Hypertrophy Specific Training Ebook

8/13/2019 Hypertrophy Specific Training Ebook

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Table of Contents

Introduction....................................................................3

WHAT IS HST?..............................................................7

EXERCISE SELECTION............................................14

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER..................................

SA!PLE ROUTINES..................................................3"

EATING #OR SI$E.....................................................4"

HST AN% CUTTING...................................................&4

WRAP UP.....................................................................''


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Introduction

What is HST? HST or Hypertrophy Specific Training! is a set of training principles that

were de"eloped by Bryan Haycock in #ctober of $%%% in order to optimi&e training for muscle

si&e' It is based on physiological principles of muscular growth as disco"ered through

science' There is no (bro)telligence* in"ol"ed in HST+ only facts as obser"ed through the

scientific method' These facts are ac,uired through studies+ which of course are not always

perfect+ but are better clues as to how the body reacts to weight training than simply listening

to what the bro at the gym told you' Based on the current research+ HST is the most

scientifically "alid way to train for si&e'

Why ha"en-t you heard of HST before now? If HST is really the most scientifically "alid

way to train+ shouldn-t it be well known as the best way to train for si&e? .ood ,uestion' The

answer is that as of the writing of this book+ it has been nearly /0 years since Bryan officially

un"eiled HST in the original Think1uscle article' 2espite being o"er a decade old+ an official

HST book has yet to be written'

And so we come to this book' 3eople are still training using sub)par methods that

produce less than optimal results' There is a clear need for some form of publication to get

HST out there to the general public' The purpose of this book is "ery simple4 to e5plain HST

to those who do not understand what e5actly it is+ since it can be somewhat cryptic to the

uninitiated'

I will a"oid all the o"erly scientific talk that scares most newcomers to HST away for

some reason yes+ I know+ why are people afraid of science??! and stick to keeping things in

clear terms that people who don-t ha"e a scientific background will readily understand'Additionally+ there will be (out of the bo5* routines for those who want to get started ,uickly'

We will also discuss ad"anced techni,ues for those who are more e5perienced with HST'

6ou do not ha"e to dedicate a lot of time to reading it before you can get in the gym and get

started+ in fact+ you should be able to get it all read within one or two sittings' I won-t bloat

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pages with unnecessary te5t 7ust to increase my word count' That is not the purpose of this

book'

Who am I and why should you care what I ha"e to say?

I am an a"erage guy with fairly a"erage genetics for muscle growth' Admittedly+ now

that I am no longer small+ some people would debate my claim to (a"erage genetics* but I

promise you+ I had to fight tooth and nail for e"ery bit of muscle I ha"e built with HST' 8or

many bodybuilders out there+ the way a person looks somehow makes their argument more

"alid+ despite the fact that plenty of successful coaches o"er the years were not massi"e

giants or e5traordinarily gifted themsel"es' But for what it is worth+ I am a lifter with almost a

decade of e5perience with HST who is 7ust about at his natural genetic limits as a result of

many years lifting using the HST method'

I found HST in $%%9 at the age of $:' 3re"iously+ I had followed "arious routines out of

"arious muscle and fitness maga&ines with abysmal results' ;o surprise there+ as there is no

real science behind the routines you find there' I was / What good was ha"ing "isible abs if you could see my ribs through

my chest? ;eedless to say+ I was not happy with my body and had spent my entire life being

(the little guy'* I was tired of it+ but it felt like nothing would work for me' "ery routine in all

the maga&ines I was subscribed to promised to pack tons of muscle onto me but none of

them e"er worked' 8rustrated+ I was ready to gi"e up on weightlifting altogether'

But I knew there had to be a better way+ I 7ust couldn-t seem to find it' As my

background in college was biochemistry+ I decided in mid)$%%: to try to find some sort of

science behind muscle growth+ rather than simply listening to what the maga&ines told me I

had to do' After weeks of research on the internet+ I found the HST site' It was a re"elation

for me' @urking on the forums for se"eral months+ reading e"erything I could+ I e"entually

began my run with HST in anuary of $%%9' ight years and what seems like a lifetime later+ I

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weigh roughly //% kg around $:% lbs! at about /9 body fat 3eople I knew when I was

younger hardly recogni&e me anymore' 8olks I work with tend to refer to me as the gorilla or

more commonly superman or hulk' I-m no longer the little guy+ now I-m known as the big guy'

It is so much different than when I was younger and smaller' And e"en though I am close to

my natural limits+ I-m still making progress thanks to the scientifically based principles of HST'

Am I happy with my body now? Well+ not totally satisfied but a damn sight happier with

it than before HST' 1y confidence is much higher and this+ along with the increased

determination I-"e learned o"er the years of lifting+ ha"e made me much more successful in

my professional life than before I began lifting' Altering your body the way I did teaches you a

lot about yourself' 6ou will learn how to push yourself beyond barriers and that strength of will

that you gain will help you in all your other endea"ors' I encourage e"eryone who is unhappy

with their body to make a change+ do something about it' ;othing is going to change unless

you make it change'

All of my growth+ I attribute to HST' I-"e tried other decent routines o"er the years but

nothing e"er produces the same results for me' HST is something that I "ery strongly belie"e

in and I think that it deser"es to be published in some form or another' And that is what has

lead to me writing this' This is something I am "ery passionate about+ to the point that I still to

this day ha"e a presence on the HST forums as one of the resident e5perts' If you come to

the forums and pose ,uestions to us+ it is likely that I will be one of those who will be

answering your ,uestions' 3erhaps at times with an added dose of sarcasm+ but I always try

to help e"eryone that I can as long as they genuinely want help'

1y hope in writing this is that other people will be able to get as much out of HST as I

ha"e gotten out of it' HST has changed my life and I want to help bring it to e"eryone else so

they can e5perience what I ha"e'

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CHAPTER ONEWHAT IS HST?

