Ok...., HST....I'll bite....but i need some friggin help here!

[burnthiscorpse]

So for the tenth time, I'm back after 6 mos off. I'm going through the first 3 weeks or so of just getting my body used to the gym. All the horrible aches and pains and soreness ect ect.
I was going over model after model of different splits for myself. My priority being ... I have to be careful of the tendons in the back of my elbows where the tri connects.(no skull crushers, ect) So I am always fighting with things like, do chest and tri in the same day and hammer them and get it over with and give it the full week to heal, or just do chest and dont hit the caution area so bad(chest isnt all that bad on them) then hit tri's later in the week alone,....ect ect...
Plus I have that nice painful spot under the armpit where the lat and rotator muscles tie in (why i bought a dense foam roller yesterday) so things like super heavy pull downs wide grip, will really irritate that area.
Now, before my layoff i was in a good place. I had spent months building up weights. Doing weekly deep tissue/accupressure sessions, being careful, icing post w/o, ect.
I am starting accupuncture monday too and going back to at least bi weekly massage. Plus I am doing Defranco's upper body foam roller and band stretching for the rotators and all the other shit at least once a day and always pre w/o.

Now.....HST.....never paid attention. JUST got done reading it through.Hypertrophy-Specific Training : : Official Home of HST
It makes perfect sense for someone in my position. Especially with someone seeking size. Strength is great but I have always been in it for the size. So I get what they are saying but the problem i see right off is, theres no deadlift????? wtf? Secondly, I will start it in two weeks or so when my body is sorta acclimated to the "gym" again. But I am obviously no where near ready to find max weights so I am going to have to make an educated guess.
Also, chest for HST...incline BB (thats fine) and dips...I really want to do dips but theres no way I am attempting them undil i lose 25 or so lbs of lard I have gained while off and have my tendon strength built back up. Is there something I could substitute that would be fitting for the program?????
I know theres a couple more questions I have for you HST guys but I will post them when I think of them.
Any other HST info, suggestions, help would be much appreciated.
There will be at least some test thrown in with this soon also since I'm going to be on a cutting diet for a while.

 

[burnthiscorpse]

Shit, I remember now.....

There was no mention of specifics like rest times between sets, rep speeds, more concentration on the negative? shit like that?

Also, doing 1-2 sets as long as its max effort perfect form...ect ect i get it.....but when they say to warm up sufficiantly...well duh....but what does that mean if your only doing 1-2 work sets? To me warming up means light sets!!!?/?

 

[ceo]

DC >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>HST for hypertrophy. I got far more from DC than HST.

 

[mohdgame]

Yeah, but he wants HST because it concentrate on staying injury free. DC is harsher than HST.

So I get what they are saying but the problem i see right off is, theres no deadlift????? wtf?

The workouts in the website are just samples, you dont have to follow them. You can do a rotation between squats and deadlifts. one day squats, the other deadlifts.

incline BB (thats fine) and dips[

Workouts in the website are just samples, you can change it. You can do a upperbody/lower body split, you can do a full body. It is fine aslong as you follow the HST main principles, which are progressive overload, frequency,

But I am obviously no where near ready to find max weights so I am going to have to make an educated guess.

The reps/rest scheme doesent matter because muscles doesent understand if your doing 10 reps or 5 reps. Muscle grow if you put them under increasing stress which is the main principle that HST uses (Progressive Overload). For the maxes, you can use calculators. Find out your 15 rep maxes and use a calculator for that. This is an HST calculator

I hope I was helpful.

 

[shibs]

there are calculators where you don't have to necessarily find your 15rm, just find any rm and enter in the #of reps and the weight. Use this one...

Predicting One-rep Max

 

[fortunatesun]

I don't have any inside info on this no DL issue but I've given it some thought before.

My gut feeling is that these programs are written to target the widest possible audience and deadlifts can be perceived as too intensive - robbing energy from other areas of your workout. In general you want to keep your pace brisk, finishing up in about an hour. DL's tend to promote longer rest periods.

It should be a judgement call depending on your experience, general fitness and familiarity with HST techniques. Since you're just coming off a period of inactivity and new to HST you might want to give the program a fair trial before substituting.

On the other side of the argument, deadlifts are a exercise you can't really go wrong with. One thing I've done in this situation is go with snatch grip deadlifts. They're great mass builders but the wide grip keeps things moving. They address many of my weak areas.

I've had upper arm tendon problems also and agree dips can be aggravating. Push ups, that old standby, always seemed to work well and didn't cause problems. DB flys can also work.

 

[burnthiscorpse]

I do want to get into DC. I really do. It makes total sense also. But being as I'm just getting rolling again, I want to get the elbows and rotators properly conditioned. I'm thinking at least 2 mos. of HST anyways would be a good conditioning/lead in to DC. Believe me, in my heart....DC is the way to go, but the HST....to get back on track sounds ideal. Plus, after a layoff, and whilst cutting (with test) how can I not grow on HST.
As for deads, I am all for giving the routine a fair shake as is. I figured it didnt include deads so that the average jackass could benefit from it as well as the more experienced guy. But its just kinda depressing if I were to leave them out. They are such a mass builder as we all know.

 

[mohdgame]

Well, you can change their workout. If you're an experienced user you can also add a little bit volume if you can tolerate it, hell, you can even double the volume. The main point is not to get overtrained.

 

[burnthiscorpse]

Yeah I'm an OCD freak about making sure I dont over train. Probably too much. Right before I had to stop for a while I was doing one on,one off. But that was like monday was all press movements, from flat db to military, to press downs, big weights, 6-10 reps. I needed the day off in between. Then back/pulling day was even worse.

 

[timtim]

i would just increase your time under tension, training more for feel. 3 down, 2 pause, 3 up, 2 pause is tough. but 4/3/4/3 is tougher. i dont think someone of your size needs to train big anymore. maybe throw in 2 weeks of max effort after 6 or 8 weeks of increasing time under tension using a wide variety of exercises, focusing on the flexion of the muscles targeted at your weak angles. its all angles at this point and exercise selection. just an opinion i have on guys who are very big but arent at that top level. the normal monsters. now its more about balance.

weak bodyparts 2 times a week. stronger muscle groups 1 time a week. the areas that get worked twice have less volume when split and the second day is more of a feel workout. split quads/hamstrings into seperate workouts and start doing more isolation work using different feet positions. 1 leg straight leg deadlifts are awesome. leg extensions for controlled reps is a great exercise. 50 pounds, hold near lockout for 5 seconds. it works.

unless you intend on getting 20 pounds heavier, then you need to lift heavy.