Cut and Heal: my HST journal

[Jim Ouini]

I'm starting to feel like a kid in a candy shop. DFHT, Westside, 5x5, another run at the Korte, Smolov still waiting in the wings.

I'm not yet attracted by HST but maybe your log will change that and I think you found an excellent time to take a run at the program.

Like Guinness said I think it's good to stick in a low intensity/high rep phase somewhere during the year for joint/tendon health, whether it's HST or something else.

Anyway, I'm glad you mentioned those programs since I too have had all of them on my radar. WSB seems like you need some apparati, though, I think for DE day. And Smolov kind of scares me.

I think I will let you run them first

 

[Guinness5.0]

I said I'd post my diet, so here goes:

Wednesday

1: 1c oats, 2 scoops whey, 1c skim milk
2: Omelet w/ 4 whole eggs, 4 whites, sauteed veggies in olive oil/butter
Train
3: recovery drink (normally I have this before and after, but I was pressed for time) of 110 grams sugars and 40 g whey
4: snack- handful of walnuts, glass of skim milk
5: big salad w/ tuna (too much stuff to list)
6: same as 4

Note- probably not enough food IMO

Thurs.

1: 1c skim milk, 2 scoops whey
2: Omelet like yesterday
3: snack like yesterday
4: snack like 3
5: 8-10 ounce chicken breast, lots of brussels sprouts cooked in bacon/olive oil, steamed cauliflower
6; probably my standard snack again

Figures i start this part of the journal on my two worst days I don't think this is enough food for me to hang on to muscle. Hopefully the log will keep me accountable.

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

That seems like very little food, man. You're bigger than I am too. Then again, I work a job that burns 1000+ calories a night, five times a week.

You need some red meats in there. I get these sirloin burgers from Costco, throw 'em on the George Foreman got 6 minutes, they're done. Down two of those a day on buns, 16 oz. 1-2% milk, with some lemon juice on it - beats the hell out of ketchup, to be honest.

A burger + bun for me equates to 550 calories. Throw in 16 oz. 1% milk and you have 750. Add in one serving of brown rice (however much it is) for another 150 calories, some carbs, and much needed fiber. Bam, 900 cals. Should you choose to be a fatass and "bulk" even more, toss in some pickles, lettuce, tomato, maybe some chips and ketchup - an east 1000-1100 calories.

'course you can also beef up those morning whoat shakes. Add in a banana for flavor and the extra carbs (no, fructose is NOT bad), and another glass of milk. 2 parts whey, milk, and oats is how it's done. Quit skimping on the dairy!

 

[Guinness5.0]

My future entries will be more representative of the way I generally eat. Trust me, there's NO shortage of red meat in my diet. These are two odd days with the exception of the omelets- I go through at LEAST 5 dozen eggs a week depending on the ratios of whites to whole eggs used.

I'm still going over my long term diet plan- I think I'll just keep cals moderate and do some cardio and see how long I can ride that out. My thinking is that I've got some "newbie losses" to use up before diet/cardio has to be complicated. Beyond that I'll probably try some more exotic things like CKD or cycling cals or whatever looks solid. There's LOTS for me to learn beyond the basics as far as diet plans go.

 

[Guinness5.0]

Test week

FRIDAY- 5rm's

Squat 365x5
-OMG these were tough

GM 225x5
-tougher than I thought they'd be

Inc db press 120'sx3
-I've done 120'sx7 in the past. I suspect fatigue in my tris to be the culprit here.

Dips BW+75x5
-Still think this should've been higher.

BB rows 225x5
-lower than expected

pullupsx5
-about right

Standing military 165x5
-tricep fatigue limited

BB curls 115x5
-perfect

skullcrushers 90x5
-I was toasted by tis time

Overall I think that I hit a wall after inc db presses. My conditioning seems to be miserable for now. My tris in particular were not pulling (or rather pushing ) their weight today.

I'll stick with these weights but my hunch is that my conditioning will improve and these weights (the ones after the inc db's) will be easy as I get further into the program. I suppose that'll mean I'll hit the cardio harder. I was hoping to feel more confident after today but I'm actually more confused. Oh well. Time to eat.

 

[Jim Ouini]

Well you hadn't gone for 5RM's in awhile, correct? So I'd expect these to be tough, especially all in the same workout.

Anyway, so now you back out your starting weights for the respective rep phases? Is there any setting of records or just hit these exactly?

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

You go through two weeks of 15's, 10's, and 5's. If you SD well enough (14 days or more) you'll see growth in the 15's. What the 15s are really for, though, is creating a short "prevention" mini-phase whereby you can condition the joints, start up your overall metabolism and conditioning, ingratitate your adrenal glands to a more advantegeous cortisol response, etc.

The 10's and 5's are where you'll see hypertrophy. You nail your RMs for those reps on the sixth and final workout of the two week blocks. In short - there's no record setting during the program. However, a second run through allows you to skimp on the testing week, and possibly the 15's if you so choose, and jump back into the 10's, but this time bumping up each session about 5-10 lbs., depending on the exercise.

So from cycle to cycle you have PRs. What you can also do (and I recommend) is extend the 5's into "post-5's" where you try and increase the weight each workout. If you can't up the weight, just hit the same one again. This can go on for up to three weeks (or nine workouts) total. After that, you'll pretty much get caught by the RBE, and will need to condition to see further growth.

Of course, you may get joint pain doing this, so it's advised that you either cease the routine once your joints hurt and start over after a fresh SD and a phase of 15's, or you cut the frequency down during the post 5's to 2x a week rather than 3x, to accomodate the excessive load.

 

[Guinness5.0]

I put some pics up in the "Pictures of Members" forum. Check 'em out! Be warned it ain't pretty

here's the link:
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=431958

 

[Jim Ouini]

You look like a strong mofo - I don't feel so bad now that you're lifts are bigger than mine

 

[Cynical Simian]

For some reason, the first thing I thought of when I saw the first pic was a BBer doing "Camera Squeezes" because Flex said it would target his inner pecs.

Very good call on tracking progress with pictures. If you don't already have one, I'd recommend investing in a BF caliper (AccuMeasure makes a good digital one). Between that, a scale (obviously) and some solid photodocumentation, you should be able to judge fat/muscle loss with quite a bit of accuracy and fine-tune your diet/training accordingly.