Questions for the HST gurus

[trenboloni]

I'm beginning a HST program with some AAS in a few weeks, so I had to tweak the program to the best of my ability. Please let me know what you think. Core strength is important for my sport, thus I added four different core excercises.

I also wanted to mix things up a bit, so I changed the order of the excercises dramatically.

I typed in my weekly AS and caloric intake as well at the end of this post.

HST routine:
Weighted sit-ups 2x
SLDL 3x
Bench 3x
Chins 3x
Weighted ab twists 2x
Squats 3x
Dip 3x
Bent-over row 3x
Weighted oblique bend 2x
Military press 3x
Bicep curl 3x
Ab-roller 2x

Let me know what you think. I'll be doing this 3 times a week, concentrating on aerobic and anaerobic conditioning on the other 4 days of the week. Rep progression will be 2 weeks of 15 reps, 2 weeks of 10 reps and 4 weeks of 5 reps and depending on how the program worked, I'll instantly start a new 15-10-5 cycle or switch it up a bit.

In case someone wants to know, I'll be taking AS for the next 18 weeks (two HST cycles) with the following protocol:
weeks 1-18 250mg testosterone enathate
weeks 1-18 400mg boldenone undecylenate
weeks 1-6 50mg test prop and 50mg tren acetate on training days (mon, wed, fri)
weeks 1-8 40mg oral-turinabol ED

Low dose IGF on training days (mon, wed, fri) straight after workout;
weeks 1-4 20mcg
weeks 5-8 off
weeks 9-12 20mcg
weeks 13-18 off

Calories:
wk 1 +500kcal
wk 2-6 +1000kcal
wk 7-8 -1000kcal
wk 9 +0kcal
wk 10-11 -1000kcal
wk 12 +0kcal
wk 13-14 -1000kcal
wk 15 +0kcal
wk 16-17 -1000kcal
wk 18 +0kcal

(+1000 means that I'm eating 1000kcal more than I am spending during the day, -1000 means a 1000kcal deficit per day)

So the first 6 weeks are heavily geared for muscle and strength gain, and the remaining 12 weeks (7-18) are focused on cutting up and most likely some strength and little muscle gain due to the AS protocol. Also, I will be adding an EC stack for the -1000kcal weeks to get a boost in fat loss.

Please comment. I want to point out that this protocol is for getting into a higher weight class in MMA and I look forward into getting stronger, more muscular and a bit leaner in the process.

 

[Ramstein II]

Several comments.

Diet: I understand calorie cycling like you're doing, but you say you're trying to go up in weight class. Your diet looks like a net loss in mass when it's all done. You might want to increase the calorie surplus periods. Also, I would be very careful about coinciding your low calorie weeks with the high intensity portions of the HST program. In my experience, dieting an lifting heavy (ie. reps in the 3-5 range) is dangerous. I think it quickly leads to overtraining. I don't know if you've accounted for this or not, I didn't look at it that closely.

Lower Back: check out exrx.net . there is a section there about lower back recovery. Research shows that unlike other muscles, the lower back muscles need at least 5 days to recover. I have two herniated disks thinks to my over-zeleous lifting days when I was younger. You're doing, squats, SLDL, and bent rows all in one day, and your planning on doing it 3 days a week! Bro, you're flurting with disaster. You may get away with it for a year or maybe not even a week, but once your back is fucked, you'll regret it. Also, you're doing weighted "sit ups." I suppose that means full range of motion "old school" sit ups. I used to box as a teenager, and I actually train in MMA now just for fun, not competitively like you, and I don't know what it is about those in the fighting world always wanting to do full range of motion "core work." I think it looks tough, like Rocky, so hey it must be good. Not dogging you, but that type of work puts enormous strain on the spine. There's a muscle, can't remember name right now, that connects from the spine to the pelvic, and when you do full range of motion ab work it pulls your spine toward your stomach like a rope. That's why those exercises have been out of favor for like 30 years, except among some "old schoolers."

I would substitue other exercises for your row, (ie. DB row with suppport), squats (ie. leg press), and SLDL, (ie. leg curl) if you insist on doing HST.

I, personally,am not a fan of HST. I made some gains on it and it increased my strength, but I think if you're advanced and training for sports, a traditional periodized program would work well. Steven Fleck, premier exercise physiologist, in Designing Resistance Training Programs concludes after reviewing 40 years of exercise research that for advanced lifters, a twice a week frequency is superior to three time a week frequency.

