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02-20-2005, 10:22 PM
| #1 |
| Registered User  | HST For Dummies : Let's Grow In light of seeing the HST thread here, I'll post up my summarization of HST. The next post after this will get into the "specifics" a little bit more. It's basically a noobs guide to HST, A.K.A. 'HST for Dummies'. ----------------------------------------------------------- Ok, so a lot of people are talking and asking questions about HST (Hypertrophy Specific Training), so I'm going to try to wrap it up as short and as quick as possible, so everyone can get going with their routines. We'll do this in steps. First off, HST is not just for size, but it's not a strength program from a muscle mag that will add 50lbs to your bench in 8 weeks (did add 10lbs to mine in 4 weeks though). You will gain both size and strength, but with the principles of the program, the size will outweigh the strength. A lot of this also depends on you, and how you respond. Second off, you need to have a good diet, HST won't add inches to you if you follow a crappy diet, everyone knows this. You would obviously add more size if you were bulking, but some people want to take the fat off, and HST is great for cutting also. Now, for the do-it-yourself routine creating. Follow these steps: 1) Choose what rep range you want to do. For your first HST cycle I would suggest just the standard 15, 10, and 5 (you'll know what I'm talking about later). 2) Choose 8-12 exercises for your full body that you would like to perform. I myself use only 8, which makes for a nice compact routine. Here is an example of my exercises: Squat Bench Press Stiff Legged Deadlift Bent Over BB Rows Seated Shoulder Press EZ Bar Curls Lying Tricep Extensions Standing Calf Raise ----------------------------------------------------------- 3) We'll just assume that you are using 15, 10, and 5 rep weight "blocks". You would take a week to find each of your maxes for every exercise and every rep range. For example, on Monday you would find your 15 rep max for every exercise, Wednesday you would do the 10s, and Friday the 5s. 4) After you figure out your maxes, take 9-14 days off from any training. This is called Strategic Deconditioning (SD). This is taken from the HST website: ----------------------------------------------------------- "At this point, it is necessary to either increase the load (Progressive load), or decrease the degree of conditioning to the load (Strategic Deconditioning). The muscle is sensitive not only to the absolute load, but also to the change in load (up or down). Therefore, you can get a hypertrophic effect from increasing the load from a previous load, even if the absolute load is not maximum, assuming conditioning (resistance to exercise induced micro-damage) is not to extensive. There is a limit to the number of increments you can add to increase the load. You simply reach your maximum voluntary strength eventually. This is why Strategic Deconditioning is required for continued growth once growth has stopped (all things remaining equal). " ------------------------------------------------------------ Okay, so you've figured out all of your maxes and are ready to start working out this Monday. Now here's a sum-up of how the routine will go. Each rep range (block) (15, 10, and 5) will each be given 2 weeks of training. It doesn't have to be 2 weeks, but we'll assume this is your first HST "experience" and you are just going to do the standard. Training will be 3 times a week, once a day (we'll use M/W/F for this cycle). Again, some people train 6 days a week or some people do an AM and PM split. Each rep range will get 6 workouts over 2 weeks. Now here's where the weird part comes in (well, against what you probably normally do), you will only train to failure once every 2 weeks (until weeks 7+8, which I'll get to later). Workout #6 will be your routine with all of your maxes. ------------------------------------------------------------ So what do you do with workouts 1-5? You take your max, and gradually decrease it over the 6 workouts. The amount you increase each workout could be varied, generally 5-20lbs, with bigger bodyparts and compound movements having the bigger increment. I'm not a real strong guy, so for the Squat, Bench Press, and SLDL I increase the weight 10lbs, and for everything else I increase it by 5lbs. This can also be done percent wise (5-10% increments) So, for example, we'll say your 15 rep max for bench press is 100lbs, and you are using increments of 10lbs. This would be what your weights would look like for bench press: Workout 1 (Week 1, Monday)-50lbs Workout 2 (Week 1, Wednesday)-60lbs Workout 3 (Week 1, Friday)-70lbs Workout 4 (Week 2, Monday)-80lbs Workout 5 (Week 2, Wednesday)-90lbs Workout 6 (Week 2, Friday)- 100lbs ----------------------------------------------------------- *Set up your HST routine here:HST Calculator* ----------------------------------------------------------- Ok, so now (hopefully) you know what to do for 6 weeks. Now your at your last workout of the 5s (your maxes for everything). Now it's time for weeks 7 + 8. There are a few ways you can do these weeks. One way is to do negatives with your 2RM for 2 weeks (need a training partner). Another way is to use drop sets. And another way (the way I am using, and probably the simplest), is to repeat workout #6 of the 5s for 2 weeks (M/W/F). Now your cycle will have looked like this Weeks 1-2: 15s Weeks 3-4: 10s Weeks 5-6: 5s Weeks 7-8: continuation of 5RM ------------------------------------------------------------ Sets: The amount of sets you use for each workout, like everything else, can be vaired. You can fix you sets, so say you do 2 sets of squats and 1 set of curls, you would do that many sets the whole routine. Another way to do this is to progress the