does hst work (hyp specfic training) work??

Trapstar

Trapstar

Member
i was checking out the hypertrophy specific training workout and wondering does it actually work? i wana gain size (not tooo worried abou strength atm) and wondering if this will accomplish what i want, thanks
 
HST can be a very effective method of training if the time is taken to plan out your routine. the problem most have is sticking to the structure and starting with too much weight... If plan out and followed, you can get good results.
 
I really enjoyed training HST style. I gained some size with it and leaned out at the same time without doing much cardio. I haven't done HST in a few months but I'm in the process of planning my next cycle.
 
Trapstar said:
can someone help me in making a hst plan? prefferbly someone who has done this before =)
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Hey man,
goto: dubya, dubya, dubya.hypertrophy-specific.com (sorry I can't post links in AM yet! LoL)

There are articles and a calculator for you to design a program off of. Remember to plug in Large muscle groups that you can do compund excercises with. I just finished a cycle and I'm in PCT right now and this is my PCT workout. You'll want to do this workout for 6 weeks followed by a break of 9-14 days and then jump back in it. You'll have to find your 15, 10, and 5 RM for it to be effective. Here is my HST routine for example.

Trap wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Trap wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Shld wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Chst wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Back wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Back wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Bicp wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Trcp wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Quad wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Quad wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Ham wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM
Calf wk 1-2/15RM wk 3-4/10RM wk 5-6/5RM

I beleive that becasue of this workout I've maintained more of my gains off the m-drol than most people have. Up 16.5 lbs off a 4 week cycle, lost 2.5 to PCT, and Mon starts week 3 of my SERM/AI inverse cycle. In addition to the AI (Novedex XT) I'm also running USP's Powerfull with this workout. The best part is now, what used to take me 1.5 hours is now done in 43 minutes!! In and out!!! I love this workout and you will too I promise you that much. Finally, Find your BMR, keep your protein and carb intake up about 500 over your BMR (at least that's what I'm doing. Do what suits you best..), get your 8 hours of sleep EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and you'll start gaining size in no time with this scheme!! Good luck

:clean:
 
I am very intersested in the HST program as well, just did some researching on it, sounds pretty good. My question with it though is... Bryan Haycock, the founder believes on doing 3 days a week, M,W,F, but says for best gains, do an am, and pm workout for best gains. THAT confuses me! How can you workout your whole body twice in the same day? I can see doing a upper body in a.m. then lower body in p.m. or push/pull, but doing the whole body twice in a day? I must admit, I am lost there. Anyone else understand his reasoning there?
 
It's not a whole body routine for the AM/PM split.

You work upper body during one and lower body for the other.

It allows you to exert the most energy in each workout so you don't run out of gas.

I've never been into the split, but I have found that supersetting makes the workouts much shorter and raises the intensity. I usually do something along the lines of Squat/Bench/Row for one superset...then SLDL,Dips,Pullups for my next.
 
Actually his exact am/pm split is hitting the whole body twice. Take a look, this is taken from his info. I just don't understand this, here is the link. If you can make sense of it, let me know. He is doing even the same excercises in a.m. as he is in p.m. Here is the link, but you have to add the dubya dubya in front of it, I don't have link priviledges yet.=> users.telenet.be/aaitee/HST%20Faq_book.pdf
 
can't seem to get to the link, but not doubting what you say. I've never heard of that. Perhaps if you jump over to the HST forum they will be able to better direct you. I've done HST for awhile now and never heard of it.

Learn something new everyday I suppose.
 
What type of routine do you follow then? I have just started it, and mine looks like this...

1 set of squats
2 sets of deadlifts
2 sets of incline bench press
1 set of dip
2 sets of chinups
2 sets of row underhand/overhand grip
1 set of shrugs
1 set of shoulder press
1 set of lateral raise
1 set of a rear deltoid move
2 sets of biceps
2 sets of triceps
2 sets of abs

Just checked my bodyfat and bodyweight, going to see what type of gains I have with the same diet that I follow.
 
For my first 2 weeks I do 1 set of 15 reps with:

Squat / Deads (alternating each workout), SLDL, Bench, Dip, Shoulder Press, Rows, Pull-Downs, Curls, Tricep Ext.

