X 5
Close Grip Bench Press 220# 3 X 5
Seated Dumbell Curl 35# 3 X 5
Cable Crunch 120# 3 X 5
Notes: The workout lasted about 70 minutes total with a forced two minute rest between sets. This leaves enough time in the 90 minute maximum I am shooting for to include back two of the movements that re removed. My partner and I will be discussing the merits of this for Friday.
Some of the weights felt light and probably are. We didnt set our 5s weights in the start of the program due to my partners injury so we estimated 10% above our final 10s weights. This may not have been enough. We will adjust our weights up if need be on the second set of the coming day two of the A/B splits.
<div>
(Wildman @ Sep. 25 2008,2:20)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Some of the weights felt light and probably are. We didnt set our 5s weights in the start of the program due to my partners injury so we estimated 10% above our final 10s weights. This may not have been enough. We will adjust our weights up if need be on the second set of the coming day two of the A/B splits.</div>
Wildman, instead of fiddling with loads now you could just keep your 5s going longer, continuing to increment each session just as you have been doing until you arrive at your true 5RM loads for each exercise. Of course, if it turns out that you have badly misjudged an exercise or two compared to all the rest then an extra increment might be called for. If your 10s were about right then I doubt you are out by much.
I'll be interested to hear how you find deadlifting along with all your other exercises at the end of 5s and beyond.
Keep up the good work.
(Wildman @ Sep. 25 2008,2:20)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Some of the weights felt light and probably are. We didnt set our 5s weights in the start of the program due to my partners injury so we estimated 10% above our final 10s weights. This may not have been enough. We will adjust our weights up if need be on the second set of the coming day two of the A/B splits.</div>
Wildman, instead of fiddling with loads now you could just keep your 5s going longer, continuing to increment each session just as you have been doing until you arrive at your true 5RM loads for each exercise. Of course, if it turns out that you have badly misjudged an exercise or two compared to all the rest then an extra increment might be called for. If your 10s were about right then I doubt you are out by much.
I'll be interested to hear how you find deadlifting along with all your other exercises at the end of 5s and beyond.
Keep up the good work.
<div>
(Lol @ Sep. 25 2008,12:21)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(Wildman @ Sep. 25 2008,2:20)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Some of the weights felt light and probably are. We didnt set our 5s weights in the start of the program due to my partners injury so we estimated 10% above our final 10s weights. This may not have been enough. We will adjust our weights up if need be on the second set of the coming day two of the A/B splits.</div>
Wildman, instead of fiddling with loads now you could just keep your 5s going longer, continuing to increment each session just as you have been doing until you arrive at your true 5RM loads for each exercise. Of course, if it turns out that you have badly misjudged an exercise or two compared to all the rest then an extra increment might be called for. If your 10s were about right then I doubt you are out by much.
I'll be interested to hear how you find deadlifting along with all your other exercises at the end of 5s and beyond.
Keep up the good work.
</div>
Thanks Lol. I value your opinion (as well as several others on this site) and I would follow your advise if it were not for my partners impending divorce / move. I believe we can get a second full cycle in before he moves if we keep this one to eight weeks with one week of SD.
I value my time with a partner greatly since it adds so much to the experience and intensity. I would like to see the progression this program can offer with as few variable changes as possible. As such we will be replicating this cycle as closely as we can to give it a fair evaluation, including the early high volume of exercises and drop during the 5s.
The mirror and my clothes are telling me that hyper-trophy is indeed happening on HST. It is all I can do to keep myself from grabbing a tape measure and seeing the real numbers. I will wait until SD to take new measurements and post the resutls in the HST results forum as well as this log.
Ill keep you all posted for sure. This has been a fun experiment for sure.
(Lol @ Sep. 25 2008,12:21)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE"><div>
(Wildman @ Sep. 25 2008,2:20)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Some of the weights felt light and probably are. We didnt set our 5s weights in the start of the program due to my partners injury so we estimated 10% above our final 10s weights. This may not have been enough. We will adjust our weights up if need be on the second set of the coming day two of the A/B splits.</div>
Wildman, instead of fiddling with loads now you could just keep your 5s going longer, continuing to increment each session just as you have been doing until you arrive at your true 5RM loads for each exercise. Of course, if it turns out that you have badly misjudged an exercise or two compared to all the rest then an extra increment might be called for. If your 10s were about right then I doubt you are out by much.