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So you-"e read the HST website and now your head is spinning trying to make sense

of e"erything you read' 6ou saw mentions of doing micro)cycles+ /9 rep blocks+ finding your

R1s and now you don-t know what to think' Sound familiar?

The first hurdle to get o"er when you are trying to learn about HST is the thought thatHST is a set routine' HST is a set of principles for you to follow when designing a routine'

The implementation of those principles can actually be ,uite fluid+ which is part of the reason

why there are so many ,uestions from newcomers'

What are the HST principles? Here is a brief e5planation'

/' 1echanical @oad4 1echanical load is the primary growth stimulus+ rather than

fatigue+ (the pump+* or whate"er other supposed e5perts claim is the primary cause of muscle

hypertrophy' Both going to failure or training for fatigue can actually be counterproducti"e as

it stresses the central ner"ous system and reduces strength in the short term' 1any a routine

has been cut short or put on hold due to an une5pected illness caused by a compromised

immune system from accumulated fatigue or going to failure too often' A muscle will always

adapt in a way that is specific to the nature of the stimulus' If you train to failure constantly+

generally speaking+ you will end up failing at training' ;ot to mention dramatically increasing

the risk of o"eruse in7uries'

But you might be wondering+ (time under tension is what causes growth+ right? So why

can-t I 7ust do a whole heap of sets with a light weight+ get tons of time under tension' Then I

will grow+ right?* Well in this case+ you ha"e to consider the strength of the actual muscle

itself' There is a minimum threshold of what that muscle can lift that must be hit before you

can actually cause any kind of micro)trauma to the muscle tissue itself' The minimum load

necessary is highly dependent on the condition of the muscle at the time you are lifting' It is

not 7ust the absolute load that is important but the relati"e load compared to what that muscle

has been conditioned to' $%% lbs will not be as effecti"e for a guy who can bench :%% lbs as it

is for a guy who can only bench $9%'

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In addition+ e"en when you find the appropriate minimum load to induce hypertrophy+

e"entually the muscle will become conditioned to this load and it will no longer cause growth'

This is what we refer to in HST as (repeated bout effect* and is why HST incorporates

progressi"e load+ which allows us to stay ahead of this cur"e' We will elaborate more on

progressi"e load and staying ahead of the repeated bout effect in 7ust a moment here'

There is also the ,uestion of muscle fiber recruitment' I-m sure you read in a maga&ine

about how you ha"e to lift in the < to /$ rep range and do this or that in order to recruit all

muscle fibers' 2o we train for fiber type in HST? ;o+ we do not' And here is why4 6ou

cannot train one specific muscle fiber type' It doesn-t happen' There is no way to isolate

them and anyone who thinks so is misunderstanding how muscle fibers are recruited' 6es+ it

is true that slow twitch fibers are recruited first and fast twitch after that when the muscle

contracts' Howe"er+ any mo"ements that re,uire a high amount of force i'e' weight lifting! is

going to end up recruiting the fast twitch muscle fibers' What it boils down to is that at


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3ut another way+ look at a typical bodybuilding split' 6ou hit biceps once a week'

.rowth lasts for 0= hours+ basically a day and a half' So on that kind of a split+ your biceps

are growing only D< days out of the year' #n HST+ you hit biceps three times a week+ so they

are growing $0: days out of the year' Is that not a dramatic difference? It would take the guy

on the bodybuilding split 0 years to catch up to the growth e5perienced in 7ust one year by theguy doing HST' This is assuming both had ade,uate nutrition' ;ow you may ha"e seen

plenty of guys on typical bodybuilding splits who ha"e gotten large on those routines'

Howe"er+ it is worth noting that anabolic steroid usage is ,uite pre"alent with these guys'

That-s why naturals doing those routines rarely make great progress o"er time until they

e"entually gi"e up and start taking steroids' Steroids change a lot of the rules+ allowing you to

get away with suboptimal training and still grow'

0' 3rogressi"e @oad4 6our muscle tissue will adapt to the load as you continue to train'

Some answer this adaptation by increasing "olume by doing more reps' This will work to a

point+ howe"er realistically+ once your muscle has adapted to a certain load+ continuing to lift

that load and simply adding more reps will only be training the fatigue component' 6es+ this

will increase sarcoplasmic hypertrophy+ you will definitely be storing more fluids in the rele"ant

muscle tissues but as for myofibrillar hypertrophy+ the actual si&e of your muscle fibers will not

be increasing significantly+ if at all+ once the tissue has adapted to the load'

The moral is+ it is more efficient to simply increase the load you are using' When the

tissue has adapted to a load+ e"en adding 7ust a couple kilograms will e5pose the tissue to a

new stimulus and cause a growth response once again' The key is to stay head of repeated

bout effect so that you can keep growing' 6ou don-t need to make enormous 7umps each time

you progress+ you 7ust need to ha"e consistent progression o"er time' ;ot only within the

cycle but also from cycle to cycle' 6our rep ma5es should be increasing from cycle to cycle'

If you look back at the end of a year of training and you ha"e not gotten stronger in your core

lifts+ then you-"e done something wrong' ither nutritionally or with your training' If you follow

HST properly+ then this won-t be a concern as long as you are eating enough'

:' Strategic 2econditioning4 When progress stops or growth plateaus+ it is necessary

