Take a look at this HST routine?

[Kristopher]

Hey guys, im in the middle of another HST cycle, i just wanted
to get some opinions/suggestions on it. This is the second time i have
used HST principles in my lifting, the first time i was very impressed with
the gains and really liked the methodology of the system.

This is my split

M(cardio)
T(day 1)
W(cardio)
T(day 2)
F(cardio)
S(day 1)
S(rest)

Day 1 (everything 2 sets of 10 reps except arm work which has 3 sets)

Stiff Leg Deads
Flat BP
Military Press (seated)
Bent DB Raises
Rotator Cuff Raises
Shrugs (DB)
Pullups
DB Curl
SkullCrushers


Day 2

Squat (or dead, i alternate every week)
Incline DBP
Arnie Press
Side Raises
Bent Row
Rotator Cuff raises
DB Curl
Skullcrushers


I have been thinking about adding another Chest movement to both workouts
Dips on the compound day, and Fly on DB day.

Im sure ill catch flak for only squatting and deadlifting occasionally. But my reason is
i dont want to gain any more mass in my legs or lower back.. For along time i neglected my
hams and upper body while doing lots of squats and deads.. So right now im trying to build
more upper body mass to rehad certain injurys as well as for injury prevention in the future
Basically i was very powerful in my core, but wasent supported well. And ended up injuring myself
more than necesarry during my martial arts training.

Anyways.. what do you guys think of that?

 

[CDB]

How do you plan on managing the weight progression while alternating exercises, for example in the chest routine? Doing a flat bb bench one day and then db presses raises the question of how you know the relative load on the target muscles is increasing as much as possible each workout.

 

[Kristopher]

Very good question.. i never thought about it like that.

I know my max for bench and for DB bench, so i thought i could extrapolate the necesarry increases in weight, but in actual fact im not sure that is an accurate gauge of weight progression.
Would you recommend i drop the ancillarys on the second day and stick with compound movements the whole way through?

 

[CDB]

Very good question.. i never thought about it like that.

I know my max for bench and for DB bench, so i thought i could extrapolate the necesarry increases in weight, but in actual fact im not sure that is an accurate gauge of weight progression.
Would you recommend i drop the ancillarys on the second day and stick with compound movements the whole way through?

I would. I would make one routine and follow that every other day, or work a split out where each muscle group gets hit three times a week. From that extrapolating you increments isn't a big deal. When you switch exercises though it's harder because your increments for one chest exercise aren't necessarily going to match up with your increments for another chest exercise. The purpose is to keep the weight progression consistent over time as much as possible, so using ancilleries makes it much harder to judge. What I would reccomend is doing drop sets of the same exercise as your workset for metabolic strain.

 

[Kristopher]

Doing dropsets with each exercise? how much weight to drop per set?
I have never really used dropsets or supersets before, never had the need i guess

Sounds interesting enough that im willing to try , i always say ill try anything once.. except heroine and crack whores



Ill try those twice JK

 

[CDB]

Heroin is great, but dangerously addictive. Still worth a one off try in my opinion, but each to their own.

As for how much to drop you have to go by feel. I find my 15 rep max to be a good starting point for drop sets. Basically whatever weight it is I always do one or two sets with my 15 rm after each exercise in an HST cycle.

 

[Kristopher]

I like it!!!

I think ill minus the mid week iso movements and just add more to the mains.
This is probably going to suck tommorow


Do you do that with every movement? also do you keep the same rep range? or just
go to failure.

Thanks for the info BTW!

 

[CDB]

I do clustering. Never go to failure with HST. With the frequency you'll end up burning out real quick. Clustinering basically means you pick a rep target and do whatever you have to to reach it without going to failure in each particular set. So say you chose 20 as your target reps, your sets depending on weight could look like this: 15/5 or 10/7/3 or 7/5/4/4 etc. Don't go to failure, keep the exercises consistent throughout the cycle, after you've passed the 15 rep micro cycle and moved into the tens add a drop set using your 15rm weight after each movement.

This is my basic HST routine, which is actually my basic routine for almost any workout program:

Squat
Straight Leg Deadlift
Calf Raise
Bench Press
Bent Over Row (various styles depending on how I feel, but always kept consistent throughout an HST cycle)
Military Press / Clean and Press
Lat Pull Downs (optional, don't always do them)
Ez Bar Curls / Preacher Curls / Concentration Curls (again, depending on how I feel, but always kept consistent throughout an HST cycle)
Triceps Extensions
Crunches of various types, and if I'm doing them weighted I treat them like the other exercises and always keep them consistent throughout the cycle.