Your opinion on HST training?

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HST Training 3 Day Training:

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Sky9 said:
I have been training HST and my strength has increased. I dont do percentages, but rather work my weights as the weeks go on. I have used linear increases instead of zig zagging weights and really like this method. If I can bang out 15 or 8 or 5 reps of a weight, it is time to increase weight IMO. Now this may not be the exact way to use this program, but it sure has worked for me. Now someone may chime in here and say, "yeah, but you were on SD" I used SD for the last three weeks of an eight week HST cycle, but my strength increased even before using SD, and I was even on a slight calorie deficit. I found that HST was very good for cutting and can be used for bulking too. It really is a great program, at least for some people. I will be doing it again.
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Any workout program where the weight increases regularly, you exercise frequently and take time off for the speicifc purpose of deconditioning is basically within HST principles. Right now I'm doing a very basic five by five routine, the weight increases on each lift every week. Workout is three times a week. If you plateau and you can't increase the weight anymore, take a week or two off. This routine fits too. It's a great little routine too, nicked it from the HST boards.

Day 1
Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5
Row 5x5

Last set is at my five rep max, preceding sets build up to that weight.

Day 2
Squat 5x3-5
Incline Bench 5x5
Sumo Dead Lift 5x5

The incline and DL follow the same guidelines for weight as the exercises on the first day. The squat is done with the weight not going above the weight used in the third set of the first day. Optional 4th and 5th sets use this same weight, depending on how much volume you think you can handle.

Day 3
Squat 5x4, 1x3, 1x8
Bench 5x4, 1x3, 1x8
Row 5x4, 1x3, 1x8

Weight for the 4th set is the same as Monday's. The 5th set is done with a 10lb increase for three reps, then back down to the weight used for the 3rd set for a set of 8 for all exercises. Haven't been over training, strength gains are coming consistently so far. Extra arm exercises, or something such as shrugs, can be thrown in as needed or wanted. This routine definitely feels good.
 
Interesting routine, should be good for bulking as those compound movements are great mass builders. I would not do this for more than 6-8 weeks though. I personally feel that when I limit my exercises to some body parts I start to lack in those areas. I have alot of trouble with shoulder/bicep size and I need to work them as primaries for real growth to occur. I like your routine and may try something like that once I heal up my torn ab muscle, but right now, its just lite weights and lots of ibprofen. Are you keeping a log anywhere so that we can watch your experience with this.


CDB said:
Any workout program where the weight increases regularly, you exercise frequently and take time off for the speicifc purpose of deconditioning is basically within HST principles. Right now I'm doing a very basic five by five routine, the weight increases on each lift every week. Workout is three times a week. If you plateau and you can't increase the weight anymore, take a week or two off. This routine fits too. It's a great little routine too, nicked it from the HST boards.

Day 1
Squat 5x5
Bench 5x5
Row 5x5

Last set is at my five rep max, preceding sets build up to that weight.

Day 2
Squat 5x3-5
Incline Bench 5x5
Sumo Dead Lift 5x5

The incline and DL follow the same guidelines for weight as the exercises on the first day. The squat is done with the weight not going above the weight used in the third set of the first day. Optional 4th and 5th sets use this same weight, depending on how much volume you think you can handle.

Day 3
Squat 5x4, 1x3, 1x8
Bench 5x4, 1x3, 1x8
Row 5x4, 1x3, 1x8

Weight for the 4th set is the same as Monday's. The 5th set is done with a 10lb increase for three reps, then back down to the weight used for the 3rd set for a set of 8 for all exercises. Haven't been over training, strength gains are coming consistently so far. Extra arm exercises, or something such as shrugs, can be thrown in as needed or wanted. This routine definitely feels good.
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Sky9 said:
Interesting routine, should be good for bulking as those compound movements are great mass builders. I would not do this for more than 6-8 weeks though. I personally feel that when I limit my exercises to some body parts I start to lack in those areas. I have alot of trouble with shoulder/bicep size and I need to work them as primaries for real growth to occur. I like your routine and may try something like that once I heal up my torn ab muscle, but right now, its just lite weights and lots of ibprofen. Are you keeping a log anywhere so that we can watch your experience with this.
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I wish, no time though. I have an idea for a very complex but interesting, I guess what you would called conjugated routine in the future. Basically it's based on what's worked for me over the course of the last two years of steady working out. This I may keep a log of if I can ever translate it into a spreadsheet.