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to take a break from training' The point of the break is to allow the tissue time to -decondition-

so that it will once again be sensiti"e to loads used early in a cycle' We will refer to this time

off as S2 from this point on' S2 is important for a few reasons' Studies show that growth

impro"es after a break from lifting+ so it can be 7ust the thing you need to bust through a

plateau' #b"iously taking a E day S2 is not going to re"ert your muscle to a totally untrainedstate' HST has ne"er claimed this to be the case' What an S2 does is allow some degree of

deconditioning+ along with a few other neat changes at a cellular le"el that will allow your

muscles to respond again to loads that they ha"e already been e5posed to'

Remember+ we want to stay ahead of the repeated bout effect RB! so that you can

keep growing' 6our muscle tissue is constantly ad7usting to the loads you are using+ re,uiring

you to use hea"ier and hea"ier loads in order to o"ercome this conditioning' "entually+ there

is a point where you simply cannot add more load to o"ercome RB' At this point+ the only

thing you can do is to decondition the muscle so that it will be responsi"e to lower loads once

again' S2 is also a good break for your 7oints in order to pre"ent o"eruse in7uries from

occurring Additionally+ it can help keep you fresh in the gym so that you don-t get sick of

going in there e"ery day and lifting hea"y stuff all the time'

So''' now you know the primary causes for the muscle to grow' But how to form a

routine from that? Well+ to put it in simple terms+ you want to construct a routine where you

work each muscle group at least a few times a week+ keep increasing the weight you use o"er

the course of the cycle and take time off e"ery once in a while' Simple+ right? Well+ not so

simple at first' HST can at first be ,uite intimidating to those not accustomed to it' I know

there ha"e been people who ha"e looked at HST and 7ust could not wrap their heads around

how to set it up+ e"entually returning to their pre"ious routines in despair' The truth is+ HST is

actually really easy to set up once you really understand what it is about' 2on-t worry+ we will

gi"e se"eral sample routines in this book so that e"en if you don-t totally understand what

HST is+ you can still run a cycle'

There are no hard and fast answers to some more detailed ,uestions+ such as how

many sets per e5ercise to use+ what lifts to use+ etc+ because a lot of this will "ary depending

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on an indi"iduals le"el of conditioning and how long they ha"e been training' Those who are

more ad"anced and coming to HST after ha"ing made decent progress in other training

programs will re,uire a different implementation of HST than someone who is new to lifting

weights'

In it-s most basic form+ HST consists of an eight week program broken up into four

consecuti"e two week blocks' The first two weeks are spent doing /9 rep sets+ starting out at

a percentage of your /9 rep ma5 the first day and progressing the load used o"er the course

of two weeks until on the final day of those two weeks+ you are lifting your /9 rep ma5' Why

not start with your /9 rep ma5 and 7ust lift that for the whole two weeks? A couple reasons'

8irst of all+ your muscles will become conditioned to that load and it will e"entually become

ineffecti"e at causing growth+ so we don-t want to spend a long period of time using that load'

Second+ after a proper S2+ your muscles should be recepti"e to the lighter loads of the early

/9s and should respond with growth' The point is not to lift your absolute ma5 each workout+

the point is to get growth all throughout the cycle by raising the load we are using consistently'

To use an e5ample+ say for instance that your /9 rep ma5 for flat bench press is /%% kg

or $$% lbs' As a general rule+ you want to start off with about D9 of your rep ma5' So your

first workout+ you would be using D9 of your /9 rep ma5+ which would be D9 kg or /=9 lbs'

So the goal is to start with D9 kg the first day of the /9s and be lifting /%% kg on the final day

of the /9s' In order to get from D9 kg to /%% kg+ you-ll want to add increments of 9 kg each

workout'

How will this look in practice? We will assume that in your routine+ you are doing two

sets for flat bench press during the /9s' So the first 1onday you lift+ you will do $ 5 /9 5 D9

kg' The ne5t day you lift is Wednesday+ so you will do $ 5 /9 5


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CHAPTER TWOFRCIS S@CTI#;

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8irst things first+ you need to figure out what e5ercises you will be using' 8or those

who are newer to bodybuilding+ the ma7or muscle groups typically worked in a routine are as

follows4 Guads+ Hamstrings+ Cal"es+ 3ecs+ Shoulders+ @ats+ Traps+ Biceps and Triceps'

There are others+ such as the forearms+ erectors+ abs+ etc but by and large these don-t matter

for constructing a routine as there will be significant o"erlap'

Quads Recommended lifts4 Back S,uat+ 8ront S,uat+ @eg 3ress'

The basic e5ercises one would use for an HST cycle to hit the ,uads would include

s,uats+ both the back s,uat and the front s,uat "ariation' @eg press is another solid

compound e5ercise for the ,uads+ as well as hack s,uats' @esser e5ercises for the ,uads

would be leg e5tensions or lunges+ these are discouraged for usage as your main ,uad

e5ercise because they are less producti"e' The con"entional deadlift is one lift that people

sometimes use for hitting the whole leg but they aren-t "ery ,uad dominant in comparison to

the s,uat' The con"entional deadlift is a more posterior chain focused lift+ so it hits the hams+

glutes and back primarily' It is generally discouraged to do both s,uats and deadlifts in the

same workout as it can be physically draining for most trainees as well as hammering the

crap out of your lower back when you get into the hea"ier 9s' If you are a beginner+ you may

be able to get away with it since your strength le"els will not yet be that great' #nce you are

deadlifting more than twice your body weight+ it is probably not a good idea to s,uat and

deadlift in the same workout'

Hamstin!s Recommended lifts4Romanian or Stiff @egged 2eadlift+ .lute)Ham Raise

Hands down+ I would always choose the Romanian or Stiff @egged 2eadlift for my

hamstring e5ercise o"er anything else' .lute)ham raises can be "ery producti"e too if you

ha"e the e,uipment to do them' @eg curls are acceptable as a hamstring e5ercise as well if

you for some reason cannot do the R2@ or S@2@' #ne ca"eat is that these two deadlift

