Cut and Heal: my HST journal

It's time for a journal. For this stage of my lifting career I am planning to lean out while I let my back heal. I'm 25 and I'd like to get down to a reasonably attractive BF% (I'm thinking 10% would be a nice round number for a goal) and stay near it when bulking in the future. I plan to make DF 5x5-esque programs the mainstay of my training for the forseeable future and I see this phase as a way of facilitating that goal in the long run

I'm at approximately 17% at the moment (perhaps lower) so this is kinda long term. AAS may make an appearance, but I wanna push REALLY hard natty before I poke. I think there is something noble about being natural, though obviously I don't think AAS is evil .

Anywho, this plan will evolve as I learn and change things up. I know a fair amount about nutrition but I've never really put much effort into dropping bodyfat so I guess you could say I'm book smart but not street smart in this regard.

For now, I'm going to address my weight training with HST. There are several reasons for this. Among them are:

-empirical evidence suggests it is effective

-it utilizes what I feel to be the most important characteristic of ANY weight training program: progressive resistance

-the rep ranges (particularly early on) should facilitate healing

-I have NEVER focused on the 15 or 10 rep range so there may even be some hypertrophy along with fat loss. I'm not holding my breath though.

-I have a hunch that high volume/workload per session (i.e. 5x5) is especially tough on an injured area. With HST you only do a couple sets for specific areas but the overall frequency is still somewhat high (at least for my experience level).

Test Week

MONDAY

Today I test my 15rm in the movements I've selected for my HST routine. Wednesday I test 10rm's and then Friday it's 5rm's. THen it's a week off, and finally the program starts. I will run two weeks of 15 rep sessions, starting light and working up to today's maxes on the friday of week two. Then week 3 starts the 10 rep phase.

I found that it's hard to peg the maxes perfectly when you're used to 5rm's, and if you get it wrong there's really no way to test again and get an accurate reading (I was pretty tired after the 15rm test on squat but I undershot it- testing it again wouldn't have told me much).

I'll type what I actually performed and an addendum based on whether or not it reflects an accurate max set:

Squat: 225x15
-I'm gonna peg this at 245

GM: 135x15
-Pegged at 145. I'm keeping these intentionally low just to be cautious. 135 was a joke.

Inc db press: 85'sx13
-I wasn't expecting to use this much weight so I did several aborted sets prior which may have affected this set. I'll peg it based on wednesday's tests, but I'm thinking 80's for now.

Dips: BWx15
- I was shocked that I only got 15 w/ bodyweight. I can usually crank these things out like nothing. I think the inc db marathon took a bit out of me

BB rows: 135x15
-145 as a max

Pulldowns:13 platesx 15
-perfect!

Standing OHP: 105x13
-These were brutal after all the other stuff. I'm thinking 100 will work- my conditioning will improve throughout the program and these won't be so tough by week 2

BB curls: 55x15
-Too easy. 65 is the target

Skullcrushers: 75x15
-Perfect!

Your back's still giving you grief?

What are you doing on the cardio / diet side and what do you weigh currently?

I'm beginning to question whether I'm trying to put on too much weight too fast. I've gone from nearly-abs to flab pretty quickly whilst putting on 1.5lb per week.

The 15's are ideal for letting the joints heal. You may want to try supplementing your 5x5 cycles with a week of 15's on compound movements from now on. In fact, I wouldn't bother with curls and skull crushers during the 15's. Add them in during the 10's, or even better, the 5's.

Doing this allows for greater load progression. If you start in the 15's, you won't stay ahead of RBE very long, and the weight lifted on the compounds is what's really going to stimulate the muscle during the early stages. The isolation work will be nearly useless, aside from a pump.

Of course, it's your call. This is just what I'd do, given what I've learned from the HST boards.

A-B
Yeah it still hurts. Back pain has been a nuisance for me since I was a kid. It is always the first thing to hurt.

As far as cardio and diet I'll keep a food journal linked to this one and I'll probably be jumping rope HIIT style first thing in the morning Tues. and Thurs. for now. I want to keep cardio minimal at first to get the diet right. It's worth noting that my pants fit looser fromjust plain eating less- nothing fancy yet. I started paying attention at 252.

EDIT: Weight is 240 at the moment. I took some measurements for reference as well. They are embarassing actually :
Shoulders: 53"
Belly: 41.5"
Waist: 39" but my 36" jeans are hanging off of me
Right arm: 16 7/8"
Left arm: 16 3/4"


A I:
I'd hate to drop exercises if for nothing else than the calories they burn. The idea behind this run is just to maintain as much muscle as possible while dieting. Based on what you read you think the arm work during 15's will be detrimental? I do have to admit that the pump is very pleasant and I can see why people think it's important- I could tell an obvious difference in the mirror postworkout.
The more I read about HST the more I like it- it's definitely got some actual research behind it versus gym lore BS.

Actually, using 15 reps on the compounds will be more than enough for calorie-burning anyway. The 15's are very metabolic, especially so with compound exercises that work the entire body. I think it could be detrimental if you were trying to eek out as much arm growth as possible, since doing compounds & isolations when the weights are still very light (15's correlate with lighter loads) would jump you ahead of the RBE and thus make the muscle less susceptible to the weights you're using for those two weeks.

That said, if you like the pumped feel, and you're trying to just maintain mass (maybe add some, depending) then it probably won't make much of a difference.

Careful of HIIT first thing in the AM, if by that you meant on an empty stomach. THAT will be detrimental, no doubt.

Anthrax Invasion said:

Careful of HIIT first thing in the AM, if by that you meant on an empty stomach. THAT will be detrimental, no doubt.

Click to expand...

Crap. That is what I meant. I guess that makes sense. I just HATE cardio and HIIT makes it bearable.

I suppose I can do it in the evening before dinner, or just do a longer, moderate session in the a.m.

Thanks bro

Well good luck with it. I've never tried HST but I've glanced through the program, looks pretty cool.

For my down time between 5 x 5/3 x 3's I did progressive resistance in 10-15 rep ranges for 2 week periods, compound moves only. My joints did feel better, especially my shoulder and knee.

Anyway, looking forward to seeing how you like it, especially since you've run the Starr program a couple times.

BTW, does HST specify a rep tempo? Low intensity/high rep/4-2-2 tempo was killer for me, after 1 set I was begging for 5 x 5

HST causes hypertrophy by increasing or decreasing the weights. It's not just a high rep program. Itl's also not a progressive overload program either

I will look at this cause I think HST interests me and seems safer then 5x5

Thanks G5.0, I've been meaning to go read up on HST for months. Now I can just read your log.

Good luck and get well soon. How long is this scheduled for?