Help With My HST Routine

koi1214 · 10-14-2007, 10:42 PM

I have read the info at the HST website and developed this routine to start Monday.My goals are to add mass(bulk).I have been using Bill Starr's routine forever and have reached a plateau on all my lifts.Here is my plan.

Weeks 1-2 2 sets X 15 reps
Weeks 3-4 2x10
Weeks 5-6 2x5
Weeks 7-8 2x5 + drop sets

M/W/F

Upper Body
Bench Press
BO Rows
Military Press
Shrugs
Standing Barbell Curls/Preacher curls
Tricep Extensions/Dips

Lower Body
Squats
SL Deadlift
Standing Calf Raises/Seated Calf Raises

During my bulking cycle(all naturel) I will be taking in
4500-5000 calories from chicken breast,steak,milk,oatmeal,
brown rice,pasta,etc.Is this routine O.K. for bulking?

SMOKEPALADIN · 10-15-2007, 01:52 PM

I would work it in this order,
Squats
SL Deadlift
Dips/Bench Press
BO Rows
Military Press
Shrugs
Tricep Extensions
Standing Barbell Curls/Preacher curls
Standing Calf Raises/Seated Calf Raises
ABBS work

You might have a hard time doing Dips so late in the workout, you could move them up with benchpress with a forward lean and still be fresh for them. Also dont forget your core ABB work.
The 4500-5K cals seems like a lot, but hard to say without your weight/Ht.

koi1214 · 10-15-2007, 11:15 PM

Thanks for the help and advice.I have been taking in 4500/5000 calories for the last 6 weeks and I went from 165 to 173.I work construction and burn a lot of calories while working.
Stats-5'7"/173lbs

sfearl1 · 10-24-2007, 12:12 AM

if you follow your hst routine perfectly you will definitely be able to bulk on it. i think i added 4-6lbs naturally on my 8 week hst routine but i was very very strict with it. i never added any extra sets or anything to avoid overtraining and to keep the low volume principal. your routine looks good but you might want to throw in a pullup or some variation of. also i found my workouts were pretty long so i split upper and lower (plus traps and abs) up and did m/t/w/th/f/s with upper/lower/upper/lower/upper/lower/off. i am pretty sure i looked it up and they said it was ok to do that on the hst forum somewhere.

koi1214 · 10-24-2007, 12:29 AM

Could you post your split routine.I have been doing full body M/W/F(smokepaladin's outline suggestion) and damn it takes about 2 hours.I like this routine alot.His suggestion really helped me.The first day I was drained so I lowered all the weight I was using and add 5lbs a day.I am now able to do all the lifts,but since I work all day I need to split the workouts.

What do you think about this?

M/Th Lower Squats,SL D/L,Standing C Raises, Seated C Raises,and Core Ab Work.

Tu/F Upper Bench,BO Rows,M Press,Shrugs,CG Chins,Standing Curls,Preacher Curls,Tri Extensions,and Dips.

sfearl1 · 10-24-2007, 12:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koi1214

Could you post your split routine.I have been doing full body M/W/F(smokepaladin's outline suggestion) and damn it takes about 2 hours.I like this routine alot.His suggestion really helped me.The first day I was drained so I lowered all the weight I was using and add 5lbs a day.I am now able to do all the lifts,but since I work all day I need to split the workouts..
What do you think about this?
M/Th Lower? Squats,SL D/L,Standing C Raises,and Seated C Raises.
Tu/F Upper? Bench,BO Rows,M Press,Shrugs,Standing Curls,Preacher Curls,Tri Extensions,and Dips.

that looks good but you're only hitting each group twice a week instead of 3 times. i prefer going 6 days a week and having shorter workouts versus 3 days a week and having 2 hour long workouts. mine were like this..

m,w,f - upper
flat bench
dips
chins
bo rows
military
bb curl/tri extension superset

tues,thurs,sat - lower
squats
deadlifts
calf raises
shrugs
abs

that was basically it. i like to do lateral and rear delts so i threw those in too once i was comfortable with the routine.

koi1214 · 10-24-2007, 12:50 AM

I like your routine.I will start it Monday.Thanks alot for your help,but I can't lift on weekends.I work Sat/Sun from 6am-6pm
and Mon-Fri 8-6.I don't wanna burn my self out.
M/W-Upper
T/T-Lower+abs.
But I am still only hitting hitting each group twice.

sfearl1 · 10-24-2007, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koi1214

I like your routine.I will start it Monday.Thanks alot for your help,but I can't lift on weekends.I work Sat/Sun from 6am-6pm
and Mon-Fri 8-6.I don't wanna burn my self out.
M/W-Upper
T/T-Lower+abs.
But I am still only hitting hitting each group twice.