"ariations can be someone hard on the lower back' Howe"er+ I would encourage anyone find

these too ta5ing on the lower back to look into strengthening their lower back'

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Cal"es Recommended lifts4Any kind of calf raise is acceptable

There is no magic recipe for calf growth' 3eople think that they must do some special

e5ercise they read about in some maga&ine to get their cal"es to grow' Truth is+ cal"es seem

to be one of those muscle groups that are highly dependent on genetics' Some people seemto do e"erything under the sun that they can do to grow their cal"es but ne"er see any

success' #thers don-t e"en work them and get large cal"es' #ne thing I will point out is that

you must do your e5ercises in a sensible fashion' 2on-t bounce at the bottom of calf raise'

2on-t stretch it too far at the bottom either+ you don-t want to in7ure something'

Pecs Recommended lifts4 Bench 3ress "ariants+ 2ips

It doesn-t really matter what "ariant of the bench press that you prefer' 8lat bench+

incline bench+ decline bench+ they all will work' Whether you use dumbbells or a barbell is up

to you' I prefer barbell benching personally+ as lifting massi"e 2Bs into position for a set is a

massi"e pain in the ass and it is easier to increment loads with a barbell' But it doesn-t really

matter in the end as long as you can progress the load o"er time'

Weighted dips are another tremendously awesome e5ercise' If you cannot do body

weight dips yet+ I ad"ise you to find an assisted dip machine and start working on those dips'

In fact+ I would use an assisted dip machine anyway if you do weighted dips in an HST cycle

as this will allow better progression o"er the course of the cycle' If you decide to go this

route+ you would need to use your total load to figure increments for dips' 8or e5ample+ let-s

say that your 9 R1 for weighted dips is you with a $% kg plate hanging from your waist' 6ou

weigh /%% kg+ so your 9 R1 for dips is really /$% kg' This does re,uire some math to figure

out the increments+ and ob"iously you-ll be starting the /9s at below your actual body weight+

which is where the assisted dip machine comes in'''

5ercises to a"oid for pecs are flies+ pec deck or cable crosso"ers' These are nearly

useless in the conte5t of an HST cycle as your prime mo"er for pecs since increments will be

difficult and your R1s will be pathetically low in comparison to dips or bench press' They can

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be useful as metabolic work+ but that is something we will co"er in the ad"anced routines

section'

Shouldes Recommended 5ercises4 #"erhead 3ress "ariations

Shoulders are the one muscle group that people seem to want to do the most lifts for'

6ou don-t really need to do a lift for rear delts+ one for middle and one for front delts' If you

are doing an o"erhead press and you intelligently pick your back e5ercises+ you should not

need to hit all three heads of the delts with different lifts'

This adds unneeded e5tra "olume for such tiny muscles' Sa"e that e5tra "olume for a

large muscle group that needs e5tra lifts to hit all your bases+ like perhaps the back? The

back is ,uite literally many times larger than the shoulders+ yet people will do more e5ercises

for those tiny little delts than they do for the back? 6ou can do military press+ push press+

seated press+ 2B presses+ whiche"er works best for you' sing a barbell is probably easiest

for incrementing o"er the course of a cycle' #n the other hand+ many people seem to prefer

2Bs for shoulder health+ arguing that it is better for their shoulders than a barbell' It-s up to

you+ again the key is that you need to be able to progress the load o"er time' @ateral raises

are a good e5ercise to include as a prime mo"er for delts instead of an o"erhead press if you

are a small child or want to be the si&e and strength of one' @ateral raises are good for

metabolic work+ howe"er'

#ats Recommended 5ercises43ullups+ Chin ups+ 3ulldowns

There is a lot of debate on the internet about the difference between pullups and chin

ups+ whether to use a wide or a narrow grip+ whether to ha"e your pinky sticking up while

pulling yourself up to the bar''' I don-t really care about any of that' 8or my purposes+ chin

ups are a supinated grip and pullups are a pronated grip' #b"iously a neutral grip is also an

option' What width you use is up to you' The important thing is that you can do them' If you

cannot do them with 7ust your body weight+ follow my ad"ice for dips and find an assisted

machine' Include them in your cycle and base your R1s on total load+ keep progressing with

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them until you can do them with added weight' Chin ups and pullups are e5ercises that lend

themsel"es "ery well to doing negati"es'

3ulldowns are also an acceptable e5ercise' Again+ grip on these is up to you'

3ullo"ers are basically useless for most people since form is e5tremely suspect in mosttrainees to the point that I doubt most people are e"en working the lats when they are doing

(pullo"ers'* If you can do pullo"ers with proper e5ercise+ then by all means+ feel free to

include those'

Ta$s Recommended 5ercises4 Rows of any type+ deadlift+ rack pulls

It is a common mistake that people make to assume that the traps include only that bit

of muscle between your shoulder and your neck' Check an anatomy chart and you will see

that the two ma7or muscle groups in the back are the lats and the traps' 6es+ there are some

other smaller muscles but for the most part any lifts you do to hit these two ma7or muscle

groups will hit those as well'

2epending on what sort of row you choose+ you might not be hitting the erectors real

hard+ but don-t worry+ they get work from those lifts you are doing for your legs as well+ albeit

only as stabili&ers in some cases' Also+ depending on what other e5ercises you are doing+

you may want to ad7ust what sort of row you choose' Bent o"er rows are always a good lift

and they do work the erectors pretty well+ but if you are doing deadlifts then you may want to

do a seated cable row or a chest supported row instead' There is nothing magical about tbar

rows+ so don-t think that if you choose those as your rowing e5ercise that you will somehow

make superior gains compared to if you chose bent o"er rows' 1ostly what you want to focus

on here is which rowing e5ercise do you ha"e the best form with+ which is most comfortable

for you and which fits into your workout schedule the best? 2on-t pick seated cable rows if

you ha"e to wait around at the gym for an hour to use it almost e"ery time you go there'