For my next 2 weeks I do 2 sets of 10 reps, same exercises, but I begin to alternate more exercise as the weights get heavier. So one workout I may do Bench and the next I'll do Dip.

For the next 2 weeks I go with 3 sets of 5...again, same exercises, but by the end I'm usually down to doing 4-5 exercises each workout. I make sure each larger body part gets at least 1 exercise.

For the final 2 weeks, I like to continue on with 3 sets of 5 and find my new max for each one. So for each exercise I do I'll go up 5-10lbs until I hit my max.

My results are nothing to complain about. I can't say that I follow HST as prescribed as I used to, but the general concepts are still adhered to. I can't tell you how much muscle I've gained, can't tell you if I've gaine/lost bodyfat, but I can tell you that when I run into someone I haven't seen in a few months I always get the same comments "Wow, you've really been hitting the weights".
 
I just started my third week of hst, and I think I am going to quit it. I can see some problems already. I feel like one set of squats isn't enough, especially with such a light weight. So many of the excercises I have to start with such a low weight so I can keep increasing in poundage every workout, that I don't feel like I even went to the gym. Also, during the 10 Rep Max cycle, I am using the same weights I was using during the 15 Rep Max cycle, which would go against the philosophy. Might run over to the hst forum and see what they say. Bummed out
 
If you are in your 3rd week you should be doing 2 sets of 10 reps...and in your 5th and 6th week you would be doing 3 sets of 5.

If the weight feels too light to you, you can use the same weight 2 weeks in a row.

example:
If your 10 rep max for bench press is 100 lbs (easy round number to use) you could either go with:

w/o 1 - 75 lbs
2- 80lbs
3 - 85 lbs
4 - 90 lbs
5 - 95 lbs
6 - 100 lbs

or you could double up the weeks such as:
1- 80
2- 80
3- 90
4- 90
5- 100
6- 100

Overall in each meso cycle your fluctuation in weights from start to finish should only be 30-60 lbs, depending on if you go by 5 or 10 lbs per workout.

Hope the above helps.
 
Hello all. This is my first post on Anabolic Minds. I have been using HST for a while and very satisfied with the results. I think that the most important thing you can do with this program is to know your max's on the exercises you will be using and plan your workouts accordingly. I suggest, IPO Greatness, that this is why you are having problems.

I do agree that sometimes one set is not enough and I often do two sets. Also, at the very beginning of a "micro cycle", I think it is acceptable to use more than the prescribed number of reps. For example, I'm in the first week of a cycle and supposed to be doing 15 reps per set. On smaller muscle groups, I have to go very very light at this point. Since the goal of the "fifteens" is to promote lactic acid production, I'll do as many as 20 reps until I get a bit of a burn going. I might also do some pumping reps at the end of the set. Whatever it takes to feel like I've achieved the goal.

In regards to weights used between the 15, 10, and 5 rep micro cycles, it is common to "zig zag", that is, based on what your max weight for the next micro cycle is, you might have to drop weights going from the last workout of the last micro cycle. That's ok too. As long as your sets are full effort, but not to failure, your are giving your muscles the necessary demands to stimulate growth. Personally, I work backwards from the last workout of the fives, so I don't ever have this zig zag. My weights are increased on nearly every exercise every workout.

I started back with HST after having been out of the gym for a while, and am now in my third cycle. I feel like I'm getting a good handle on this program and better able to set the starting weights for each micro cycle. In my first cycle, I started noticing results after about four weeks. I've just finished my first week of the new cycle, and already my muscles are just as full and hard as they were before ten days of "strategic deconditioning", and I'm excited to be heading into the point in the cycle where I feel I'm getting the most gains.

If you've been thinking about trying this program, do it. If you have tried it and not been successful, I suggest you try again after determining your max weights for each exercise. That's half the battle with HST.
 
Fully agree with the above...knowing your maxes is essential.

I personally like the program because I feel like I get a break from pounding on my muscles with the heavy weights. Don't get me wrong, I like going heavy, but in my mind, it gives me a break without taking a break.

And in the end, you have to find what works best for you. Some guys like HIIT, some guys like GVT, some guys swear by 5x5. You just have to find what works best for you.

