I just finished my second HST cycle, though I cut it off after the 5's because I feel like I'm beginning to overtrain. I think what I've been doing wrong is pushing each set too close to failure which is the downfall of this program. I have not been sleeping well and this is a sure sign for me that overtraining is setting in. Also, even though I'm significantly stronger on the one-rep max tests I gave myself yesterday, my bodyweight, bodycomp, and measurements remain unchanged at the end of this cycle. (My muscles do feel much harder and more dense than ever, however.) I think this is partly due to overtraining, and partly due to nutrition. About a week ago, I began using software that helps me track calories, protein, carb, and fat intake making it easy for me to make adjustments. At the moment I'm averaging a little over 3000 calories a day, and about 300 grams of protein. I'm going to bump this up to 3500 for the next cycle, keeping the protein at about this level. I will also be adding creatine to my diet to see what happens. There are other supps I plan to start using, but will only be adding these one at a time to see which have positive effects and which do not.
I'm still not sure about what to do after the 5's anyway, but as I say, the symptoms of overtraining are kicking in, so I just spent a workout testing myself on one-rep max's on the big three exercises which I plan to incorporate in my next cycle. Bench press is up 15 pounds from two months ago, leg presses are up a lot. I also tested deadlifts for the first time and I think I can do more than I did yesterday, but my forearms were giving out. I'm sure a couple weeks of 15-rep deadlifts will help that. Now I will take the next week off all exercise and start back up next Monday.
I found that the third and fourth weeks of the program are where I make the most gains in muscularity so I'm really looking forward to mid-Novemer!
I'm still not sure about what to do after the 5's anyway, but as I say, the symptoms of overtraining are kicking in, so I just spent a workout testing myself on one-rep max's on the big three exercises which I plan to incorporate in my next cycle. Bench press is up 15 pounds from two months ago, leg presses are up a lot. I also tested deadlifts for the first time and I think I can do more than I did yesterday, but my forearms were giving out. I'm sure a couple weeks of 15-rep deadlifts will help that. Now I will take the next week off all exercise and start back up next Monday.
I found that the third and fourth weeks of the program are where I make the most gains in muscularity so I'm really looking forward to mid-Novemer!