Also, i would change up all your exercises if you're going to do 3 time a week frequency. You can quickly gain overuse injuries on your routine since it's one dimensional. Mix it up. I recommend the book I cited above. Another mistake I see people make is too much reliance on free weights. Resistance is resistance, you'r muscles don't know the difference between hammer strenght and a straight bar. The only difference is the coordination and supposed "sport carryover." But, if you do some research you'll find that weights don't really "carryover" to sports like you may think. A lot of premier athletes, (e.g. speed skaters and other olympians) have given up high injury exercises like squats and use leg press etc... Muscle mass is muscle mass whether it comes from a machine or free weight. It is up to you in sport specific training to train that mass to do something. Think about it. Others will contradict me, but do some real research and think for yourself, don't just listen to gym dogma.

my $.02

 

[trenboloni]

Several comments...

Wow. Thanks! You really brought up some valid points and opened my eyes on a lot of things. I'm making some changes to my training-nutrition cycle now and I'll post the changes later when it's ready.

In the meanwhile, other knowledgeable persons are free to comment too. Thanks.

PS. What would you suggest as an alternative to weighed sit-ups? Also, the weighed ab-twist that I'm doing is basically a movement where I'm holding myself in a half-sit up position (contracting the abs, body at about 20-30 degree angle) and bringing a dumbell from my left side to my right side, and back for reps. So; do you think that excercise would be ok?

I don't want to break my back and I have had lower back muscle pulls and slight tears from my younger days of heavy (=too heavy) lifting.

 

[Bob Smith]

tren, your best bet is to post at the HST forum. Those guys really know their stuff and how to tweak HST.

Also, be very careful when using AAS while also doing HST. I know someone who did that and didnt temper their strength gains and ended up tearing a pec muscle. Not good. So I would advise not to go 100%, instead, set up your weight progressions ahead of time and stick to that schedule. Then when you get around to the 2nd cycle of HST, up the weights a little bit.

 

[Girth]

All I can do is second what's been said here already, and perhaps add a little anecdoatal advice. HST is a great program, and I have a great respect for Haycock;s writings. But I too feel that you need to alter the exercises if you intend to use it. I always experienced sore joints from the as written HST, when I got into the 5's. I've never had that problem with the 5x5, which in theory, should be worse on the joints.

That said, why are you looking at HST. Yes I know you want to go up a weight class, but that's diet controlled. If you truly are an MMA competitor, the 5x5 or DFST makes more sense to me. The 5x5 will give you the size gains you are looking for, but the strength and endurance gains will be well above that which you would get with HST. Thus you'd be a better athlete, or in this case, fighter. Just something else to think about.

I agree with the diet advice as well. The calorie cycling is great. But in my opinion it doesn't make sense to have high cals for a bit and then low for the remainder of your cycle. If you truly want to go up in weight. I think a better approach, might be one in which you eat in surplus for 3 weeks, then at maintenance for 1. The 3 high weeks would coincide with loading periods in your training. The 1 of maintenance would be a back off week in which training volume would be lessened.

The above is just based on what I've seen and experienced. Gaining a bunch of weight all of a sudden is relatively easy. Holding it takes time. Your body has to adjust to the new weight if you want to keep it. Also, ending your cycle while in a diet will make it harder to recover your natural test levels, as well as keep any of the gains you may have left. Your natural hormonal profile while dieting is pathetic. And you are complicating that by coming off of exogenous use of anabolics. Sounds like a disaster waiting to happen doesn't it?

 

[Archie]

Several comments.
Not dogging you, but that type of work puts enormous strain on the spine. There's a muscle, can't remember name right now, that connects from the spine to the pelvic, and when you do full range of motion ab work it pulls your spine toward your stomach like a rope. That's why those exercises have been out of favor for like 30 years, except among some "old schoolers."
my $.02

Psoas major and iliacus?

Flexion exercises should not exceed extension exercises by more than 10 reps in a week if you wish to maintain a state of correct posture and protect the lumbar spine.

Archie

 

[Bryan Haycock]

... I think if you're advanced and training for sports, a traditional periodized program would work well. ...

Agreed. HST is an off season method used to put on muscle mass, not to improve performance.

I'm on my way to the Arnold and would love to chat about HST with any of you who might be going as well. Please just stop me and say hello.