as long as you are progressively loading with SUBMAXIMAL weight up to your 'max' day for that rep range i'm sure you will still make progress and see results. you might be able to get away with an extra set or even extra exercise since the frequency won't be as high. good luck.

you might find this link useful btw...
http://www.strengthmill.net/forum/showthread.php?t=46

koi1214 · 10-24-2007, 09:51 PM

I decided to add 1 extra set per exercise.So since Monday is week 3.I'll do 3x10(weeks 3 &4)(3x5-Weeks 5&6)(3x5/drop sets-Weeks 7-8)
M/Th-Upper
Tu/F-Lower/Abs

sfearl1 · 10-24-2007, 09:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koi1214

I decided to add 1 extra set per exercise.So since Monday is week 3.I'll do 3x10(weeks 3 &4)(3x5-Weeks 5&6)(3x5/drop sets-Weeks 7-8)
M/Th-Upper
Tu/F-Lower/Abs

i forgot to ask if you did the strategic deconditioning? that i feel is one of the most important things in hst. even though it sucks to be out of the gym for a week!

koi1214 · 10-24-2007, 10:20 PM

I did my 15RM,10RM,and 5RM and then I took 1 full week off before I started.

sfearl1 · 10-24-2007, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by koi1214

I did my 15RM,10RM,and 5RM and then I took 1 full week off before I started.

good deal!

celc5 · 10-27-2007, 12:03 AM

sfearl, what are you thoughts on this variant that was suggested in one of the links you provided?

Quote:
another form of hst is:
Monday - 15 rep mesocycle
Wednesday - 10 rep mesocycle
Friday - 5 rep mesocycle

This strategy is attractive to me because I have a training partner on Saturdays only (which makes this a T/Th/Sat split). Your thoughts?

sfearl1 · 10-27-2007, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celc5

sfearl, what are you thoughts on this variant that was suggested in one of the links you provided?

Quote:
another form of hst is:
Monday - 15 rep mesocycle
Wednesday - 10 rep mesocycle
Friday - 5 rep mesocycle

This strategy is attractive to me because I have a training partner on Saturdays only (which makes this a T/Th/Sat split). Your thoughts?

i would have to try it out to be able to gauge its effectiveness versus the standard layout. it looks promising but once you start working with your heavier weights the 15 rep range days (mondays) look pretty brutal! give it a shot if you think you can handle it. i think the article said that the guys who did that variant of the routine had good results. although it does look a little too advanced to try out for a first or second hst cycle IMO.

celc5 · 10-27-2007, 10:00 AM

Thanks for the input!

Well I'm not sure that you'd be increasing the weight linearly per each workout. I'm thinking you'd almost have 3 seperate programs going and the weights would increase the same as in the traditional HST programs per that particular rep range...

...did that make ANY sense whatsoever?

Something to this effect with random numbers for illustration for 1 exercise:

....................Tues.........Thur..........Sat u
Week 1:.........15x100......10x150.......5x200
Week 2:.........15x105......10x160.......5x210
Week 3:.........15x110......10x170.......5x220
...and so forth.

I realize these percentages might not follow the rules but they're just to illustrate my thinking.

LT* · 10-29-2007, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by celc5

Thanks for the input!

Well I'm not sure that you'd be increasing the weight linearly per each workout. I'm thinking you'd almost have 3 seperate programs going and the weights would increase the same as in the traditional HST programs per that particular rep range...

...did that make ANY sense whatsoever?

Something to this effect with random numbers for illustration for 1 exercise:

....................Tues.........Thur..........Sat u
Week 1:.........15x100......10x150.......5x200
Week 2:.........15x105......10x160.......5x210
Week 3:.........15x110......10x170.......5x220
...and so forth.

I realize these percentages might not follow the rules but they're just to illustrate my thinking.

I've been doing this type of HST for a while now, and I love it. I've been doing HST since 2001, so I have pretty much done all variants of it over the years. What works best for me always depended on my goals at the time. Regular HST served me very well for the time I used it, but I found that as I get older (I'm 37 now) I can't handle 4-5 weeks of 5's with 2-3 of those being at max weights. Especially after doing a whole cycle before hand.

My training week starts on Thrus and I lift Thurs, Sat, Mon. I have been doing 15's on Thurs, 10's on Sat, and 5s on Mon, but I recently switched to 10s on Thurs, 15s on Sat and 5s on Mon to see if that will give me the added benefit of better recovery going from 10s to 5s with the 15s in the middle.

For shear size gains, I would have to say that vanilla HST is the fastest way to go. I've gotten more quality gains from doing things the way you propose. I feel the gains are more solid, and even though they come a little slower, I feel my muscles are more dense and more able to recover doing the 15/10/5 every week. I don't have near the aches and pains I used to get which is a huge plus for me.