sets. The going trend to do this is 1x15, 2x10, and 3x5. So for the 15s, every exercise would be done with one set, for the 10s everything would be done for 2 sets, and so on. This does NOT include warming up, which should also be a BIG part of your workouts. ----------------------------------------------------------- *See the warming up FAQ:FAQ ----------------------------------------------------------- Now you have completed your HST cycle right? Wrong. Time for some more SD for 9-14 days. After that you can either: 1) Do whatever kind of training you want or 2) Start another HST cycle because it has worked so well for you. You would generally increase all of your weights 5-10%, depending on the excercise, or you can just re-test your maxes. ----------------------------------------------------------- You can change the rep ranges, exercises, workouts, and scheduling however you want. Use your first cycle to figure out what you can do better for the next cycle. ----------------------------------------------------------- *Another note: Some people think that they must do all they can to prevent zig-zagging (repeating the same weights in different rep ranges). I zig-zagged plenty in my first cycle and had great results, so you don't have to worry about it* ------------------------------------------------------------ Well thats HST, as short as I can sum it up. I hope this helps a lot of people, and convinces them to start the best training method I have ever used. Feel free to add things or change things, or ask questions. |
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02-20-2005, 10:23 PM
| #2 |
| Registered User | Many people are posting up asking if their HST layout is OK. Hopefully this will help you in constructing your Hypertrophy-Specific training cycle. Going Into Detail Too many people are worried that if they don't include "this" exercise, HST will fail for them. People seem to worry too much on what exercises they select, when really it's not that big of a deal. As long as you're hitting all of the major muscle groups, you're fine. No need to post up what you've already seen a million times. Exercise Selection When choosing what exercises to pick, just make sure that you're hitting every major muscle group (focusing in on compound movements), along with minor ones, although that isn't totally necessary. Below is an example list of exercises to choose from : Quads Squat Leg Press Front Squat Hamstrings Stiff Legged Deadlift Leg Curl Lunges GHR Chest Bench Press Incline Bench Press Dips Shoulders Military Press DB Press Lateral Raises Lats Bent Rows Pulldowns Cable Rows Bent Lateral Raises Rear Lat Machine Arms Curls Preacher Curls Close-Grip Bench Press Tricep Extensions Calves Calf Press Calf Raise Workout Frequency Another concern is how much you're working out. The general "trend" with HST is a full body workout performed 3 times a week. You can either alternate exercises, or just do the same workout every week. Below are ways to mix up the frequency/exercise selection of HST : Frequency 1 - Full body workout, performed M/W/F Frequency 2 - Use an upper body workout, and a lower body workout, alternate workouts performing each workout twice (so you will be working out 6 times in 1 week, but only training the whole body 3 times) Frequency 3 - Full body workouts, performed in a 3 on, 1 off day fashion Frequency 4 - If you think you're up for it, you can workout 4-6 times a week, using the same workout How to alternate exercises We'll use legs for an example. Just pick two exercises (we'll say squat and leg press), and just perform each exercise every other workout. For the example, squats will be A, and leg press will be B. Week 1 : Monday - A, Wednesday - B, Friday - A Week 2 : Monday - B, Wednesday - A, Friday - B Sets You can either keep a fixed set range, or progressively load the amount of sets. For example you can (well use 15-10-5 for reps) : 1) Keep sets constant. All major muscle groups can be trained with 2 sets, and minors can be trained with 1 set. 2) Load sets. For example, you could do 1 x 15, 2 x 10, and 3 x 5. For loading sets, you don't have to go 1, 2, 3. If you can handle more, do 2, 3, 4...or 3, 4, 5. It's all up to knowing your body, and what you can handle. Reps The number of reps your perform each set may also be changed. The "trend" with HST, is 15-10-5. I like this way the best, but you may not, therefore I can't and won't tell you to do 15-10-5. Some people respond better to lower reps, and 12-8-4, or 10-6-3 would be better for them. If there's one thing I cannot stress enough, it is DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE 15s. Above is just one way to use reps, here's a couple other ways - 1) Change the rep range every week (ex 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4) 2) Change the reps every workout (15, 14, 13, 12, etc) Number of Exercises One of the biggest things people are concerned with is how many exercises you should perform. I would say the average is about 8 exercises, but this changes depending on the person. If you have average recovery, about 8 exercises will do. If you have great recovery, feel free to use 12, just make sure that you can handle it. If you have below average recovery, a compounds only workout with 5 exercises will also be just fine. It's all about knowing your body, I can't know it for you. Conclusion Take what is above, and use it! What I gave should be enough to set up your HST cycle. Follow the principles above, and you shouldn't have to start your own thread about what exercises you chose and how many. Know your body, and you will know what to choose. Have fun with HST, and good luck. |
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02-20-2005, 10:49 PM
| #3 |
