HST, Total body workouts one day apart???Help!

[micjakson]

So I am looking for a good workout program for the next two months. I want to add mass and strength(primarily mass). I was looking into the HST program at this link:
Hypertrophy-Specific Training : : Official Home of HST
I was looking at the sample HST program they have on the third page, and I find it hard to believe that your body can recover in ONE day??? I see that the workouts are total body(each being similar to the other), and they are 3 times a week. I get sore for at least TWO days AFTER each of my workouts, so how does this work? Do you usually not get sore after the HST workouts, or do you work through it?
Please enlighten me. I am really looking for a good workout program, and if anyone has any other good programs they would like to share(mainly for mass and strength), please do so. Thanks.

 

[eagleba]

HST has worked great for me as I have a pretty hectic schedule. You are basically only doing one exercise for each bodypart three times per week (total bodyworkouts as you mentioned). Stick to compound exercises such as deadlifts, presses and squats. It is based on the princple of progressive loads. My body was pretty much done with lifting after playing football in college. I was benching over 400 in highschool and this pretty much tore my joints up. After a few knee surgeries and not being able to move my arms due to shoulder problems, I gave up lifting. I started HST training about a year ago and have not had the joint problems that used to plague me. I recommed that you give it a try. Start with the recommended program and you can tweak it as you progress through your cycles. As for being sore, I would not worry about it as your body should adjust (this is based on my experience).

 

[ItsHectic]

your not lifting at full intensity and your not going to failure, so of course you can recover provided your eating enough, but if you are still sore your ment to work through it. I have heard some people have trouble towards the end of the 3x5s because its a lot of stress on the CNS.

 

[micjakson]

Thanks for the feedback. I only have the next two months, but I have ALL the time in the world for bodybuilding. I want to gain as much mass and strength(specifically bodybuilding) that I can with the time I have. Is the HST program a good idea for my situation, or is it more for someone with a tight schedule?
Another thing is; with total body workouts, isn't it true that the muscle groups you hit during the last part of the workout are getting less attention because of fatigue? Overall, I like the program but there are a few kinks that I don't understand.

 

[precious_roy]

Thanks for the feedback. I only have the next two months, but I have ALL the time in the world for bodybuilding. I want to gain as much mass and strength(specifically bodybuilding) that I can with the time I have. Is the HST program a good idea for my situation, or is it more for someone with a tight schedule?
Another thing is; with total body workouts, isn't it true that the muscle groups you hit during the last part of the workout are getting less attention because of fatigue? Overall, I like the program but there are a few kinks that I don't understand.

Ummm, unless your mental intensity drops during the later part of your workout then the answer would be no. If it was yes, the same could be said of any other type of workout.

As for the getting sore part, once you start riding the RBE wave you won't get DOMS. Translation: the first 1 or 2 workouts you may be sore, but after that as long as you stick to the scheduled intensity, load and rep range you won't be sore.

Its a great routine for mass. If you have unlimited time, I suggest doing a 6x per week or even 12x per week provided you can eat and rest properly. I once did 12x and the body recomposition effects were sick! I had to eat about 6000 calories a day though.

 

[micjakson]

Thanks for the reply. I figured that as the workout progresses, overall fatigue increases(even if you're doing different muscles), but I'll take your word for it. I will be eating 5200+ clean cals everyday.

12x per week???!!! So you were doing triple workouts, or double 6 times a week? Please explain?

 

[ItsHectic]

I am going to have a home gym and I am going to be training 7 days per week, meaning I will be cutting the 2 month HST cycle into a smaller timeframe by afew days. I am going to alternate between upper body and lower body because training legs takes a lot out of me.

One thing I dont like about the HST board is they are compound freaks, they demonise isolations like they are some catabolic time wasters, but from the size of my biceps(too small) compared to my anterior delts I know isolations are needed.
And if you are doing lots of isolations, hamstrings, lower back, rear delt, upper pecs, forearms. Then theres no real reason not to train 14x per week especially during the 3x5s, which with 14x per week you could probly get away from 5x5s.
I am going to be doing lifting 7 days per week and cardio 7 days per week so technically I am working out 14x per day but half of it will be fasted cardio.

 

[eagleba]

compound lifts should make up the majority of your lifts. There is nothing wrong in my opinion on adding a few isolation lifts in. Curls are the only isolations that I perform with my hst program.

 

[precious_roy]

Thanks for the reply. I figured that as the workout progresses, overall fatigue increases(even if you're doing different muscles), but I'll take your word for it. I will be eating 5200+ clean cals everyday.

12x per week???!!! So you were doing triple workouts, or double 6 times a week? Please explain?

I was doing twice a day full body workouts (full body am and pm). If you have all the time in the world I highly recommend it although it can get a bit boring.

The overall fatigue does increase but just slow enough so that your body can keep up. Each person is different so for some a slightly lower frequency is in order, for some a slightly higher.

 

[ItsHectic]

compound lifts should make up the majority of your lifts. There is nothing wrong in my opinion on adding a few isolation lifts in. Curls are the only isolations that I perform with my hst program.

I am assuming you dont target rear delts, they need to be isolated. And its not just an aesthetical thing but good for shoulder health aswell.
I just dont believe you can build a balanced body using all compounds and just 1-2 isolations. And I dont think its productive to rely on bench press to grow triceps.

 

[precious_roy]

I am assuming you dont target rear delts, they need to be isolated. And its not just an aesthetical thing but good for shoulder health aswell.
I just dont believe you can build a balanced body using all compounds and just 1-2 isolations. And I dont think its productive to rely on bench press to grow triceps.

I think that after you have trained for a while with a routine (1-2 years or so) then you can point out lagging areas that routine misses. Until that time compound movements are your best bet for efficiency.

Some people can grow triceps with bench presses depending on form (grip width, etc) as well as genetics. But if you are a beginner with HST there really is no way to accuratly judge how your body will respond so its best just to follow the cookie cutter version layed out, evaluate your progress and go from there.