As for my current routine, I'd recommend it for future use. It's very nice.
 
alright I just started HST today and I'm a little fuzzy on the
details. do I do all the same weights and reps for the next two weeks?
or do I keep adding say 5lbs to 10 lbs to the lift every session
thanks for your help
 
CREAO said:
alright I just started HST today and I'm a little fuzzy on the
details. do I do all the same weights and reps for the next two weeks?
or do I keep adding say 5lbs to 10 lbs to the lift every session
thanks for your help
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From the HST web site:

"There is an obligatory increase in weight (from 5-20 lbs.) each workout."

Visit the Invalid Link Removed and click on the calculator... it's a nice tool for figuring the weights.
 
Here is a template that I modified into my training log.

Week 1,2 - one set of 15 for each exercise
Week 3,4 - one set of 10, rest for twenty seconds, then one set of 5 for each exercise
Week 6,7 - two sets of 8 for each exercise
Week 8,9 - three sets of 5-8 for each exercise

I had great success with this, lost body fat, maintained/increased muscle mass while on a slight calorie deficit. I did cardio once or twice a week on my off days.

Hope this helps, got any more questions, post em.
 

Attachments

CDB said:
Mapping it out takes five to ten minutes. Finding the rep maxes takes three workouts, which isn't really a sacrifice at all. If you do the clustered version all you really need is your 5rm, so it takes one workout and ten minutes afterward to find the weights to use.

If it's something you plan on doing often, it's worth it to workout a spreadsheet that figures everything out for you. Basically using logic functions in Excel or similar sheets you can achieve a 5-10% increase in weight every workout and have it rounded to the nearest multiple of five or ten I believe, which makes the setup very, very easy.
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If someone could do this, I'd be forever grateful...
 
Magickk said:
If someone could do this, I'd be forever grateful...
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I completely forgot this thread. Here's mine, Magickk. It's got a cluster version and the traditional version of HST. Of course the rep ranges are totally arbitrary so you don't have to stick with them. All you have to do is enter the information into the grey fields and everything gets figured out for you. In the traditional version you have the option to assign a different increment percentage for each rep range. This helps you avoid zig zagging. Of course, if you use the Cluster version this is eliminated by default. I prefer the cluster version at 20 reps. Works great.
 
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CDB said:
I completely forgot this thread. Here's mine, Magickk. It's got a cluster version and the traditional version of HST. Of course the rep ranges are totally arbitrary so you don't have to stick with them. All you have to do is enter the information into the grey fields and everything gets figured out for you. In the traditional version you have the option to assign a different increment percentage for each rep range. This helps you avoid zig zagging. Of course, if you use the Cluster version this is eliminated by default. I prefer the cluster version at 20 reps. Works great.
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Awesome, CDB. +rep Thanks a ton bro! :thumbsup:
 
Magickk said:
Awesome, CDB. +rep Thanks a ton bro! :thumbsup:
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Here's an updated one actually. It's basically the same with a couple of additional routines in there as well, ones that I've found. This sheet is under constant revision. This one rounds the weights to the nearest five for you, and lets you control the increments for the negatives in the traditional routine too.
 
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CDB said:
Here's an updated one actually. It's basically the same with a couple of additional routines in there as well, ones that I've found. This sheet is under constant revision. This one rounds the weights to the nearest five for you, and lets you control the increments for the negatives in the traditional routine too.
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Thats a pretty sweet spreadsheet there bro. I would add a couple exercises, but that is definitely a great template.
 