| Resident Paranoid Extremist  | Other things to take and use: The easiest way to determine increments is to take your max for any given microcycle and multiply it by 95% or 90%, depending on whether you want to use 5% or 10% increments, to determine the load used for the workout prior to that one, and so on and so forth. So if your 10 rep max on bench is 200 you times that by 90% and get 180, times that by 90% and get 162, times that by 90%and get 145.8, so on: 131.22, 118.09. Round off and your weight progression for the bench press in the 10 rep microcycle looks like this: 120, 130, 145, 160, 180, 200. It's a good, quick, easy way to get a set of weights that will guarantee you an adequate increase each workout. Don't be afraid to start low. The range of weight you use for each exercise during the cycle is a big factor in your success. Compound movements in HST aren't really an option, they're a must. With isolation exercises the increments of weight change get to be too much of a ***** to workout and they're really not effective or effecient. Stick with the big moves where it's easy to workout the increments and control volume. DO NOT use a weight heavier than what is given for each workout. The point of the increase in weights is that following the Strategic Deconditioning your muscles are receptive to growing if you use the minimal effective load. You then progress the load each workout just enough to overcome your body's adaptation to the load you used last time. Going heavy early in the cycle defeats the purpose of the whole thing. Your body will adapt to the heavier load in one or two workouts and your gains will be slow or halted after that. Do not worry about zig zagging, or repeating workouts during a cycle. That is at the begining of the 10s you may be using a weight that you used during the 15s. You may end the 15s bench cycle at 150 and start the 10sbench at 140. That's okay. It's not the optimal setup but it doesn't really matter too much in the end. After you get through the first cycle and become accustomed to the principles and how the whole thing works, you can start modifying it to suit you better. Go to the www.hypertrophy-specific.com web site and visit the forums there. There's a lot of information there on how HST works, why it works, numerous studies and postings by people who have been using this training method for a long time and can answer any question in about as little or as much detail as you could want. |
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02-21-2005, 09:22 PM
| #4 |
| Registered User | ^^Good post. |
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02-22-2005, 07:21 PM
| #5 |
| Registered User | Yea i just got finished with the 10s and my muscles definatly feel fuller and better....when i start the 5s im sure Ill be using some of the weights I used during the 10s...the 5s are gonna be hard to gut through from what ive read, but it will be worth it in the end... I think HST is underated in what people think about it strength wise, cause I have increased my 10RM since this last cycle... The strength increases are slower granted, but they are definatly solid... |
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02-22-2005, 08:42 PM
| #6 |
| |  Great post bro.....I have been hoping someone would do a write up about this and Max-OT as many swear by these training techniques......I will give HST soon thanks to your posting as I always wanted a 100% understanding of it and not a 95% understanding, you know? Thanks and welcome to the board bro! |
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02-22-2005, 11:59 PM
| #7 | |
| Resident Paranoid Extremist | Quote:
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02-23-2005, 02:19 AM
| #8 | |
| Board Supporter | Quote:
For instance, Ive just started a HST cycle where I train 5x per week, full body. Granted the volume is low, but if you can more volume, there is no reason why you cant simply increase it to suit you. | |
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02-23-2005, 07:33 AM
| #9 |
| Registered User   | yup, im jumping on the bandwagon and givving it a go too, did my first 15's workout today, not hard, but harder than I thought given the low weights, usualy lift 3 sets 8 reps, 15's give a fair burn. im quite intrested in the results of my first cycle! |
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02-23-2005, 08:54 AM
| #10 | |
| Resident Paranoid Extremist | Quote:
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02-23-2005, 09:13 AM
| #11 | |
| Pork Chop | Quote:
I agree. As many aroudn here know I am a big fan of HST, having done my share of other routines. I've done several cycles of it now, with and without androgens, and it does definitely help strength to some degree. I think that people wishing to increase strength should at some point look into Haycock's strength program as well  This thread gave a nice overview of important concepts, good job  | |
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02-23-2005, 11:36 AM
| #12 | |
| | I have not done Max OT or DC training but am looking into both, maybe someone can give us the Dummy version! Still waiting to see how Deoudes59 likes DC training as well. Maybe he can post his feedback in another thread or even this one.Quote:
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02-23-2005, 01:08 PM
| #13 |
| Registered User   | Go to www.intensemuscle.com www.ironaddicts.com www.musclemayhem.com/forums These forums will point you in the right direction as far as DC goes. They also have a lot of good info on training in general. |
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02-23-2005, 02:39 PM
| #14 |
| | Thank you. |
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02-23-2005, 04:34 PM
| #15 | |
| Board Supporter | Quote:
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03-01-2005, 06:28 PM
| #16 |
| Registered User |