I'll be interested to hear how you find deadlifting along with all your other exercises at the end of 5s and beyond.
Keep up the good work.
Thanks Lol. I value your opinion (as well as several others on this site) and I would follow your advise if it were not for my partners impending divorce / move. I believe we can get a second full cycle in before he moves if we keep this one to eight weeks with one week of SD.
I value my time with a partner greatly since it adds so much to the experience and intensity. I would like to see the progression this program can offer with as few variable changes as possible. As such we will be replicating this cycle as closely as we can to give it a fair evaluation, including the early high volume of exercises and drop during the 5s.
The mirror and my clothes are telling me that hyper-trophy is indeed happening on HST. It is all I can do to keep myself from grabbing a tape measure and seeing the real numbers. I will wait until SD to take new measurements and post the resutls in the HST results forum as well as this log.
Ill keep you all posted for sure. This has been a fun experiment for sure.
Thursday - Week Five
10 minutes Speed Bag
10 minutes Heavy Bag
What!? Why so little work you lazy bum!?
Well, I spent an hour and a half parcticing archery in preparation for hunting season. No, archery it isnt cardio work but it isnt sitting around watching TV and drinking a cold zesty either. I shoot instinctive so it takes me a few practice sessions each year to hone my skills enough to hunt. My two main hobbies have to share time this part of the year. I shot very well btw for the second time out. I would not hesitate going into the woods already, Sweet!
10 minutes Speed Bag
10 minutes Heavy Bag
What!? Why so little work you lazy bum!?
Well, I spent an hour and a half parcticing archery in preparation for hunting season. No, archery it isnt cardio work but it isnt sitting around watching TV and drinking a cold zesty either. I shoot instinctive so it takes me a few practice sessions each year to hone my skills enough to hunt. My two main hobbies have to share time this part of the year. I shot very well btw for the second time out. I would not hesitate going into the woods already, Sweet!
I did a weigh in this morning to check my progress. I am pleased to say I am up to 325# from my starting weight of 317#. Pretty good for a bulk. The cardio has been fairly consistent this cycle and has kept me below two pounds a week gained I beleive. This is good. I have felt very strong this cycle and have quickly adapted my volume in time to avoid overtraining I believe.
beingisbeing
New Member
<div></div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I recall Fausto posting about adding isolation work incrementally in the 10s and even more into the 5s. Perhaps that would be a reasonable approach to spread the extra volume out a bit and finish the cycles fatigued as opposed to the level of fatigue we were seeing in the 10s. </div>
hello hello wildman good work. your bulk goes well.
could you elaborate a bit on this idea? I always thought it might make more sense to remove Isos as we move towards the 5s? I'm confused lol.
hello hello wildman good work. your bulk goes well.
could you elaborate a bit on this idea? I always thought it might make more sense to remove Isos as we move towards the 5s? I'm confused lol.
Im confused as well I think. I will have to dig for Fausto's post concerning this. I suspect he was trying to manage fatigue over the course of the entire program. Perhaps saving energy during the 15s and 10s so that he could go all out in the 5s. I never asked him concerning this. I have been the complete opposite out of necessity but perhaps you could add isolation work into the 5s if you did minimal work in the 15s and 10s. I agree with you, the reduction of isolation work feels right but I am open to the opposite if someone has found it to be productive. There are several isolation movements that I would like to be doing in the 5 rep range.
Friday - Week Five
Bench Press 285# 3 X 5
Barbell Row 225# 3 X 5
Squat 350# 3 X 5
Military Press 165# 3 X 5
Barbell Shrug 360# 3 X 5
Lying Tricep Extension 120# 3 X 5
Barbell Curl 110# 3 X 5
Weighted Situp BW + 30# 3 X 5
Notes:
Could feel the fatigue setting in a bit more this time and we used the full two minute rest periods again this time. Great workout though. Time wise we were around 75 minutes or so total. So I dont think I will be adding those other isolations back in. This feels like enough total work. I believe that my hamstrings are the one area that I would consider adding isolation work if I had to choose only one.