Sky9 said:
Thats a pretty sweet spreadsheet there bro. I would add a couple exercises, but that is definitely a great template.
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That's exactly what my next update is. (c: I've got a sheet that has what I guess you'd call a conjugate HST workout on it. I tried it once, was very nice, easy to stick with and gave good gains. The prep was a bitch though because of all the exercises and the three rep ranges. I'm currently setting up a clustered version of it to make prep easier and I'm setting up the sheet so the exercises can be added once and then will populate throughout the sheet.

Eventually the sheet will be set up so exercises can have various rep maxes r estimates of those maxes entered into the front sheet, and then have them populate throughout the sheet on an as wanted basis. Need to learn a lot more about Excel and/or get my programming chops way beyond what they are and write my own program.
 
CDB said:
That's exactly what my next update is. (c: I've got a sheet that has what I guess you'd call a conjugate HST workout on it. I tried it once, was very nice, easy to stick with and gave good gains. The prep was a bitch though because of all the exercises and the three rep ranges. I'm currently setting up a clustered version of it to make prep easier and I'm setting up the sheet so the exercises can be added once and then will populate throughout the sheet.

Eventually the sheet will be set up so exercises can have various rep maxes r estimates of those maxes entered into the front sheet, and then have them populate throughout the sheet on an as wanted basis. Need to learn a lot more about Excel and/or get my programming chops way beyond what they are and write my own program.
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On the previous page I have posted a sheet with my HST template in a word doc.
 
Sky9 said:
On the previous page I have posted a sheet with my HST template in a word doc.
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Here's the classic style I have modified with your exercises. If you want to change an exercise just type over one of the selections in the grey field toward the top, it should cascade through the whole sheet. I don't know that the dumbbell exercises will be handled that well, everything moves in 5lb increments at least on this sheet, so there will be a lot of zig zagging or starting weights might be too low.

I'm currently working on a sheet that estimates 60% of your 1RM and makes sure you don't drop below that weight.
 
Sky9 said:
On the previous page I have posted a sheet with my HST template in a word doc.
Click to expand...

Here's the classic style I have modified with your exercises. If you want to change an exercise just type over one of the selections in the grey field toward the top, it should cascade through the whole sheet. I don't know that the dumbbell exercises will be handled that well, everything moves in 5lb increments at least on this sheet, so there will be a lot of zig zagging or starting weights might be too low.

I'm currently working on a sheet that estimates 60% of your 1RM and makes sure you don't drop below that weight.
 
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CDB said:
Here's the classic style I have modified with your exercises. If you want to change an exercise just type over one of the selections in the grey field toward the top, it should cascade through the whole sheet. I don't know that the dumbbell exercises will be handled that well, everything moves in 5lb increments at least on this sheet, so there will be a lot of zig zagging or starting weights might be too low.

I'm currently working on a sheet that estimates 60% of your 1RM and makes sure you don't drop below that weight.
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Very nice, thanks bud. I'll be using this in the future.
 
glsa17 said:
During the 15's do you guys perform two work sets? I have in the past.

eg. Squat 2 x 15 or 1 x 15
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I don't do 15s anymore per se. If I'm doing a regular HST set up I just do clustering to 15 or 20 reps, and I usually start at a slightly heavier weight than would normally be used and only run a six week cycle. Clustering basically just means you do however many reps you can until you feel like you're coming close to failure, rest a short time and do the same thing again until you hit your target total reps, for me 15 or 20. So in the beginning with lighter weights you might go straight through to 20, as the weight increases you might go to 12, then 8, then on to 8, 7, 5, then on to 5, 5, 4, 3, 3, etc. The idea is to normalize volume fluctuations and take it out of the picture as a variable that changes. So, if you're keeping your form and not going beyond technical failure you should also be getting fairly consistent TUT.

