Will Working Out Every 48 Hrs Induce Over Training With Hst?

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Godzillamax

New Member
I recently finished my first six week HST course and did the three days per week routine. Granted it was only six weeks, but I didn't feel like there was enough volume with the program (I'd consider myself an intermediate lifter).

I'm thinking of upping the number of days I work out from three per week to every 48 hours. So instead of working out 18 times over six weeks (three times per week), I would get 21 workouts over the six weeks. Also, I'm thinking of upping my volume from two sets per exercise to three. Curious if one or more of these changes to the HST program might induce over training.

Also, after my initial six weeks (two weeks of 15s, two weeks of 10s, and two weeks of 5s) I'm doing an additional few weeks of 5s and upping the weight. I went up in most my maxes, but not some. What is a good rule of thumb when to de-load and start back with the 15s? When I've hit a wall with all my maxes? Half? Or just keep dong 5s as long as even one exercise in my routine is increasing in max weight?
 
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I did two sets per exercise, and eight exercises per workout, so sixteen sets total per workout. These were about half compound lifts (squat, bench press, etc.) and half isolation lifts (curls, skull crushers, etc.). Here is my typical workout (2 sets of each): squats, BB bench press, leg curls, weighted chin ups, seated military press, wide EZ bar curls, skull crushers, and calf presses.

After my de-laod when I restart with my 15s I'm thinking about replacing leg curls with Romanian dead lifts or stiff leg dead-lifts, and replacing seated military press with OHPs.
 
What about also upping to three sets per exercise? So jumping from 18 to 21 workouts over a six week period, and increasing sets from two per exercise to three (at eight exercises per work out be going from 16 sets to 24).
 
It depends on the intensity of the sets and rest periods. Too intense if using, for example, myo reps, but probably OK if you are resting 2 minutes between sets and 3 minutes between bodyparts. I persomally prefer short intense workouts.
 
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Yeah I think it shouldn't be an issue increasing to 3 sets, I usually go 2x15s, 3x10s, 3-4x5s. At the end of the 10s it's usually tricky (or impossible more like it..) to get 10 reps in the second or third set, so I just so what reps I can, or even cluster to hit a certain rep range.

Just pay attention to how you're feeling and if any injuries crop up, you'll know if you're doing too much. Keep in mind HST principles call for a much higher frequency than other programs, hence why volume is spread out and load progression is prioritised, but I do think minimum effective dose/volume per session is important. I believe there are many threads in this forum about that, and it's very much related to your training age.

But see how you go with every 48 hours, I actually think the 3 days a week was moreso recommended for practical reasons (as people can lead busy lives), but if you can train more frequently go for it!
 
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With your current 3 workouts, 2 sets and 8 lifts you total 288 working sets within a 6 week cycle. If you increase your total workouts from 18 to 21 and increase your working sets from 2 to 3 you go from 288 working sets to 504. So you are looking at a 75% increase in volume (actually probably more if you increase the weight too). So I suppose I would say, "Are you ready to nearly double your previous training cycle's volume?"
 
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Ad, I would certainly agree with your math but feel that GodZ should have been doing 3 sets to begin with. 2 sets just doesn't seem to cut it for me. However, I do think that 8 exercises with 3 sets is probably excessive. I prefer to keep my workouts at no more than 5 or 6 exercises at the most with 3 sets each. Even at that level, I tend do an AM/PM split so as not to get fatigued. So, in summary, I would agree with your math and your implied conclusion but get there thru a somewhat different route. Again, what neither of does not know is the intensity utilized. That could sway things up or down.
 
As an intermediate trainer, and only doing 8 exercises 3x/week, i would recommend 2 sets of 15s, 3 sets of 10s, and 3-5 sets of 5s. Beginners can get 1 or 2 work sets per exercise and grow.
More Volume per bout is important in HST for intermediates to make progress.
 
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