HST- Hypertrophy Specific training

Buffman

Buffman

Buffman

Soldato
Joined
4 May 2007
Posts
9,866
Location
West Midlands
Recently saw this on another forum and thought Id give it a go, never tried a full body routine (or fixed routine at all really) and currently doing huge volume/no strict routine
http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_index.html anyone else tried it?

Currently looking to cut down body fat and get some lower ab definition coming through, diet is pretty clean possibly eat too much fruit eating more green veg and cutting down on the carbs (and fruit :o). My main/huge diet flaw would be binge drinking once every 2 weeks or so.

So 2 weeks 15 reps, 2 weeks 10 reps, 4 weeks 5 rep sets

Currently my local gym is poorly equipped with only a smith machine to squat/do deadlifts in (Should even bother doing deadlifts in a smith?)
Heres the proposed plan
HST.jpg


Also might use this thread as a log of results etc. With regards to weights I havent penned them in but I'm pretty sure roughly what weights I should be using to reach failure at certain rep ranges (currently training ~8-12)
 
Last edited:
I don't know much (if anything) about HST but smith machine squats are fine if you really have no alternative.
 
I'd choose front squats over smith machine squats - but I hate the smith machine. Unless it's a very well balanced one, but even then the movement is less than natural or ideal. However it's more of a personal thing for me. However doing DLs using a smith won't be sensible IMO.

HST is a good program, but not really my cup of tea in terms of volume - but it's a good high intensity work out.

Let us know how you get on. :)
 
You could do squats on smith but put your feet further forward. I find that gives a more acceptable plane of movement for your body
 
Remember you workouts should increase in weight... it should follow this pattern.

15 reps for two weeks

Workout A - Light
Workout B - Light
Workout A - Medium
Workout B - Medium
Workout A - Heavy
Workout B - Heavy

Your last two heavy workouts of the rep range you should be aiming for a personal best.
 
The Mad Rapper said:
I presume you can't find a proper gym?
Click to expand...

I have free bars at the uni gym and could spend >1 hour travelling there by walking then train but Id rather just have the 35 min walk to the local council gym. Other gyms are available but I cant justify the expense nor do I want to get signed into a 12 month contract.

Wardie said:
Remember you workouts should increase in weight... it should follow this pattern.

15 reps for two weeks

Workout A - Light
Workout B - Light
Workout A - Medium
Workout B - Medium
Workout A - Heavy
Workout B - Heavy

Your last two heavy workouts of the rep range you should be aiming for a personal best.
Click to expand...

Yeah I read this earlier today after creating the thread :o cheers for reminding me though :). I'll be aiming to do this and will make sure I mark in the weights used and targets for the heavier days, will be odd as I'm used to working to failure.
 
Last edited:
I'm thinking about giving this a go. Have been reading around today as I'm quite bored and am currently in-between routines.

I pyramided for 5 day cycles (4 on 1 off / 4 part split) for about 5 weeks and have had a heavy week, followed by a light hypertrophy week with slower negatives and less weight, so is about time for me to find something new to try. I'd jump on AGVT if I could but am not prepared to squat without a rack/stands or a spotter to help me boost from an olympic bench. So AGVT is on the back burner until either the gym at home gets some stands/ a rack or I do. Anyway...

My recovery seems to be reasonably quick at current and think this could be something good for me to try. Going to continue reading up and actually make heads & tails of what's required.
 
Last edited:
Hmmm well after doing a week of it I'm quite enjoying it, and the lesser volume is such that I'm now able to run the day after a weights day (is far less doms from 2 light/ 1med a bad thing?). Although that might change after doing heavy days =/

Also bought some new running shoes today after getting some knee/shin pain from my old ones so will hopefully be able to get out a bit more mileage/ possibly add in some HIIT.
 
I'm a tad confused about some of the principles.

What I understand
Compounds
Hit everything 3 times a week
Progressive Load - increasing weights at set intervals
Rep decrease in relation to load

What I don't understand
When to increase the weight?