Bench Press 285# 3 X 5
Barbell Row 225# 3 X 5
Squat 350# 3 X 5
Military Press 165# 3 X 5
Barbell Shrug 360# 3 X 5
Lying Tricep Extension 120# 3 X 5
Barbell Curl 110# 3 X 5
Weighted Situp BW + 30# 3 X 5
Notes:
Could feel the fatigue setting in a bit more this time and we used the full two minute rest periods again this time. Great workout though. Time wise we were around 75 minutes or so total. So I dont think I will be adding those other isolations back in. This feels like enough total work. I believe that my hamstrings are the one area that I would consider adding isolation work if I had to choose only one.
I
imported_electric
Guest
<div>
(Wildman @ Sep. 26 2008,10:04)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">10 minutes Speed Bag
10 minutes Heavy Bag
What!? Why so little work you lazy bum!?
Well, I spent an hour and a half parcticing archery in preparation for hunting season. No, archery it isnt cardio work but it isnt sitting around watching TV and drinking a cold zesty either. I shoot instinctive so it takes me a few practice sessions each year to hone my skills enough to hunt. My two main hobbies have to share time this part of the year. I shot very well btw for the second time out. I would not hesitate going into the woods already, Sweet!</div>
Why instead of training archery increase the punch bar work and instead of hunting with bows you punch the hunt unconscious? Just Kidding
(Wildman @ Sep. 26 2008,10:04)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">10 minutes Speed Bag
10 minutes Heavy Bag
What!? Why so little work you lazy bum!?
Well, I spent an hour and a half parcticing archery in preparation for hunting season. No, archery it isnt cardio work but it isnt sitting around watching TV and drinking a cold zesty either. I shoot instinctive so it takes me a few practice sessions each year to hone my skills enough to hunt. My two main hobbies have to share time this part of the year. I shot very well btw for the second time out. I would not hesitate going into the woods already, Sweet!</div>
Why instead of training archery increase the punch bar work and instead of hunting with bows you punch the hunt unconscious? Just Kidding
Monday - Week Six
Dumbell Bench Press 75# 3 X 5
Lat Pull 245# 3 X 5
Deadlift 350# 3 X 5 - Felt real nice. Getting to be heavy now.
Dumbell Press 65# 3 X 5 - Took a step back on these will try 75s next time.
Dumbell Shrug 170# 3 X 5
Dumbell Calf Raise 170# 3 X 5
Close Grip Bench Press 245# 3 X 5
Seated Dumbell Curl 40# 3 X 5
Cable Crunch 135# 3 X 5
Notes: Good workout for both me and my partner. The deadlift is getting heavy now and I can sure feel it in the bones more today than at any time during this program. We started the process of figuring out which method to use to extend the 5s and progress the weight for each exercise. I put in as many negatives as possible and filled the rest out with a mix of clustered sets, power partials and Max-Stim. I will try Max-Stim this time around after my discussions about it versus Milk Squats. Gonna ballpark my M-Times and see what I get.
Dumbell Bench Press 75# 3 X 5
Lat Pull 245# 3 X 5
Deadlift 350# 3 X 5 - Felt real nice. Getting to be heavy now.
Dumbell Press 65# 3 X 5 - Took a step back on these will try 75s next time.
Dumbell Shrug 170# 3 X 5
Dumbell Calf Raise 170# 3 X 5
Close Grip Bench Press 245# 3 X 5
Seated Dumbell Curl 40# 3 X 5
Cable Crunch 135# 3 X 5
Notes: Good workout for both me and my partner. The deadlift is getting heavy now and I can sure feel it in the bones more today than at any time during this program. We started the process of figuring out which method to use to extend the 5s and progress the weight for each exercise. I put in as many negatives as possible and filled the rest out with a mix of clustered sets, power partials and Max-Stim. I will try Max-Stim this time around after my discussions about it versus Milk Squats. Gonna ballpark my M-Times and see what I get.