What about shrugs+ you say? 6es+ you can include those in addition to a row' ;ote

that I said (in addition to* and not (in place of'* 6ou want to pick a rowing e5ercise first+ this

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will be your primary mo"er for de"eloping back thickness+ the shrugs will be secondary'

pper traps grow fairly easily in most trainees so you shouldn-t be too worried about it' If you

are including deadlifts in your routine then you probably don-t need to do shrugs at all' Rack

pulls are another e5ercise that is effecti"e when done properly' 6ou can typically use loads

much greater than your deadlift and it places a tremendous amount of tension on the back'Howe"er+ I discourage it-s general usage for most simply because it tends to be performed

incorrectly+ which is discouraging to me since it is such a rarely used e5ercise as it is'

Bice$s Recommended 5ercises4 2oesn-t really matter+ 7ust do whate"er'

#b"iously you want to pick something where you can maintain good form' .enerally

the issue most people ha"e with biceps is that they are working them too much' Biceps are

one of the few muscles that almost e"eryone can see almost all of the time+ so people tend to

focus too much on them' ust pick a lift and progress it like e"erything else+ and do it at the

end of your workout after you-"e already done all the money lifts that are actually important'

Clearly+ when you get to the hea"iest loads of the 9s+ it will be difficult to maintain perfect form

with any sort of curl+ but you should endea"or to do your best to minimi&e any body english

during curls' Biceps in addition to delts! are probably one of the most o"erworked muscle

groups in most gyms across the world' I see people e"ery day doing fi"e different types of

curl but only one e5ercise for back' 6ou don-t need to hit biceps that hard+ I promise you'

Tice$s Recommended 5ercises4 Close grip bench+ skull crushers+ tricep

e5tensions

If you want bigger arms+ you are better off hitting the triceps hard rather than the biceps

since they make up a larger part of the upper arm' 3ushdowns are a common

recommendation for triceps' As most people ha"e a hard time keeping proper form+ I do not

recommend pushdowns as the primary mo"er for triceps' This is especially true when you

get into "ery hea"y loads'

Close grip bench is a good lift as it will allow you to pile the weight on and has less of a

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chance of decapitating you or smashing your face in compared to skull crushers+ but it mostly

comes down to personal preference and which lift you are more comfortable with' Tricep

e5tensions are alright but I would put them after the other two in priority as it definitely has the

greater chance of stressing your elbows out of all the lifts mentioned abo"e for triceps'

Always be mindful of your elbow health when hitting the relati"ely small muscles of the arms'An o"eruse in7ury in the elbow can seriously hamper your training'

The othes Recommended 5ercises4 Shutting up+ 7ust lifting

What about my abs? What about my serratus? Should I be doing wrist curls and

re"erse wrist curls?

The answer is no' Abs are the only reasonable one' Include them if you want or don-t'

Working abs will not gi"e you a si5 pack' 2oing them as part of HST will make your abs

stronger and larger+ but it won-t get rid of the fat o"er your abs' isible abs are a function of

diet and body fat percentage' 6ou can-t shred up your midsection while trying to grow big

muscles anyway+ so de"eloping "isible abs should not be a concern for you at this point' 8or

one thing+ spot reduction of body fat is not possible' In most men+ abdominal fat is the last to

go when you are dieting down' 8or another+ simultaneous gain of muscle and loss of body fat

is unlikely to occur in most lifters unless they are total newbies or obese' 8or our purposes+

that of building as much muscle as naturally possible+ we should be focusing on eating for

si&e'

To e"erything else''' there really is little point in doing little foo foo lifts like wrist curls or

what ha"e you' 1ost e"erything you do in a well rounded routine is going to hit all those tiny

muscles that some #C2 bodybuilders worry so much about' .rip work+ tire flipping+ pushing

prowlers+ etc are all acti"ities that ha"e their place but their place is not in HST' If you want to

do those things+ that is fine+ but do not include them as part of your HST cycle' I would

strongly recommend that you seriously consider not doing those things during the time you

are doing HST and instead do them opposite HST'

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If you are aspiring to get into strongman someday+ 7ust as an e5ample+ then you should

train e5clusi"ely for that' If you 7ust want to pack on some si&e so you will be able to do better

in strongman+ then take a break from strongman training and do HST for a while to get the

si&e on before returning to strongman training' This applies to other sports specific training'

HST is good at putting muscle on+ it is pretty good at building strength too but it-s not going tomake you better at tacking people in football or running a 9% meter dash' This isn-t to say that

you can-t do these things at the same time as HST+ 7ust that it is not as effecti"e' It is better to

ha"e a clear focus rather than trying to impro"e multiple things at once'

It is also worth noting that if you do multiple things at once+ such as bo5ing and HST+ it

will effect your re,uired nutrition' See the ating for Si&e chapter' 6ou will need to figure

these things in to your diet or you will not be able to get in ade,uate calories to grow while

doing HST' This is one of the biggest reasons that I discourage people from trying to do

these things all at the same time' It is not impossible' I myself did hea"y kung fu training my

first two years of HST while making good muscle gains and I know others on the HST forums

who ha"e done bo5ing and HST' It 7ust re,uires a lot more attention to all the details if you

are going to succeed'

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CHAPTER THREE3TTI;. IT A@@ T#.THR