Best of luck

Handyman...welcome to the board, I think you'll like it here.

IPO..if needed..send me a PM with your email and I'll email you back with a copy of my HST routine that is in Word format, sometimes seeing it all on paper can be of great help.
 
I have found all my maxes for each cycle. I am going to give it one more shot, because I like having a detailed workout, and like the idea of getting 3 workouts for each bodypart in a week. I have just picked a few different excercises this time around, and I will also be doing an extra set or two for certain bodyparts. The only question I have with hst, as far as doubts, is if there is enough volume, and using such light weights, not going to failure 15 out of 18 workouts, in total, for all cycles.
 
IPO Greatness said:
I have found all my maxes for each cycle. I am going to give it one more shot, because I like having a detailed workout, and like the idea of getting 3 workouts for each bodypart in a week. I have just picked a few different excercises this time around, and I will also be doing an extra set or two for certain bodyparts. The only question I have with hst, as far as doubts, is if there is enough volume, and using such light weights, not going to failure 15 out of 18 workouts, in total, for all cycles.
Click to expand...

I don't think training to failure is all it's cracked up to be, at least for natural bodybuilders anyway. I used to work each bodypart to failure once a week on a five day split and this would always lead to overtraining and burnout. I have never had this problem and continue to make gains with HST.

Incidentally, in the documentation on the HST web site, he mentions that it's beneficial to change your reps every week instead of every other week, i.e. 20,15,12,10,8,5. This might be an approach to consider.
 
Do you think you can send me a pdf for HST training, Im looking to design a HST program and try it out. Thanks for the help if you can help.
 
I have been picking apart HST training lately and I have found a few holes in it, specifically in 2 of the concepts.

Strategic Deconditioning - No proof for this, you might as well deload and I would suggest deloading less severely than what the vanilla HST calls for as the lighter loads do not seem very anabolic at all. Changing rep ranges each week and hitting failure each week allows for hitting failure more often and using an overall higher amount of effort throughout the cycle which I think should greatly improve results.

Progressive Load - this is, as I have been suspecting, confused with progressive overload.

One of the concepts which remain strong is the frequency, hitting each muscle group every 36-48 hours.

Rather than manipulate the load(weight) each workout, effort should be manipulated, in other words low effort = 4 reps short of failure, moderate = 2 reps short of failure, and high effort = hitting failure.

Studies have shown effort is more important than volume or weight or rep range(to an extent), although the lower in reps you go the more myofibrillar hypertrophy is stimulated.

Another study which I will link below, suggests that it may be better to train more tradionally in that just picking a weight and working through the rep ranges before changing the weight is superior than sticking to one rep range or adjusting the rep range every 4 weeks or so:
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The more HST is picked apart and adjusted accordingly the less it becomes HST and the more it becomes just another full body workout, although it is a very good training program but I think the way it is presented is geared towards hard gainers or advanced lifters as respectively a way to manage overtraining and as an improvement over common routines such as HIT or old training principles.
 
Hi there guys. This is my very first thread. I am new to HST.. this is only my second cycle (gave it a try about 4 months ago).

Im giving it another try but have seemed to hit the same problem I had last time.

I always find my 12,8,5 RM ahead of time for every exercise, then I subtract 5-10lbs for each workout day. So lets say today was my first day doing 12s and I know that my 12rm on bench press is 200lbs, I start with 2 sets of 150....the first set is mega easy but then I cant complete the second set and have to stop at around 8 reps to avoid failure. I have no idea why...i mean the first set always feels really easy and light.

It is as if my muscles get too pumped and they fail. This happens on my bench press, military press, and close grip bench press, bent over rows. Does not happen on Squats, SLDL, or curls.

I always rest from 1.5-2 minutes between sets. Does this happen to anyone else?
 
Not sure if this will be of great help to you, but what I have always done is go from one exercise...do one set...go to another exercise...do a set of those.

So for instance...I would do a set of squats then a set of bench and then a set of rows.

I know some ppl will say it gives you too much time between sets but it's what worked for me.

And if I remember correctly (it's been awhile since I read through it all), Bryan says that the important parts is the TUT.

Just my 2 cents....hope it helps
 
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