TunnelRat
Active Member
Wildman,
I have very much enjoyed following your progress. I confess I've raised an eyebrow
at the number of exercises you do -- I've long been a fan of Fausto's principle of Simplify & Win.
However, since I've been doing (what I consider to be) a rather high number of exercises myself this cycle, I've gotten a lot of help by reading your log.
You weigh a bit more than twice what I do, so we are approaching the iron from altogether different ends of the spectrum. Even so, seeing your workouts has been an encouragement for me. I look forward to seeing your eventual results.
I have very much enjoyed following your progress. I confess I've raised an eyebrow
However, since I've been doing (what I consider to be) a rather high number of exercises myself this cycle, I've gotten a lot of help by reading your log.
You weigh a bit more than twice what I do, so we are approaching the iron from altogether different ends of the spectrum. Even so, seeing your workouts has been an encouragement for me. I look forward to seeing your eventual results.
<div>
(TunnelRat @ Sep. 30 2008,12:46)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Wildman,
I have very much enjoyed following your progress. I confess I've raised an eyebrow
at the number of exercises you do -- I've long been a fan of Fausto's principle of Simplify & Win.
However, since I've been doing (what I consider to be) a rather high number of exercises myself this cycle, I've gotten a lot of help by reading your log.
You weigh a bit more than twice what I do, so we are approaching the iron from altogether different ends of the spectrum. Even so, seeing your workouts has been an encouragement for me. I look forward to seeing your eventual results.</div>
I read Fausto's, Lol's and few others posts on this site for quite some time before I ever posted. Simplify and Win is a sound approach that can take a young lifter quite a ways. I personally believe that you should do as much as you can handle without overtraining. It takes many different angles and ROMs to get overall good results IMO. Sure you can build mass / strength with the basic compound movements but all those other lifts sculpt the mass into something more than just a lump of muscle. I new lifter would benefit greatly from such a simple effective approach and can worry more about the sculpting aspects once the foundations have been laid.
I had to reduce my exercises down as the intensity increased over the course of the program this time. I have a long history of lifting and I typically identify early when I have bit off more than I can chew. You just have to listen to your body because it will give you subtle signs. If you make those course corrections early enough you can get through without overtraining.
Now that I have identified the point at which I reach too much on this program I can fine tune the volume a little bit more so that I give myself just the right amount of stimulous. I will do the same program next cycle to give the HST method a fair evaluation though. I will simply plan the reduction of volume into the next cycle.
I am looking for a solid, long term method of training that is based upon sound principles. I have several that I have used in the past that work very well and I plan on cycling those back in for variety. I believe that HST will also serve well for this purpose.
It seems to be a fine program as is to take a new lifter to the threshold of advanced at least. Once you reach advanced you have to acknowledge that the level of intensity you can produce with the increased poundages requires a greater amount of time to recover from. And that is a good time to look at traditional split routines or perhaps a HST variation that uses splits or some other method of dealing with the issue. Plus you should be massive enough at this point in your carreer to want to refine the look of each muscle, fill in the blanks so to speak.
I have different goals now that I am a bit older but I still enjoy setting goals and achieving them no matter how small they may be. I plan on slowly progressing back to a 400# bench press, 500# squat and 500# deadlift. I could achieve those fairly quickly if I choose to. The methods I have used in the past were quite hard on the system but very effective. I am not sure my joints can take that now that I am older. I am in no particular hurry since I no longer compete now. Plus those goals are rather small considering todays competitors anyway.
I am glad that the log has inspired at least one person and that makes it worth the time to write. I too have been inspired by many of the logs here. I read them all, including yours. The energy of youth and the excitement I see as the younger lifters make revelations and meet their own goals fuels my own desire to continue lifting.