Now, to say I've given up on HST altogether wouldn't be right be I only do the above when I need to work back into working out, like I will this weekend when I should be fully recovered from the respiratory infection. This bitch has knocked me a lot of my friends/coworkers down the last couple of weeks. Everyone sounds hoarse at the office, it was a real ass kicker of an illness that went around.

What I do now is more akin to what you see attached here in this Excel sheet. I've thrown in some numbers as examples. Basically it is an HST based routine in that it relies on progressive overload, three times a week frequency, etc. However it is strength based in the micro cycles. Basically I've found the conjugation, volume and weight manipulation in the micro cycles allows me a relatively consistent strength increase for at least the four weeks that I work in each rep range. So what I do is spend two weeks SDing, find my 12RM for each exercise, plug them in along with a reasonable strength increase to expect, say 2.5% - 5% or more depending on if I'm on anything. The just follow the plan. Once i'm done with my 12s, I'll do the same thing for the 8rep range and the 5s. The benefit here is you're always working in and around your maz weight for any given rep range while still getting a progressive overload over time as you can see in the graph. There is no need to predetermine your weights before each micro cycle, and you can extend each microcycle however ong you want in the end, so long as your strength keeps going up so it's fairly adaptable to use while 'supplementing.' Plus due to the rep ranges and how they're used volume is relatively consistent which works well for me.

Check it out if you like, it's a kick ass workout and fairly flexible. Enter weights, and exercises on this one too I believe, at the top in the greyed out area and it all populates throughout the sheet except to the graph, which might need some manual updating.
 
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Thank you very much for the info. I will look into in greater detail this afternoon. I will get back to you.
 
I only do HST once/year because A: it's boring as ****, and B: it's tedious as hell (record keeping and whatnot)


That being said, I usually start it after lifting heavy for close to a month and I feel the 15's are VITAL for rebuilding joint/tendon strength. Sure you look like a pussy for two weeks, but the upside of that is when you get to the weeks of 5's people are all over you saying, "how'd you make such gains in under two months, what are you taking? -that feels pretty damn good when you're not taking anything.
 
Viator said:
I only do HST once/year because A: it's boring as ****, and B: it's tedious as hell (record keeping and whatnot)


That being said, I usually start it after lifting heavy for close to a month and I feel the 15's are VITAL for rebuilding joint/tendon strength. Sure you look like a pussy for two weeks, but the upside of that is when you get to the weeks of 5's people are all over you saying, "how'd you make such gains in under two months, what are you taking? -that feels pretty damn good when you're not taking anything.
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Yeah you do (during the 15's)
I just started my HST routine this week. (This is my second time. I gained tons of strength and muscles size, 18lbs the first time around) I was using light weight, first week of 15's, during my workout. And this younger kid was working out near me. He is one of those, I only train my beach muscles. All he ever does, every workout, is bench a **** load of sets then moves on to working bi's and some tris. Well he sat there and sat there and waited for another person to walk by so he could ask for a spot. Even though I was the only person near him. Since he saw me using lighter weights he assumed I couldn't spot him while benched the whole 185 lbs. (Damn I wasn't using that light of a weight!)
 
Viator said:
I only do HST once/year because A: it's boring as ****, and B: it's tedious as hell (record keeping and whatnot).
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Don't know about A, that's a personal thing. But as far as B, while planning HST can be annoying to some degree, record keeping in my opinion is a must. How can you really chart progress otherwise, or hone in what really does work for you as opposed to what doesn't or is only a so-so approach for your gains?
 
I think HST is a great spring/summer training program. It can shed fat and increase muscle volume, even on off days alot for me. Course my wide arawe of available supps helps too, but this is more of a leaning out or lean bulk program in my opinion.
 
CDB said:
Here's the classic style I have modified with your exercises. If you want to change an exercise just type over one of the selections in the grey field toward the top, it should cascade through the whole sheet. I don't know that the dumbbell exercises will be handled that well, everything moves in 5lb increments at least on this sheet, so there will be a lot of zig zagging or starting weights might be too low.

