Cut and Heal: my HST journal

[Jim Ouini]

Nice, you'll be shopping in the 'petite' section in no time. You gonna post up your diet at all?

 

[Guinness5.0]

Nice, you'll be shopping in the 'petite' section in no time. You gonna post up your diet at all?

I've intended to post diet/cardio but it's arduous. I need to do it.

For now I don't count cals or anything- I just plain eat less and skip stuff like desserts and bread. I've upped protein and lowered carbs overall. I've been eating more frequent, small meals- nothing groundbreaking yet.

 

[blut wump]

Diet, like training, is simple once you have a feel for the principles.

 

[Guinness5.0]

15 rep phase: Workout 1 of 6

OMG this workout was MUCH tougher than I thought it would be. Then again I flew through it -- probably 45 minutes total. One week off and I can barely make it through a light workout. Geez...

I'm gonna list every set/rep I did.

Squat: 135x15, 195x15, 195x15
- not too bad really. Got the blood flowing and my quads were PUMPED

GM 120x15
- again, not bad yet. I was beginning to breathe hard though

Inc DB press 60'sx15, 60'sx15
- the sets were fine but I was huffing and puffing by now

Dips (assisted: 4 plates in weight stack)x13
- I really think this was a result of my huffing/puffing rather than fatigue in my pecs/delts/tris. I racked the db's, walked to the dip station, waited a couple seconds and started.

BB rows 110x15
- easy

Wide pulldowns 8 platesx15
- pretty easy. Felt 'em in my bis more than back

Narrow pulldowns 8 platesx15
- really tried to focus on my lats here. It was odd- this set went from cake to brutal in one rep it seemed. I got through 7-8 easy, then they started to hurt/burn. A.I. -- is this what 15's should be like?

Standing OHP 90x 13, 90x12
- I didn't hit failure but I'd have had to rest-pause these sets to hit 15. I wonder if I should just stick to this weight next workout.

I skipped the arm stuff. My arms were fried by this.

I feel like a sissy for being beat down by these weights. This workout was tougher than my 15rm day, which makes no sense to me. Could a week off really hit me that hard? I'm actually supposed to do 5 more workouts w/ increasing weights .

I was thinking that maybe dips, inc. db presses and OHP are a bit much. Thoughts?

Before I sound too negative, I should mention that my low back feels fantastic. Also, I think I made a big mistake by drinking a shake w/ raw oats about an hour before working out. I generally drink a shake w/ 1c skim milk, 1c of oats and 50g protein powder upon waking, but I think that having it soon before training was a bad idea as I was feeling pretty bloated throughout the session. I still feel full and it's been over three hours since I had it. I actually thought there was a chance I'd puke on my second set of OHP .

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

After you adjust to the shakes, you should be able to take them an hour before a workout with little issues. The only problem I could see is that you're in the 15's right now - that could lead to problems. A lot of byproducts built up in the muscles from the marathon sets you have to do.

Yes, a week is enough to decondition someone that much. You deconditioned well, it seems. This is a good thing. The first week of the 15's should kick your ass more than you'd expect.

Also, you don't need to hit 15 reps. I believe I stated that before, but I'm not sure if you saw - the goal is a deep burning sensation in the muscle tissue. If you get that deep burning feeling, then you don't have to worry about rest-pausing or anything to hit 15 reps. Just food for thought.

Your lower back feels fantastic, you say? From what I recall, you had lower back pain prior to this, which is what drove you to give it a shot, correct? If so, that's wonderful. The 15's are going to serve you well, I'm sure. Keep us updated on not only the routine and your progression, but how you feel physically along the way. It'll be a good source of data.

I'll also note you don't need any warmup sets for the 15's, although I guess you may have felt uneasy about hopping right into 195 lbs. with squats. A dynamic warmup to get enzymes working, the CNS alert, and the body temperature up should be enough to ready you for something like that. In short, if you can do it for 15 reps, you probably don't need to warm up for it. You know your body better than I, though, and if it helps you mentally, then keep it up.

Don't worry about having skipped the arm stuff. Toss it in during the 5's, and make larger jumps in weight from start to finish. That should cover you pretty well.

Oh, and dips, inc. db presses and OHP can be a bit much. You're utilizing the same muscles there. The whole goal in the 15's is to condition the joints and tissues, remember. You don't need three exercises hitting the same areas. Honestly, I'd stick to just dips or something, but if you insist on picking two, I'd use dips and OHP. It's a matter of personal preference.

 

[Guinness5.0]

After you adjust to the shakes, you should be able to take them an hour before a workout with little issues. The only problem I could see is that you're in the 15's right now - that could lead to problems. A lot of byproducts built up in the muscles from the marathon sets you have to do.

I'm just gonna have the shake for breakfast from now on. I always regret feeling full while I train and frankly I was expecting to breeze through this.

Yes, a week is enough to decondition someone that much. You deconditioned well, it seems.

Agreed

Also, you don't need to hit 15 reps. I believe I stated that before, but I'm not sure if you saw

Yeah I read it. But I guess I'm stuck on the progressive resistance thing - should I be? Do you think I should keep the weight constant but increase reps on the movements I missed 15? I'd feel better if each workout was improved upon, 15's or no. Maybe I need to get over that?

Your lower back feels fantastic, you say? From what I recall, you had lower back pain prior to this, which is what drove you to give it a shot, correct?

Yup. That's the beauty of this journal's title. Clever eh?