On the official HST website it has some conflicting information and shows that weight is increased every workout for 2 weeks but reps stay the same. I've also read elsewhere (mainly forums) that weight & reps stay the same for each (all 6 workouts) for 2 weeks and is then increased along with a decrease in reps. :confused:
 
As far as I'm aware its something like:

Monday- 80% 15rep max
Wed- 80% 15rep max
Fri- 90% 15rep max
Monday- 90% 15rep max
Wed 100% 15rep max
Fri- 100% 15rep max

So thats 2 weeks of 15 rep sets done then you go onto 10 reps for 2 weeks and for 4/6 days you're not working to absolute failure, I might have a look again though as I could have got it wrong :s

Edit: Actually just read this
• Determining weights for each workout: Assign your max weights to the final workout of each 2 week block. Then, in 5-10 pound increments, assign weights in decreasing fashion starting from the last workout working backward to the first. So, for example, if your 10 rep max is 200 pounds, assign 200 pounds for the last workout of the 10 rep block, then assign weights that build up to your max in 6 workouts. For our example, using 5 pound increments, the weights for the whole 2 week block would be 175,180,185,190,195, and 200. Do this for each exercise for each rep scheme.
Click to expand...

So technically I should be upward working every single workout rather than every 2
 
Last edited:
I think I'm with it. Basically work backwards from the last workout of each 2 week phase, decreasing 5KG (5-10lbs) each time.

So for example if your 15 rep max deadlift is 100KG it'll look like this:
1: 2 x 10 @ 75KG
2: 2 x 10 @ 80KG
3: 2 x 10@ 85KG
4: 2 x 10 @ 90KG
5: 2 x 10 @ 95KG
5: 2 x 10 @ 100KG

God this is going to take a while to plan out, especially with RM guestimates!

Edit:

There doesn't seem to be any shoulder pressing movements.

Have you tweaked much yourself The Craig? Was thinking of ditching rear delt flyes for Lateral Raises and Leg Curls for SLDL.

Edit: Also are you alternating exercises for certain groups? it appears to alternate leg press & squats and also dips & bench. Seems a bit more logical to me to stick to the same exercise as it's eaiser to gauge progress...

This is what I've thrown up for the first 2 week phase. Added in another back exercise but I think a lot of it will either be kept the same or adjusted come the first few sessions in regards to weights/amount of exercises.

C&C welcome. Weights as accurate a guestimate as possible for now. Will probaly spend a day working out my RM's.

HST1.jpg


HST2.jpg
 
Last edited:
BennyC said:
I
Have you tweaked much yourself The Craig? Was thinking of ditching rear delt flyes for Lateral Raises and Leg Curls for SLDL.

Edit: Also are you alternating exercises for certain groups? it appears to alternate leg press & squats and also dips & bench. Seems a bit more logical to me to stick to the same exercise as it's eaiser to gauge progress...
Click to expand...

Ive completely ditched front squats on a smith machine, far too akward trying to hold the catch back and hitting the cage (cross armed grip). As for alternating exercises that appears to be what they're doing on the following routine here: http://www.hypertrophy-specific.com/hst_notes.html

I havent changed many of the exercises though just switched grips on the pulley, swap hammer curls for alternate curls, bench/incline bench and swap between 2 and 1x with squat/stiff legged dead.

I might change something for leg press though as I dont seem to get much quadricep focus in (Squat does them, but when I front squat with a free bar I can really feel it :p)

Also you can do 15x bw chins +10kg :eek:. I dont think I'd be able to hit 10x bw :o

I'll be making my spreadsheet for next week very shortly..
 
Last edited:
Think I'm going to read around a bit more and possibly wait until I'm back home from Uni so I'm settled and don't have to change gyms mid routine.

It'll also give me time to work out my correct RM's as they are all guestimates. As for the chins I'd like to hope I could do that if I came in fresh/warmed up. We'll see though. I'll make a journal for my HST journey I think.
 
BennyC said:
Think I'm going to read around a bit more and possibly wait until I'm back home from Uni so I'm settled and don't have to change gyms mid routine.

It'll also give me time to work out my correct RM's as they are all guestimates. As for the chins I'd like to hope I could do that if I came in fresh/warmed up. We'll see though. I'll make a journal for my HST journey I think.
Click to expand...

My RM's are all guestimates as well although they've seemed to be pretty good and I'm working up to failing around rep 15 on friday. Look forward to seeing your journal :).

Week 2 for me is going to be something like this:

hstweek2.jpg

Im possibly going to need to alter some weights as the week goes on.

Also bought some STC whey today :) better taste nice at a fair bit more expensive than unflavoured whey :p
 
Looks good mate.

Interesting as you've got 2 sets of 15 reps.

I thought it was 1 x 15 for 2 weeks, then 2 x 10 for 2 weeks and then 3 x 5 for 2 weeks. Or is the set total the same for the duration with just the rep range shortening & weight increasing?
 
I didnt think it was (I could be wrong though)? I have a 132 page FAQ book that I think I got online off their website that I can send you if you want (A lot of it seems over my head, but you might understand it =/), I'll have a look later but just now I should probably get some maths revision done :p.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom