My HST Journal

[RottenWillow]

UPDATE # 4

I'm beginning my 5RM minicycle now and I have a few significant things to report.

First of all, I've definitely made strength gains on all my upper body exercises, except overhead press. I made a judgement call regarding my 5RMs which I'm not sure is strictly in keeping with HST priniciples. I decided to increase the 5RM on all my upper body exercises, except overhead press, as I could tell those poundages no longer represented true 5RMs due to strength gains I made during my 15 & 10RM minicycles. Those who read my first post will already know I am training to maintain on my lower body, so I'm not looking for strength gains in that area. My upper body 5RMs are below.

Original 5RMs......................Revised 5RMs

Bench............... .115......................125
Overhead_Press... 75........................75
Bicep curls........ . 50........................55
Pulldowns......... .65.........................72
Bent Rows........ .45.........................55

I've also noticed that the light weights that you begin with in HST gave me the opportunity to really focus on my form and learn to feel the muscle working. Now that I'm moving heavier weight I'm finding I'm able to make the most of the movement due to all the kinesology practice I received. Its definitely been a plus, especially with bicep curls where I realized I was not keeping tension on the bis and doing too much swinging. I think this new found muscle focus has a lot to be with my rapid strength gains.


My insomnia has improved a lot lately and pretty damn fired up about the 5RMs. But I'm also eating too damn much Mexican food lately and I'm porking up a bit. I'm sure my bf isnt 16% anymore. My bw was 147 for the last 3 days and it isnt monthly water gain either. I'm guessing I may have gained 2 pounds of actual muscle over the last 5 weeks but my total weight gain is 5lbs and my ass is up to 39.5" and I know that aint muscle gain!
I'm going to start cycling carbs again very carefully to avoid further blubber gain and then think about leaning again after my HST cycle.

 

[Gymgurl]

UPDATE # 4

I'm beginning my 5RM minicycle now and I have a few significant things to report.

First of all, I've definitely made strength gains on all my upper body exercises, except overhead press. I made a judgement call regarding my 5RMs which I'm not sure is strictly in keeping with HST priniciples. I decided to increase the 5RM on all my upper body exercises, except overhead press, as I could tell those poundages no longer represented true 5RMs due to strength gains I made during my 15 & 10RM minicycles. Those who read my first post will already know I am training to maintain on my lower body, so I'm not looking for strength gains in that area. My upper body 5RMs are below.

Original 5RMs......................Revised 5RMs

Bench............... .115......................125
Overhead_Press... 75........................75
Bicep curls........ . 50........................55
Pulldowns......... .65.........................72
Bent Rows........ .45.........................55

I've also noticed that the light weights that you begin with in HST gave me the opportunity to really focus on my form and learn to feel the muscle working. Now that I'm moving heavier weight I'm finding I'm able to make the most of the movement due to all the kinesology practice I received. Its definitely been a plus, especially with bicep curls where I realized I was not keeping tension on the bis and doing too much swinging. I think this new found muscle focus has a lot to be with my rapid strength gains.


My insomnia has improved a lot lately and pretty damn fired up about the 5RMs. But I'm also eating too damn much Mexican food lately and I'm porking up a bit. I'm sure my bf isnt 16% anymore. My bw was 147 for the last 3 days and it isnt monthly water gain either. I'm guessing I may have gained 2 pounds of actual muscle over the last 5 weeks but my total weight gain is 5lbs and my ass is up to 39.5" and I know that aint muscle gain!
I'm going to start cycling carbs again very carefully to avoid further blubber gain and then think about leaning again after my HST cycle.

Looking good! Just cycle the carbs and the extra will come right off. Keep up the hard work sure is paying off for ya!

 

[lucidblue]

Great info and good job. I've been trying to decide what program I'm going to start in January. I've been doing a 5x5 since August and love it. Still not sure about the HST, I don't usually like full body workouts. Time for me to start researching more. Keep us posted on your progress.

 

[lola]

Hey lucid - what are you doing for increments in 5x5?

 

[2Shy]

Anya, you write terrific, thoughtful journal entries. I like how you put down your observations as well as your actual lifting information. Good job!

 

[RottenWillow]

. Still not sure about the HST, I don't usually like full body workouts. Time for me to start researching more.

I had never done them before either Lucid. Yes it does take some getting used to. The volume of work is lower so it does make it doable in terms of energy requirements and a lot of people also choose to break up the workout if their schedule permits (mine doesnt). Be sure to read causualbb's HST thread and look at his links if you want to investigate more.

 

[lucidblue]

Hey lucid - what are you doing for increments in 5x5?

5lbs. I pretty much tried to follow needsize's plan completely. Since I had some shoulder problems, I sometimes have to to make it a 2 1/2lb increment or just repeat a week for shoulders and chest work.

 

[RottenWillow]

I have only 2 workouts left in my 5RM phase and need to make a decision regarding what to do during my final minicycle.

The most basic principle of HST is progressively heavier weights with every single workout. By the time you finish the 5RM phase you've increased weight 18 times so your options for further weight increases are kind of limited.

I am considering two options: negatives-only or a 3RM phase. For the negatives only option I would use a very heavy weight and lower it 5 times for a set, no concentric movement at all. Since I usually train alone I would use momentum to swing the weight back to the starting position. The 3RM option would be done in exactly the same way as the prior phases except even heavier weight. Over the course of 6 workouts I would work towards my 3RM which I would guessimate based on my actual 5RM. I like the idea of the full range of movement (concentric and eccentric) I would get from the 3RMs but a negatives-only phase would permit me to do more repititions.

I've been trying to carefully reduce carbs because of my inflating rear, but I think I've having been implementing this incorrectly since my energy level during my workouts has noticeably decreased. Consequently the weights during my last two workouts definitely feel heavier. I'm still looking for specific advice on how to fine tune my carb rotation.

No further increases in muscle size that I can verify with my measuring tape. However, my butt isnt getting any bigger either.

I think I'm on track to gain maybe 3lbs of LBM by the time I finish my HST cycle.

 

[Backlash]

Since I usually train alone I would use momentum to swing the weight back to the starting position.

That sounds like a really bad, dangerous idea. Also, I don't really see how that would work for most exercises (e.g. bench, squat, etc - how do you get the weight up?).

That's the main reason I didn't do negatives - no partner to lift the weight with me.

IMO, you should go with the 3RM idea and just keep adding small increments of weight (even 4 RM 1st week then 3RM second week if you can figure it out accurately).

 

[RottenWillow]

That sounds like a really bad, dangerous idea. Also, I don't really see how that would work for most exercises (e.g. bench, squat, etc - how do you get the weight up?).

Backlash I was definitely leaning towards a 3RM minicyle but I didnt want to automatically foreclose on the negatives-only idea. If I did go that route I was going to get my stepdad to lift on the pushing exercises but I'd rather not ask him for a variety of reasons. He tends to shout a lot of (sorry!) typically male "encouragements" during the set which just tend to distract and irritate me.

By the end of my HST cycle I'm going to owe you a dinner for all the help you given me.