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So you-"e picked out your lifts+ now you are ready to get in the gym and start getting

swole' But wait+ you-re not ready yet' 6ou-"e still got some work to do' 6ou need to find your

ma5es then you need to set up your routine' When you are finished with this step+ you will

ha"e a plan for e"ery single day that you will be lifting' 6ou will go into the gym for each

workout knowing e5actly what lifts you will be doing and e5actly how much you will be liftingfor each e5ercise'

So the ne5t step is finding your ma5es' What is a rep ma5? Simply put+ it is the

ma5imum amount of weight you can do for a specific number of reps' So your /9 rep ma5

would be the most weight you can use and still get /9 reps' Ideally+ you would want to find

your /9 rep ma5+ /% rep ma5 and 9 rep ma5 for each e5ercise'

If you-"e picked out a lot of e5ercises to do+ this could take se"eral days' I recommend

taking at least a week and spending three or four days in the gym finding your ma5es' If

you-"e been lifting for a while already+ then you may already know your ma5 for some lifts'

What I generally will do is use a test weight that I suspect would be around my 9 rep ma5+ and

if I get D or < reps with it+ then I 7ust consider it my D or < rep ma5 and use a calculator to

estimate my 9 rep ma5' .oogle (rep ma5 calculator* and you will find tons of results+ most of

which should work for your purposes'

As an e5ample+ say that you go in to the gym and you manage to bench press /%% kg

for E reps' sing the calculator at e5r5'net that you 7ust googled up on your phone+ you find

that my 9 rep ma5 is estimated at //% kg+ your /% rep ma5 at E% kg and your /9 rep ma5 at DD

kg' Since you are still at the gym+ using your phone to check this+ you go ahead and attempt

to bench //% kg for 9 reps and 7ust manage the 9 reps' At this point+ you can be reasonably

sure that your 9 rep ma5 is accurate' ;ow you-ll come back after a day off and test your other

ma5es'

If you use this method+ it is encouraged that you at least go in after calculating your

ma5es and try them out to make sure that they are accurate' #b"iously doing them all in one

day is not the best idea and probably will lead to inaccurate results'

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#nce you ha"e your rep ma5es+ now you are ready to set up routine' As e5plained in

Chapter #ne+ you want to start with a percentage of each rep ma5 and progress up to it' So

using our e5ample of the bench press+ we will map out each day of the cycle for bench press'

We will assume you are lifting on 1ondays+ Wednesdays and 8ridays' So for the 7ustbench press+ the entire cycle would look like this4

Repetitions 1onday Wednesday 8riday

WJ / /9 9$ kg 9D kg =$ kg

WJ $ /9 =D kg D$ kg DD kg

WJ 0 /% =9 kg D% kg D9 kg

WJ : /%


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#r you can attempt to continue incrementing each e5ercise beyond your 9 rep ma5

each workout' 6ou will most likely ha"e gained strength o"er the course of your HST cycle+

unless you are eating like a sparrow+ and will now be able to lift more for 9 reps than you were

when you tested your ma5es prior to the cycle' So if you ha"e been increasing the load by a

couple kilograms each workout+ then the workout after your 9 R1 session+ you could tryadding another couple kilograms to your lifts and see what happens' In doing this+ you will

e"entually be unable to increase the load further+ which will mean that you 7ust found your

new 9 R1' And that-s great since then you can use that new 9 R1 to build your ne5t cycle'

6es+ you want to find new rep ma5es before starting the ne5t cycle' Always take a

couple days at the end of a cycle to test new ma5es before you take time off prior to the ne5t

cycle' 2o not test ma5es after your S2+ this is a somewhat common mistake that some

newcomers make' ;ow if you followed my ad"ice in the pre"ious paragraph and ha"e found

all new 9 R1s for each lift+ you don-t really ha"e to go in the gym and find new /% R1s and

/9 R1s' 6ou could use your strength gain in the 9 rep range to 7udge how much to add to

your /% R1 and /9 R1+ or use a calculator to estimate new ones based on your 9 R1s' ust

remember+ S2 is a critical part of HST' Taking appropriately timed breaks impro"es your

growth potential for the ne5t cycle'

So now you-"e got your ma5es figured out and you-"e figured out all the loads you will

be using for each e5ercise' What-s ne5t? olume? How many sets of what should you be

doing? .enerally+ it is a good idea to start with /)$ sets for e"erything your first HST cycle'

Some lifts you would want to do $ sets+ some only /' 8or e5ample+ for back you chose bent

o"er rows and barbell shrugs+ you would want to do $ sets for the rows and only / set for the

shrugs because the rows are the priority' 3retty much any arm work you would want to stick

to 7ust / working set' After your first cycle+ you should ha"e a better feel for where and if you

need increase "olume'

As a general rule of thumb+ you should increase "olume only if you are ne"er sore+ you

are ne"er tired after your workouts and you are not growing despite steadily gaining weight'

#b"iously if you are not gaining weight at all+ that is a diet issue and not an issue of "olume'

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;o routine is going to magically put muscle on you without the necessary calories and protein

to build the muscle' #n the other hand+ you would want to maintain "olume if you are slightly

sore after workouts most of the time+ you are tired enough at night to sleep well but not so

tired that you are losing the desire to lift and your muscles are noticeably fuller' @astly+ you

would want to decrease "olume if you are tired most of the time but still don-t sleep well+notice any sort of strain in your 7oints or other o"er)use pain+ strength le"els are plummeting

and if you notice your immune system seems "ery poor'

