Anybody tried any of the HST programs put up a few weeks back? I’m thinking of giving it a go but I figured I might find out what people thought of it in general and whether anybody has tried it yet.
There have been many threads about it. Check the search engine.
I’ve been doing HST and I love it. I’ve already completed my 15 rep weeks, my 10 rep weeks, and the first week of 5 reps. I still have 1 more week of 5 reps to go, followed by the all-important two-week negative training.
The pros: easy to follow, you have specific goals for every set of every workout, GREAT strength gains;
The cons: since I'm lifting about 10 to 20 pounds more than I ever have before (and that number will go up even further when I do my two weeks of negatives), I have developed a "strain" type injury in my shoulder. Nothing serious, but I'm definitely looking forward to the 12 days of "detraining" I have coming up.
Bottom line: HST is a program that, if done right, can be used over and over again without getting stale. For example, I will complete my incline bench at 220 for 5 reps this Friday. Well, when I get to the 5 rep portion on the next go around, I'll adjust the poundages so that my last set will be 225 or 230.
The only thing to be wary of is injuries. Inevitably, when you constantly "up the ante" on your poundages, aches and pains and strains are more probable.
All in all, I would highly recommend this program.
I’ve just completed my first two-weeks of 15RM. I begin the 10RM workouts today. So far, I like it. Although, I think I’ll adjust the weights for these two weeks. As I found it too easy when I was using 30 pounds on some exercises for 15 reps even though my 15RM was 100lbs for certain things. I’ll do as Bryan has recommended by doing the same weight two weeks in a row, rather than starting with even lighter weights. I’m also using nothing but machines for my workouts. I’m taking a break from the gym and using the fitness center at my apt. complex. Once I complete the 8-weeks, I’ll go back to the gym to give HST another try using free weights. I rarely ever use machines, so this is a nice way to shock the body. I also like the fact that you know exactly how much weight you need to do each workout and how it increases progressively each workout. I end the workouts with additional ab work and some cardio.
Mike, be sure not to skip the 15s for your next cycle. They really do help with the little aches and pains that can pop up when you consistently up the load.
Oh, and to the original poster, I am now in my 5th consecutive cycle and love it. Consistent gains, easy to follow, great for bulking and cutting, give it a shot, you won’t be disappointed.
Steve
Don’t want to sound like a broken record but please do a search, there’s quite a bit of info about HST on this forum.
I had great results from both cycles i did. I went from 79.5 kg to 87 kg with around 1.5% increase in fat mass. Great program, deeply changed the way i train. Though i’m not really using currently as i’m training for strenght i still use most of the HST principles, full body workouts, 3Xweek, progressive load, etc…