HST cycle 4, Set a slew of PR's

[Lord_Suston]

np nanotitan.

To CoolColJ and others...tell me more!

I figure right now my goal is growth so growth I will train for. I like the idea of achieving my goal musclemass and then working on strength/neural factors. But how will performing a strength cycle help later hypertrophy cycles? I'm certainly open to the idea.

-casual

by being able to recruit more fibers in a neurologically excited state then each rep could be more effecient, and induce greater trauma because of greater weight load..... Might add more size since white fiber predominanlty affect size overall.

 

[coolcolj]

well if you do a strnegth cycle, your CNS will be able to recruit more of your existing fibers, so you will be stronger. Your higher threshold fibers will be recruited and will be subject to hypetrophy, these ones give the grow the easiest and most.

You will gain a certain density because you are getting real myofibrillar growth, not the non-functional sacroplasmic growth (goo) your getting with HST (hense the lower strength gains)

Becuase you can recruit more of your existing fibers, in the following HST cycle you will achieve higher average growth.

 

[casualbb]

That all makes sense except for this:

You will gain a certain density because you are getting real myofibrillar growth, not the non-functional sacroplasmic growth (goo) your getting with HST (hense the lower strength gains)

Sarcoplasmic growth can only comprise a very small fraction of the total growth anyway. I do think that most of it is myofibrillar regardless of what program one follows.

-casual

 

[casualbb]

Also, as a side note, do you know what the timeframe is for reversal of neural adaptations? I bring this up because I worry that even if I did a strength cycle and my nervous system became more efficient that the effects would be significantly reversed by the time I hit the heavy weights of a HST cycle.

-casual

 

[coolcolj]

depends on the type of strength cycle you do.

a general type is ok, but if you were to do something with lots of heavy singles/doubles/triples etc, concentrating more on relative strength then you would definitely lose it because the work you did is not present anymore.

I'm talking more about a general strength cycle that aims to increase contractile porteins as well as make the CNS more effcient all in one.

 

[Lord_Suston]

Explosive reps, chains, bands some plyos and other CNS geared training methods can create strong neurological pathways that when you train almost all fiber are working... Neuro adaption accure greatly at around 14-28 days so to go on a power phase I would recommend 6 weeks and then back to your HST by the time you relearn hst set volumes and rep volumes you will have more mass to work and grow with

 

[nanotitan]

Casual, that's a good point about reversal of neural adaptations and one of the reasons why Westside training doesn't include an offseason. You might want to pay a visit to elitefts.com and read all of Louie's articles, the answer to your question is probably there somewhere but I'm guessing it varies with extent of adaptation. In any case, what you will probably grasp from Westside training is that several methods of training must coexist when following a program for maximum power.

Whether or not improving your muscle fiber recruiting ability will boost hypertrophy, I'm not sure (haven't had time to think it through). However, if you are going to integrate conjugate & maximal effort training methods into your HST, which I think might be the best way to go if looking to increase strength, how would you manage the increase in fatigue that goes with it? As I understand it, HST has you avoid going to failure for the same reason.

You mentioned that you wanted to concentrate on muscle mass and then go for strength. I do think that increasing your recruiting ability now will help maintain your hypertrophy levels later when going into a traditional low rep strength training program. Imagine what could happen when performing, say, 5 sets of triples in the squat. If you go into it with a low muscle fiber recruiting ability then by the time you're finished you would have probably taxed 50% of your muscle fibers (a completely arbitrary %, just for purposes of presenting an idea). If you go into it with a higher level of muscle fiber recruiting ability, by the time you're finished with your sets of triples you would have taxed maybe 70% (again, arbitrary) and evidently pushed some heavier weights. My point being that if you're not able to recruit all, or most, of your muscle during this low rep training period then you are not taxing fibers which could eventually atrophy to some extent. Possibly.

 

[casualbb]

However, if you are going to integrate conjugate & maximal effort training methods into your HST, which I think might be the best way to go if looking to increase strength, how would you manage the increase in fatigue that goes with it? As I understand it, HST has you avoid going to failure for the same reason

I don't think mixing them would necessarily work that well. It's kinda like gaining muscle vs. losing bodyfat...both can be better achieved by focusing on one at a time. Westside would also mess with the HST weight progression and prematurely condition the tissue.

So managing fatigue from a mix of programs isn't something I'll need to deal with.

You mentioned that you wanted to concentrate on muscle mass and then go for strength. I do think that increasing your recruiting ability now will help maintain your hypertrophy levels later when going into a traditional low rep strength training program. Imagine what could happen when performing, say, 5 sets of triples in the squat. If you go into it with a low muscle fiber recruiting ability then by the time you're finished you would have probably taxed 50% of your muscle fibers (a completely arbitrary %, just for purposes of presenting an idea). If you go into it with a higher level of muscle fiber recruiting ability, by the time you're finished with your sets of triples you would have taxed maybe 70% (again, arbitrary) and evidently pushed some heavier weights. My point being that if you're not able to recruit all, or most, of your muscle during this low rep training period then you are not taxing fibers which could eventually atrophy to some extent. Possibly.

Good points...I esp. like this one: "If you go into it with a higher level of muscle fiber recruiting ability, by the time you're finished with your sets of triples you would have taxed maybe 70% (again, arbitrary) and evidently pushed some heavier weights."

Despite the fact that being strong is fun, I'm not going to decide now. My immediate plan is to do an abbriviated HST cutting cycle for the beaches.

-casual

 

[casualbb]

After studying 'til 3 AM for my 8AM anthropology final, I decided I needed a workout to blow off some steam.

This was anticipated, but what the hey...

PR! SLDL: 215 --> 225. Two wheels was definitely rewarding. I wouldn't say it flew up, but I probably had 1-2 more reps in me. I don't know whether or not I could handle 235, but 230's probably a given.

-casual