#"ertraining or o"erreaching is not something that we want to do in HST' This tactic is

one that impro"es performance+ not hypertrophy' As such+ be mindful to keep "olume low

enough to a"oid this' 1any people try to increase "olume abo"e what they need to grow in

an effort to impro"e their gains+ but the reality is that the minimum "olume necessary to grow

is going to be more effecti"e than using the ma5imum "olume you can handle' If you e"er get

to the point where you are truly o"ertrained+ a simple nine day S2 is not sufficient to alle"iate

the symptoms of o"ertraining'

@ifting order is not critically important as long as you can be sensible about it' If you

choose s,uats+ romanian deads+ bench press+ military press+ pulldowns+ bent o"er rows+

shrugs+ barbell curls and skull crushers for your routine+ you would definitely want to put the

arm work last' S,uats you may want to do first since they will likely re,uire the most energy

of any of the lifts' #r you may want to do s,uats nearly last+ 7ust before the arm work+ so it

doesn-t wipe you out for the rest of the workout' It really 7ust depends on your personal

preferences' But be sensible' If you put curls as your first lift in that routine+ you are 7ust

asking for trouble since strained biceps are going to compromise some of your other core lifts'

ust be mindful that at first+ you may ha"e to e5periment a bit with the order of your lifts'

Supersets or things along those lines are not something I would recommend but it is up to

your discretion whether you want to do something like that'

Rest periods? This isn-t terribly important either' Rest long enough to regain your

strength for the ne5t set' In the /9s+ this will likely be 0%)=% seconds' In the late 9s+ you may

ha"e to rest up to fi"e minutes between sets of hea"y s,uats+ 7ust to catch your breath'

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Again+ be sensible about it' Resting /9 minutes between sets during the /9s is a pretty poor

idea' 2uring the lighter weights+ you do want a bit of fatigue accumulation during the sets+ so

e5tending rest periods is not the best thing to do' 2uring the hea"ier end of the cycle+ if you

do not get enough rest between sets+ you will not be able to complete all your reps'

Rep speeds? The tempo of your reps isn-t going to make or break your cycle' In

general+ you want the eccentric to be a bit slower than the concentric+ the concentric a bit

faster than the eccentric' But you must be in control of the bar at all times' 2on-t let gra"ity

be in control of it' #b"iously reps during the 9s will be slower than during the /9s+ that-s 7ust

the nature of how things work' If you desire+ you can slow the reps down a bit during the

lighter portion of your cycle but you ne"er want to cross the line into (superslow* style training'

Some people do like to consciously slow down reps during the lighter loads of an HST cycle

so that it is more challenging to lift' Howe"er+ keep in mind that how challenging a workout

feels to you means little+ what is important is the effect on your muscles' 6our muscles do not

care how challenging a workout is+ all they know is contracting or not contracting'

2o I ha"e to S2 if I am still gaining strength in the last weeks of a cycle? This is a

good ,uestion' Remember+ the purpose of S2 is to restore growth potential after gains ha"e

stalled' If you are still making gains at the end of your cycle+ feel free to draw the cycle out as

long as possible' I-"e had cycles last /$ to /9 weeks before' #nce you progress beyond

your old 9R1s in week D and


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Remember+ the goal of S2 is to stay ahead of RB+ if you are not stalling then you are still

ahead of RB and thus no need to S2' This doesn-t mean that you should ne"er S2' 6ou

will always e"entually stall out and need an S2' 8urthermore+ if you are getting sick of

working out and growing discouraged+ that is a good time to take an S2' Sometimes I take a

week off from lifting 7ust to focus more on the other things in life and renew my moti"ation forthe gym when I return' So you will S2 e"entually+ 7ust don-t feel like you must do it e"ery eight

weeks without fail if you are still making progress'

Spreadsheets are your friend' @earn to use a spreadsheet program to organi&e your

routine' #r download a spreadsheet someone else has already made' It will help you

immensely' There are se"eral spreadsheets a"ailable on the HST forums and many of the

forum members ha"e spreadsheets of their own that they would be willing to share if you ask'

.et a notebook or something similar in order to log your workouts' 6ou want to log

e"erything' Always go into the gym each day knowing what you are going to be lifting' And

after you lift it+ make a note of how much effort you had to e5ert in order to lift it' This will help

you 7udge inade,uacies in diet+ sleep+ etc and help you ad7ust from there'

Warmups? This is a matter of great contention amongst newcomers' What should I be

doing to warmup? Well beyond the ob"ious of actually increasing the temperature of your

body and getting the blood circulating+ which you can easily accomplish through a few

minutes of light treadmill work or some light calisthenics paired with some dynamic stretches+

you also want to warm up the indi"idual muscle groups for the loads they will be lifting' 6our

warmups do not need to comprise the ma7ority of your workout' Warmups are something that

will likely need to be personali&ed by yourself o"er time to whate"er works best for you+ but I

will go ahead and co"er a general rule of thumb for warming up anyway'

6ou don-t need to e"en do warmup sets at all during the /9s as the loads are light

enough that it is not necessary' 2uring the /%s+ start with a load that is D% of your working

weight for that day and do a set of 9 with that load' That-s all you really need during the /%s'

#nce a muscle is warmed up+ you don-t need to do warmups for other lifts that use that same

muscle unless you feel the need to' 2uring the 9s+ as a general rule+ you should do a set of 9

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reps with 9% of your working load+ followed by a set of 0 with D% of the working load' At

this point+ if you do not feel sufficiently warmed up+ do another set of 0 reps with


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CHAPTER %O&RSA13@ R#TI;S

3"


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;ow+ let-s talk about sample routines' "eryone has to start somewhere' "eryone

comes to HST and wants to tweak the crap out of it+ trying to (optimi&e* HST and somehow

optimi&e their gains' The truth is that the cookie cutter routine that Bryan built as the e5ample

for HST will bring you gains as long as you implement it properly'

