My HST Experiment

[M.J.H.]

After being on the Baby Got Back program for a solid 6-8 weeks and absolutely loving it, I decided that I truly need a change of pace. And the one program that I can say for whatever reason I didn't ever fully stick to, is HST (Hypertrophy Specific Training), which lasts 6 weeks.

I'm going to be doing it a bit differently though, hence why I called it an experiment. Instead of the traditional way of training every other day I've split it up and I'm going to be training 6 days per week, with a push/pull split.

My split is going to be as follows:

1- Push
2- Pull
3- Push
4- Pull
5- Push
6- Pull
7- Rest

And I'm going to be starting with the 15's for 2 weeks, then the 10's, and finally the 5's for 2 weeks. At that point I'm going to see how my body responded to the program and start another HST cycle with all new exercises or instead switch to something else.

My diet is going to be the usual, around 3K calories and higher protein, moderate carb, moderate fat, tracked on Fitday.com.

To those of you who are unfamiliar with HST I am going to outline it in a nutshell. I am going to be training a fully body routine, every other day. The 5 weeks is broken down basically into 3 smaller 12-day cycles. The first is the 15-rep cycle, the second is the 10-rep cycle, and finally the third is the 5-rep cycle.

The workouts themselves are also divided into progressive resistance. So in other words over the course of 6 workouts, or 12 days, I am going to be working up to my 15RM, 10RM, and 5RM, respectively.

Let's use bench press for an example. My 15RM is 225, my 10RM is 275, and my 5RM is 315. This is how it would look over the course of the 6 weeks.

15-Rep Cycle
Workout #1: 175
Workout #2: 185
Workout #3: 195
Workout #4: 205
Workout #5: 215
Workout #6: 225, 15RM

10-Rep Cycle
Workout #1: 225
Workout #2: 235
Workout #3: 245
Workout #4: 255
Workout #5: 265
Workout #6: 275, 10RM

5-Rep Cycle
Workout #1: 265
Workout #2: 275
Workout #3: 285
Workout #4: 295
Workout #5: 305
Workout #6: 315, 5RM

I took this idea of splitting it up into 2 days from IM member Mudge, so I'm hoping he stops by as often as he can giving some feedback.

 

[M.J.H.]

My push/pull workouts are going to be using the same exercises for the entire first HST cycle. So they're going to be these exercises, respectively:

Push
Squats
Flat DB Presses
Flat DB Flyes
Arnold Presses
DB Lateral Raises
Skullcrushers

Pull
SLDL
Ghetto T-Bar Rows
CG Cable Pulldowns
Standing BB Curls
Abcore Crunches
Standing Calf Raises

Then for the next 6 weeks if I decide to stick with HST I'll change up the exercises.

 

[M.J.H.]

HST Cycle 1 | 15-Rep Cycle
Sunday; 7-16-2006


Push

Squats
2 sets of 15 with 135

Flat DB Presses
2 sets of 15 with the 50's

Flat DB Flyes
2 sets of 15 with the 25's

Arnold Presses
2 sets of 15 with the 25's

DB Lateral Raises
2 sets of 15 with the 5's

Skullcrushers
2 sets of 15 with 35

Cardio
8 minutes of HIIT interval training on the treadmill + 5 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill, 3.4 MPH at an 8% incline.

I wanted to note here that I'm going to do my HST workouts circuit style, so I go from one exercise to the next doing one set of 15 reps and then repeat the entire circuit over again. Makes it a hell of a cardio workout, at the same time.


Diet-

Preworkout: 2 scoops of whey protein
Postworkout: 1 scoop of whey protein + 1 cup of skim milk, whole-grain english muffin
Meal 1: chicken breast, corn, salad
Meal 2: 2 scoops of whey protein + 1 cup of skim milk
Meal 3: 2% cottage cheese + mandarin oranges
Meal 4: 2 scoops of whey protein + 4 tbsp. peanut butter
Meal 5: 1/4 cup of almonds

Total Calories: 2,868
Total (g) Protein: 329g
Total (g) Carbs: 149g
Total (g) Fat: 106g


Sleep- 7.5 hours.

Weight- 210 lbs.

 

[M.J.H.]

HST Cycle 1 | 15-Rep Cycle
Monday; 7-17-2006


Pull

SLDL
2 sets of 15 with 135

Ghetto T-Bar Rows
2 sets of 15 with 145

CG Cable Pulldowns
2 sets of 15 with 80

Standing BB Curls
2 sets of 15 with 35

Abcore Crunches
2 sets of 15 with 25

Standing Calf Raises
2 sets of 15 with 100

Cardio
8 minutes of HIIT interval training on the treadmill + 5 minutes of incline walking on the treadmill, 3.4 MPH at an 8% incline.


Diet-

Preworkout: 2 scoops of whey protein
Postworkout: MRP shake
Meal 1:
Meal 2:
Meal 3:
Meal 4:

Total Calories:
Total (g) Protein:
Total (g) Carbs:
Total (g) Fat:


Sleep- 7 hours.

Weight- 208.5 lbs.

 

[Saturday Fever]

135 on the SLDL. You've got to be chomping at the bit to get to the heavier cycles of HST.