(TunnelRat @ Sep. 30 2008,12:46)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">Wildman,
I have very much enjoyed following your progress. I confess I've raised an eyebrow
However, since I've been doing (what I consider to be) a rather high number of exercises myself this cycle, I've gotten a lot of help by reading your log.
You weigh a bit more than twice what I do, so we are approaching the iron from altogether different ends of the spectrum. Even so, seeing your workouts has been an encouragement for me. I look forward to seeing your eventual results.</div>
I read Fausto's, Lol's and few others posts on this site for quite some time before I ever posted. Simplify and Win is a sound approach that can take a young lifter quite a ways. I personally believe that you should do as much as you can handle without overtraining. It takes many different angles and ROMs to get overall good results IMO. Sure you can build mass / strength with the basic compound movements but all those other lifts sculpt the mass into something more than just a lump of muscle. I new lifter would benefit greatly from such a simple effective approach and can worry more about the sculpting aspects once the foundations have been laid.
I had to reduce my exercises down as the intensity increased over the course of the program this time. I have a long history of lifting and I typically identify early when I have bit off more than I can chew. You just have to listen to your body because it will give you subtle signs. If you make those course corrections early enough you can get through without overtraining.
Now that I have identified the point at which I reach too much on this program I can fine tune the volume a little bit more so that I give myself just the right amount of stimulous. I will do the same program next cycle to give the HST method a fair evaluation though. I will simply plan the reduction of volume into the next cycle.
I am looking for a solid, long term method of training that is based upon sound principles. I have several that I have used in the past that work very well and I plan on cycling those back in for variety. I believe that HST will also serve well for this purpose.
It seems to be a fine program as is to take a new lifter to the threshold of advanced at least. Once you reach advanced you have to acknowledge that the level of intensity you can produce with the increased poundages requires a greater amount of time to recover from. And that is a good time to look at traditional split routines or perhaps a HST variation that uses splits or some other method of dealing with the issue. Plus you should be massive enough at this point in your carreer to want to refine the look of each muscle, fill in the blanks so to speak.
I have different goals now that I am a bit older but I still enjoy setting goals and achieving them no matter how small they may be. I plan on slowly progressing back to a 400# bench press, 500# squat and 500# deadlift. I could achieve those fairly quickly if I choose to. The methods I have used in the past were quite hard on the system but very effective. I am not sure my joints can take that now that I am older. I am in no particular hurry since I no longer compete now. Plus those goals are rather small considering todays competitors anyway.
I am glad that the log has inspired at least one person and that makes it worth the time to write. I too have been inspired by many of the logs here. I read them all, including yours. The energy of youth and the excitement I see as the younger lifters make revelations and meet their own goals fuels my own desire to continue lifting.
I
imported_electric
Guest
<div>
(Wildman @ Sep. 30 2008,4:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I have different goals now that I am a bit older but I still enjoy setting goals and achieving them no matter how small they may be. I plan on slowly progressing back to a 400# bench press, 500# squat and 500# deadlift. I could achieve those fairly quickly if I choose to. The methods I have used in the past were quite hard on the system but very effective. I am not sure my joints can take that now that I am older. I am in no particular hurry since I no longer compete now. Plus those goals are rather small considering todays competitors anyway.</div>
Wildman, just out of curiosity what do you think was the most affective routine to increase your bench press?
(Wildman @ Sep. 30 2008,4:51)</div><div id="QUOTEHEAD">QUOTE</div><div id="QUOTE">I have different goals now that I am a bit older but I still enjoy setting goals and achieving them no matter how small they may be. I plan on slowly progressing back to a 400# bench press, 500# squat and 500# deadlift. I could achieve those fairly quickly if I choose to. The methods I have used in the past were quite hard on the system but very effective. I am not sure my joints can take that now that I am older. I am in no particular hurry since I no longer compete now. Plus those goals are rather small considering todays competitors anyway.</div>
Wildman, just out of curiosity what do you think was the most affective routine to increase your bench press?
Long post for electric.
As the old saying goes, if you want to lift heavy weight, lift heavy weight. When I first started to seriously train for PL I used a variation of the 5X5. I did this for a few years before it no longer produced the results I needed. There comes a time when you get as strong as you can be given the amount of muscle mass you are carrying. At this point you have to train to increase the muscle size to reach new levels of strength.