I'll also note you don't need any warmup sets for the 15's, although I guess you may have felt uneasy about hopping right into 195 lbs. with squats. A dynamic warmup to get enzymes working, the CNS alert, and the body temperature up should be enough to ready you for something like that. In short, if you can do it for 15 reps, you probably don't need to warm up for it. You know your body better than I, though, and if it helps you mentally, then keep it up.

Yeah I do like to warmup for the squats. My knee's been acting up. I saw System of a Down in concert a couple weeks ago and went buck wild in the mosh pit for hours. It aggravated an old injury (some torn cartilage - no biggie) slightly, but it hasn't affected me thus far. My 5rm test on squat was tougher for my hips/back than my hurt knee. One more notch for the "deep squats are good for knees" argument.

Don't worry about having skipped the arm stuff. Toss it in during the 5's, and make larger jumps in weight from start to finish. That should cover you pretty well.

I aim to put arm work in during the 10's but we'll see...

Oh, and dips, inc. db presses and OHP can be a bit much. You're utilizing the same muscles there. The whole goal in the 15's is to condition the joints and tissues, remember. You don't need three exercises hitting the same areas. Honestly, I'd stick to just dips or something, but if you insist on picking two, I'd use dips and OHP. It's a matter of personal preference.

I may go with dips and OHP. That's probably plenty. You think I could add stuff later (like during 10's or 5's) if I removed it now? The basic HST template doesn't show this but that could be simply to avoid confusing newbs.

Thanks a million for the input bro.

 

[Cynical Simian]

If you're not already doing so, try grinding up the (dry) oats in a blender or coffee grinder. Also, if you're even mildly lactose intolerant, the combination of skim milk and a couple scoops of protein powder could be contributing quite a bit to bloating. You don't necessarily need that much protein powder in a pre-workout shake; making sure you have adequate carbs to get you through the workout is more important.

 

[Guinness5.0]

If you're not already doing so, try grinding up the (dry) oats in a blender or coffee grinder. Also, if you're even mildly lactose intolerant, the combination of skim milk and a couple scoops of protein powder could be contributing quite a bit to bloating. You don't necessarily need that much protein powder in a pre-workout shake; making sure you have adequate carbs to get you through the workout is more important.

My normal pre-workout drink is a light scoop of gatorade powder (~50 g sugar) and a scoop of protein powder. I have the same drink upon setting the weights down after my last set. Today was an anomaly in that I ran out of oats yesterday, went to the store this afternoon, then made my "breakfast" shake for dinner and worked out afterwards.

My blender annihilates the oats on its own- they just leave me feeling really full for so damn long!

 

[Anthrax Invasion]

Yeah I read it. But I guess I'm stuck on the progressive resistance thing - should I be? Do you think I should keep the weight constant but increase reps on the movements I missed 15? I'd feel better if each workout was improved upon, 15's or no. Maybe I need to get over that?

The weights should be moving up each session. Even if you only hit 13 reps, if you get that deep burning sensation, you're fine. Just up the weight next time and keep repping until you get that burn. That's what we're looking for. Avoid going to failure, or you could screw the later weeks of the routine.

Yeah I do like to warmup for the squats. My knee's been acting up. I saw System of a Down in concert a couple weeks ago and went buck wild in the mosh pit for hours. It aggravated an old injury (some torn cartilage - no biggie) slightly, but it hasn't affected me thus far. My 5rm test on squat was tougher for my hips/back than my hurt knee. One more notch for the "deep squats are good for knees" argument.

SOAD is awesome. Still, the worst pit I've ever been in was probably Converge. I got my ass handed to me many a time at that show. DownTheSun was good too - friend got knocked the fuck out during one of their breakdowns. And yes, full olympic backsquats kick ass for the knees. Avoid rounding at the bottom to help protect your back from injury.

I aim to put arm work in during the 10's but we'll see...

It's your call - see how you feel. I'd still wait until the 5's.

I may go with dips and OHP. That's probably plenty. You think I could add stuff later (like during 10's or 5's) if I removed it now? The basic HST template doesn't show this but that could be simply to avoid confusing newbs.

Sure could. The 15's usually have less exercises overall, due to the lack of necessity for isolations. Compounds will cover your entire body well enough to condition the tissues. The 10's can implement some more stuff, and you should go all out during the 5's. Of course, the sets should be kept minimal for isolations even during the 5's. Make sure you watch yourself - don't overtrain. It's very possible once you get into the 5's, doing heavy compounds & isolations 3x a week unless you manage volume properly.

The basic template is made for the masses. It will work for them, sure, but things can always be optimized. It was made that way to avoid confusion, yes.

 

[Guinness5.0]

15 rep phase: workout 2 of 6

I changed up the workout today. I think it was a good move. Plus I wasn't stuffed to the gills.

Squat 135x15, 205x15, 205x13
-stopped short b/c the burn was there by #13

GM 125x15

Standing OHP 95x15, 95x12
-I'm either gonna drop Inc DB presses or rotate 'em week-by-week w/ OHP; not sure yet. Either way OHP is more important really.

BB row 115x15
-easy

Wide lat pull 9px15

Narrow lat pull 9px15

Dips BWx15, x12
- next time I'll do bith sets x15, then add weight from there

Hanging leg raises 2x15

I liked this better for sure. Tough but not ridiculous. I MAY add curls next time. Also, I'm gonna make an excel spreadsheet to see what this looks like in terms of workload differences. It may prove interesting.

With regard to cutting, I'm hungry all the time but I eat constantly (small portions). That's good, right? Means the metabolism's humming but I'm not starving myself?