I'm currently working on a sheet that estimates 60% of your 1RM and makes sure you don't drop below that weight.
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Hey CDB, I can't find your spreadsheets... would you mind sending them to me?

You're a lot of help. Thanks.
 
I highly recomend everyone, and especially people training with HST principles to get some "plate mates" there magnetic weights that weigh a quarter of a kilo each, this way you can micro load and go up in weight every single work out, and its especially good for smaller muscles such as the delts.

I dont understand people saying HST is not for bulking, its not about the standard program its all about principles such as full body workout, mechanical load, strategic deconditioning. If your on cycle just adjust it and stick to lower reps.

If you wanted an extreme HST routine it would be 14 days long instead of 7, and every 2nd day instead of 3 days a week. the 14 days is so you can fit in exercises such as decline bench, reverse hypers, direct arm work, and the every 2nd day would be because your hormone levels stay high for 36 hours after a workout so if your training mon wed fri, on sunday your hormone levels will be at there lowest, by training every 2nd day your maximizing your growth.
 
ItsHectic said:
I dont understand people saying HST is not for bulking, its not about the standard program its all about principles such as full body workout, mechanical load, strategic deconditioning. If your on cycle just adjust it and stick to lower reps.
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Most people don't get that deep into it, or think the 15/10/5 scheme is all there is. Try doing an HST routine that works off their 8, 5 and 3 rep maximums and ends up with a max stim microcycle approaching their 1 rep max and they'll get themselves a kick ass intense routine quite good for bulking, if they can get through it.
 
CDB said:
Yes. That's one of the times when the standard HST routine of 15/10/5/negs works very well.
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CDB, I have looked at the HST website and at the sample HST training routine but I don't see where the 15/10/5/neg rep scheme is. Can you ellaborate?
 
HDeuce7 said:
CDB, I have looked at the HST website and at the sample HST training routine but I don't see where the 15/10/5/neg rep scheme is. Can you ellaborate?
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Sure. It's one big macro cycle made up of four micro cycles. Full body, three times a week. First you find your 15 rep max, your 10 rep max and your 5 rep max for each respective exercise. Then you set up a schedule of 2 week long micro cycles in which the weight progresses to each respective max, then on to the next micro cycle, like this for Bench Press:

15 rep micro cycle
Mon, Wed, Fri
135, 145, 155
165, 175, 185

10 rep micro cycle
175, 185, 195
205 ,215, 225

5 rep micro cycle
215, 225, 235
245, 255, 265

Follow this with extended five rep work or progressive negatives until gains plateau or you need a break. Take a 1 - 2 week break before begining the cycle but after you've found your rep maxes. It's not unusual to see some zig zagging or repetition of the weights used from micro cycle to micro cycle. The point overall is to workout frequently and to decondition (take a break) before starting so the lighter weights can ellicit some growth response in the muscles. Then you can work up to each max as shown. Or, you can simply find your 5 rep max, plug that into your schedule as the last workout and determine each prior workout in the schedule by dropping the weight 5-10 percent or pounds until the schedule is filled and then use whatever rep scheme you want to hit your target volume for each day. I'd say it generally works well for cutting because volume is kept moderate or low on a daily basis and the lighter weight work at the beginning should help with glycogen depletion and perhaps speed along some fat burning, while also using weights which should, after a good deconditioning, ellicit an anabolic response in muscle tissue. So it accomplishes what most people should do while dieting/cutting anyway: lighten their workload a bit in an acute sense while using effective weights for maintaining LBM.
 
CDB, thank you for the explanation. So on Week 1 I will do the 15 rep micro cycle, week 2 the 10 rep micro cycle, week 3 the 5 rep micro cycle, week 4 the 15 rep cycle, and so on. I think this is how it is suppose to go. Let me know if I am comprehending or way out in left field.
 
The first two weeks you will do 15's, week 3-4 10's, week 5-6 you do the 5's, and weeks 7-8 you will either do negatives or continue doing 5's.

BTW-I gained good strength during my last HST cycle, I went up 30lbs on my bench.

Good Luck
 
HDeuce7 said:
Okay, now it is clear. Thanks firefighter!
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I posted a spreadsheet here a while ago which will automatically set the schedule for you and let you adjust a couple parameters. I can't find it right now, but maybe someone else can repost it.
 
If you go to Invalid Link Removed and click on the HST Calculator it will give you a spread sheet you can use.

Just plug in your max for each rep range and input what amount you want to increase each week and it will do the rest.

Also, with exercises that you are lifting over 200lbs (ie squats, deads, etc.) you may want to increase by 10lbs a week rather than 5lbs. Seems to work a little better.

Good Luck
 
If I'm going to use the HST method for cutting coming up here, and I want to maintain as much lbm as possible. Is it still possible to do some intense cardio/bodyweight exercises on Tuesday and Thursday in between my normal HST workout? I'm talking like 20-40 minutes of intense jump roping, sprint/jog cycling, stuff along those lines?:think:
 
Yes you can but if you want to maintain as much lbm as possible you may want to look into doing some HIIT style cardio. It will cut fat faster and the short duration of the workout will cause less muscle breakdown. Unless you're looking to downsize.
 
I used HST with a low carb diet (under 50g's/day) and it worked awesome. I maintained a lot of mass. I should mention I did a previous cylce of HST to gain mass before that without much success. That was early in my training career however so I didnt have much documented.

I would do another cycle of it if I didnt discover AP. Seems as though I can cut like crazy with AP and I can still eat a ton of carbs!!!
 
Question

Just as a general rule. i am new to the HIT\HST training ideas. I am quite framiliar with them. I want to combine them to get the best of both worlds. Was thinking about doing cycles like
Week 1: HIT
Mon- Chest Biceps abs
Tues-Legs Calves
Wed- off
Thurs- SHoulders Triceps abs
Fri- Back Traps Calves
Week 2: HST microcyle 1
Monday:
• Full Squats - 1-2 Warm-Up Sets + 1 Set x 12 Reps
• Snatch-Grip Deadlifts - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Incline Bench Press - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Dips - 1 Set x 15 Reps
• Medium Grip Chin-Ups - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Pendlay Rows - 2 Sets x 15 Reps
• Military Press - 2 Sets x 15 Reps
• Bent-Over Rear Lateral Raises - 1 Set x 12 Reps
• Dumbbell Curls - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Triceps Extensions - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Calf Raises - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Weighted Crunches - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
Wednesday:
• Split Squats - 1-2 Warm-Up Sets + 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Stiff-Legged Deadlifts - 1 Set x 12 Reps
• Incline Bench Press - 1 Set x 12 Reps
• Dips - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Wide-Grip Chin-Ups - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Pendlay Rows - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Military Press - 1 Set x 12 Reps
• Lateral Raises - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• DB Hammer Curls - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Skull Crushers - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• 1-Leg Calf Raises - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Weighted Decline Sit-Ups - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
Friday:
• Full Squats - 1-2 Warm-Up Sets + 1 Set x 12 Reps
• Snatch-Grip Deadlifts - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Incline Bench Press - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Dips - 1 Set x 12 Reps
• Medium Grip Chin-Ups - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Pendlay Rows - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Military Press - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Bent-Over Rear Lateral Raises - 1 Set x 12 Reps
• Dumbbell Curls - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Decline Triceps Extensions - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Calf Raises - 2 Sets x 12 Reps
• Leg Raises - 2 Sets x 12 Reps

Week 3:
Back to the 4 day HIT split

week 4:
Same HST routine but the next micro cycle which is going to be around 8 reps instead of 12.