At my peak I was using a periodized program that had me working each of the big three lifts twice weekly with volume. My program had three phases, a volume phase, a loading phase, and a taper.
For my bench work I would start out at 80% of 1RP doing six sets of flat, six sets of incline and six sets of decline for 8 to 10 reps. Along with this I would directly train each of the individual muscles that comprise the lift with a moderate volume. I would choose movements that most closely mirrored the movements performed in the main lift.
So for tricep work I would choose to use close grip bench press and either kickouts (Lying dumbell tricep extension across the torso with a supinated grip) or skullcrushers. For deltoids I would choose military press and front raises. For lats I would use pullovers, lat pulls and front pulldowns. If I felt strong and wanted a bit more chest work I would add in some decline fly work.
I believe that to really hone your skills in a barbell movement you want to work with movements that do not isolate individual limbs. The neural gains you get from using both hands or legs to accomplish a lift is more effective than what you get from working a limb by itself.
After the volume phase I would switch up to using 90% 1RP work and reduce the volume to three sets of each of the lifts listed above. I would drop the reps down to the 6 per set. At this point I would begin incorporating power partials and attempting singles to get myself used to lifting the bigger weight. I would reduce my isolation work down to maybe one or two movements per muscle at this point as well.
I used a lot of rack presses for my power partial work. So I would load the bar with my target competition weight at the end of each day starting at the highest pin on the rack. I would lift the weight out of the pins for a few sets. Next time I would lower to the next pin down or about three inches if I recall and do it again. Over the course of the four or five week phase I would eventually be pressing the weight out of the lowest pins just above my chest.
The last couple weeks of this cycle I would swap out my last set with a set of negatives for all my presses or add a set if I felt strong. I would also train with a static hold at the low end of the lift. In PL there is an enforced pause in the bench press at the low end of the lift so you have to train yourself for this.
The final phase would be a taper for a two or three weeks before a competition. So I would drop the volume yet again and focus hard on triples for each lift with very little isolation work. I would continue the power partial and negative training in this phase as well.
This same approach was used for the squat and the deadlift. I had pretty good luck with this method. I probably would still be using it had I not been injured. The sad thing is I didnt even get injured while lifting. I got hurt running down a flight of stairs to answer the phone. In my haste I skipped over the last few stairs and landed on one leg. This twisted me and herniated a disk.
What came next: For the curious who might read on.
I stayed away from the weights for several years after this since it caused me discomfort when I tried to come back. Atrophy and weight gain got me back to lifting again. A desk job is not very healthy for sure. I fumbled about using various workouts alone in my garage gym for a several years before I decided to try and look into bodybuilding. I used a full body split cycled with the 5X5 method for a year or so before meeting up with my partner. He has similar goals and I have been training with him for almost two years now.
I took the time to train him using all of the methods for hypertrophy I had learned so that he can see for himself what worked best for him. Between each method we would perform a 5X5 cycle to keep progressing his strength. No this was not the most expedient course to reach his goals but it did educate him well on a few different effective techniques. You cant really know what works best for you until you try it and learn your body well enough to know. He now at least has the knowledge of what to do once a full body routine fades in effectiveness.
At this point we are still in the intermediate weight ranges. But we are nearing the advanced levels. I hope that he can take from our sessions what he needs to do once his gains fade and start to add in more of the hypertrophy specific work as he needs it to reach his goal even if I am not there with him.
As the old saying goes, if you want to lift heavy weight, lift heavy weight. When I first started to seriously train for PL I used a variation of the 5X5. I did this for a few years before it no longer produced the results I needed. There comes a time when you get as strong as you can be given the amount of muscle mass you are carrying. At this point you have to train to increase the muscle size to reach new levels of strength.
At my peak I was using a periodized program that had me working each of the big three lifts twice weekly with volume. My program had three phases, a volume phase, a loading phase, and a taper.
For my bench work I would start out at 80% of 1RP doing six sets of flat, six sets of incline and six sets of decline for 8 to 10 reps. Along with this I would directly train each of the individual muscles that comprise the lift with a moderate volume. I would choose movements that most closely mirrored the movements performed in the main lift.
So for tricep work I would choose to use close grip bench press and either kickouts (Lying dumbell tricep extension across the torso with a supinated grip) or skullcrushers. For deltoids I would choose military press and front raises. For lats I would use pullovers, lat pulls and front pulldowns. If I felt strong and wanted a bit more chest work I would add in some decline fly work.
I believe that to really hone your skills in a barbell movement you want to work with movements that do not isolate individual limbs. The neural gains you get from using both hands or legs to accomplish a lift is more effective than what you get from working a limb by itself.
After the volume phase I would switch up to using 90% 1RP work and reduce the volume to three sets of each of the lifts listed above. I would drop the reps down to the 6 per set. At this point I would begin incorporating power partials and attempting singles to get myself used to lifting the bigger weight. I would reduce my isolation work down to maybe one or two movements per muscle at this point as well.
I used a lot of rack presses for my power partial work. So I would load the bar with my target competition weight at the end of each day starting at the highest pin on the rack. I would lift the weight out of the pins for a few sets. Next time I would lower to the next pin down or about three inches if I recall and do it again. Over the course of the four or five week phase I would eventually be pressing the weight out of the lowest pins just above my chest.
The last couple weeks of this cycle I would swap out my last set with a set of negatives for all my presses or add a set if I felt strong. I would also train with a static hold at the low end of the lift. In PL there is an enforced pause in the bench press at the low end of the lift so you have to train yourself for this.
The final phase would be a taper for a two or three weeks before a competition. So I would drop the volume yet again and focus hard on triples for each lift with very little isolation work. I would continue the power partial and negative training in this phase as well.
This same approach was used for the squat and the deadlift. I had pretty good luck with this method. I probably would still be using it had I not been injured. The sad thing is I didnt even get injured while lifting. I got hurt running down a flight of stairs to answer the phone. In my haste I skipped over the last few stairs and landed on one leg. This twisted me and herniated a disk.
What came next: For the curious who might read on.
I stayed away from the weights for several years after this since it caused me discomfort when I tried to come back. Atrophy and weight gain got me back to lifting again. A desk job is not very healthy for sure. I fumbled about using various workouts alone in my garage gym for a several years before I decided to try and look into bodybuilding. I used a full body split cycled with the 5X5 method for a year or so before meeting up with my partner. He has similar goals and I have been training with him for almost two years now.
I took the time to train him using all of the methods for hypertrophy I had learned so that he can see for himself what worked best for him. Between each method we would perform a 5X5 cycle to keep progressing his strength. No this was not the most expedient course to reach his goals but it did educate him well on a few different effective techniques. You cant really know what works best for you until you try it and learn your body well enough to know. He now at least has the knowledge of what to do once a full body routine fades in effectiveness.
At this point we are still in the intermediate weight ranges. But we are nearing the advanced levels. I hope that he can take from our sessions what he needs to do once his gains fade and start to add in more of the hypertrophy specific work as he needs it to reach his goal even if I am not there with him.
Tuesday - Week Six
15 minutes speed bag
Fast walked for three miles - Took me 34 minutes. I was happy.
Notes: I cut short my punching routine to get the Halloween decorations down from the attic. Wildwoman requested that I also bring down all of the decorations I used to use for the haunted house I used to put up in my side yard. She wanted to peruse through those as well for our coming Halloween party.
15 minutes speed bag
Fast walked for three miles - Took me 34 minutes. I was happy.
Notes: I cut short my punching routine to get the Halloween decorations down from the attic. Wildwoman requested that I also bring down all of the decorations I used to use for the haunted house I used to put up in my side yard. She wanted to peruse through those as well for our coming Halloween party.
I
imported_electric
Guest
Wildman, thanks for the extensive information on your training routine. With RP you mean your repetition max at the time or you created a weight goal for the lift and used it as an indicator?