Week 5:
HIT week again

and so on... untill the full HST cycle is done. the next one would be 4-5 reps.

My question is really with the HIT work. HOW MANY EXERCISES PER MUSCLE GROUP.>??? thats the only thing keeping me from goin at this routine. i did an arm workout with 3 supersets to failure for bi's and 3 supersets to failure for Tri's. Is that too much for just arms? the discrepency comes when most people recommending 2-3 day splits for HIT. and the number of exercises per muscle group seem too few... Any opinions would be alot of help..thanks
 
Interesting. Sorry I cant answer your question as I have never used HIT training before (need to try it sometime).

I can comment that you are basically doubling the length of an HST microcycle with the HIT mixed in. Not sure how this will show up on CNS recovery but you know your body better than others.
 
yea you have a point there. But my logic was that i wasnt necessarily going to follow the full HST cycle. It was just the concepts of the training. 3 full body workouts a week with total sets per muscle group, per week, equivalent to working each muscle group once a week wtih a 4 day HIT split. THen rotating those two split styles each week. Instead of doing each rep range of the HST microcycles for two weeks I would do it for one, and of course add in the HIT weeks in between. I thought that doing this, primarily for 8-12 weeks would be quite easy on my CNS becuase of the rotation and the fact that im not runnign this same thing for 18-24 weeks or what have you. Its an interesting concept that i havent seen anyone experiment with yet. I hope this will open up some discussion
 
yea, i kinda like the concept of doing a hybrid btw HIT and HST. i did a one month cycle of something similar. not the exact HST format per say, as that would entail a cycle of at least two months, but doing full body workouts thrice a week, incorporating just heavy duty compound movements to stimulate multiple muscle groups. i hurt my lower back pretty bad so i had to stop deadlifts and heavy squats, but my upper body benefited a lot from the training style. IMO, it helped me break some nagging plateaus of mine. and when i came off the cycle and reverted back to a 4 day HIT plan, i definitely noticed that my strength had increased.

i like this style of training. my body seems to respond well to that type of full body training, but eventually, like any other plan, your body will adapt. so you gotta change it up. all that aside i think HST is a pretty credible philosophy, but im not very partial to the system as defined on HST's web site. i think doing full body workouts, 3 days a week, incorporating HIT principles like rest pause, negatives, supersets, etc... will yield nice results. even doing an ABABAB plan with HIT might work. but overtraining could prove an isssue there
 
I just finished my 1st HST cycle, and this program gave me the best size and strength gains I have had for some time.

For example, with bench press I had been stuck at a particular Personal Best weight for some time, unable to increase reps, and often lifting for less reps. With HST I sailed past the old PB, adding 8kg to my PB for the same amount of reps, and adding 10kg to my 1 rep max. Not bad for 8 weeks work IMO.

Size wise, I increased in every area except biceps for some reason. I have changed bicep exercises for the next cycle and if the results are the same, I'll modify the volume and see how best to improve the results.
 
Try doing incline dumbell hammer curls. The guys over at the HST forum swear by them for those who do bicep exercises. Or even better, go with pullups instead of a curl.
 
just finished 5's. should i go for a second two weeks of 5's or go to another routine? definitely loved this though and will use it to bust through plateaus in the future!
 
CDB said:
Keep lifting until you plateau.
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keep lifting as in keep going with 5's? friday i hit my 5rm on almost everything and was pretty accurate with my hst planning. although i did find myself stronger on certain things. bench is maxed out, and shoulder press is maxed. i can keep going up in probably everything else though.
 
sfearl1 said:
keep lifting as in keep going with 5's? friday i hit my 5rm on almost everything and was pretty accurate with my hst planning. although i did find myself stronger on certain things. bench is maxed out, and shoulder press is maxed. i can keep going up in probably everything else though.
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Keep lifting and increasing weights if possible until you plateau. By default this means you stay in the ~5 rep range. No need to stop until growth and strength gains stop.
 
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