8urthermore+ someone who is new to HST does not to be tweaking things to try to

optimi&e their routine' This needlessly complicates things and we know that HST is already

fairly complicated for newcomers to understand' I had do&ens of ,uestions through my first

few cycles of HST and most other people do as well' So it would behoo"e you to run at least

a few basic HST cycles before you start trying to mi5 things up'

Here is a sample routine that will work well for someone new to HST and co"ers all

your bases+ I would actually recommend beginner lifters and newcomers to HST to simply run

this routine for a couple cycles until you-"e got a good feel for how HST works'

S,uat $ sets K warmup

Romanian 2eadlift / set

Standing Calf Raises $ sets K warmup

8lat Bench $ sets K warmup

Weighted 2ips / setBent o"er Rows $ sets K warmup

Weighted Chins / set

1ilitary 3ress $ sets K warmup

BB Shrug / set

BB Curl / set

Tricep 5tensions / set

This is a basic routine but it is a lot of e5ercises+ some people on the HST forumswould probably tell you that it is too many to do' Howe"er+ keep in mind that you are actually

doing less than $% sets per workout' #"er the course of a week+ this is comparable to or

e"en less "olume than a traditional bodybuilder bro)split' The ma7ority of lifters+ aside from

those who are beyond the intermediate le"el+ will do well on this le"el of "olume'

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;ow let-s say you are beyond the beginner stage+ you are an intermediate lifter and

now you want to try some other lifts+ such as con"entional deadlifts and things along those

lines? 6ou could 7ust add those in as well but then your routine will definitely be getting too

bloated' So your ne5t option for a basic routine is to alternate' This is a good option for

intermediate lifters and something I recommend to anyone beyond the beginner stage'Alternating allows you to do more e5ercises without bloating your routine too badly' Basically+

you will create an A routine and a B routine+ you will do A routine one day+ then the B routine

the ne5t time you lift'

Here is an e5ample4

A Routine B Routine L of Sets

S,uat 2eadlift $ sets K warmup

Romanian 2eadlift @eg Curl / set

Standing Calf Raises Seated Calf Raise $ sets K warmup

8lat Bench Weighted 2ips $ sets K warmup

Bent o"er Rows Weighted Chins $ set K warmup

1ilitary 3ress 1ilitary 3ress $ sets K warmup

BB Curl 2B Curls / set

Close grip Bench Tricep 5tensions $ sets

This allows more "ariation in e5ercise selection without adding in more "olume' This is

a popular option for those who want to do both con"entional deadlifts and s,uats but cannot

handle them in the same workout' .enerally speaking+ for anyone abo"e a beginner strength

le"el+ doing s,uats and deadlifts in the same workout three times a week will be a bit too

ta5ing+ so splitting them up is a better option for most than only doing one or the other'

6ou still want to start out each lift at the same percentage of the rep ma5 that you

would use in the beginner routine' 6our cycle will last the standard amount of time+ but you

will ha"e only three increments per rep range instead of si5 like in the beginner routine'

Increments will be larger and progression will look a little different' This may seem confusing

but the handy chart that follows should show "isually how it would work' We will chart out two

3


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lifts that we are alternating with each other+ namely the s,uat and the deadlift' We will

assume your 9 R1 for s,uat is /=% kg and deadlift is $%% kg'

@ift Repetitions 1onday Wednesday 8riday

WJ / S,uat /9


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muscle groups up into separate days' An e5treme e5ample is the typical bodybuilder split

where you work one muscle group a day and go to the gym 9)= days a week' #b"iously this

sort of split is not a good idea+ as the muscles will not be e5posed to a chronic load but rather

acute bouts once a week' Why allow each muscle group to spend at most 0= hours a week

growing when they could be in an anabolic en"ironment almost the entire week long?

So when designing a split routine+ it is important to keep the fre,uency rule in mind'

The minimum you want to be hitting each muscle group is twice a week' That is the bare

minimum' Jeeping that in mind+ one good split is an upperMlower split where you would be

lifting four times a week' .enerally this is structured so you are doing your upper days on

1onday and Thursday+ your lower days on Tuesday and 8riday' #b"iously there is some play

there with which specific days you actually lift'

Here is an e5ample upperMlower split4

pper 2ay @ower 2ay L of Sets

Incline Bench S,uat $ sets K warmup

Bent o"er Rows Romanian 2eadlift $ sets K warmup

Weighted 2ips @eg 5tensions $ sets

Weighted Chins @eg Curls $ setsBB Shrugs Standing Calf Raises $ set K warmup

1ilitary 3ress Seated Calf Raises $ sets

BB Curl Hypere5tensions $ sets

Close grip Bench Weighted Crunches $ sets

The "olume listed is 7ust for e5ample purposes' #b"iously+ as detailed earlier+ you

would need to tailor "olume to yourself' $ sets for each would be a good starting point to

build from' The upperMlower split is probably the easiest to manage' There are others+

howe"er+ such as the pushMpull split+ where you do all your pushing e5ercises one day and all

the pulling the ne5t' This one is good in helping to ensure you ha"e a balance between

pushing and pulling e5ercises+ if that is something you struggle with'

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As you become more ad"anced+ you can start to incorporate per workout regulation of

"olume' This is a slippery slope as some lifters will use this as a cop out during workouts that

are especially intense' Howe"er+ for the seasoned lifter who knows their body+ regulating

"olume per workout based on your condition during that workout is more producti"e than

blindly sticking to a certain number of sets and reps' "eryone knows that you will becapable of better performance on days when you got plenty of sleep the night before+ ate a

carb hea"y meal for dinner or are particularly moti"ated' Con"ersely+ if you got inade,uate

sleep+ ate poorly prior to the workout+ performance will suffer'

The idea is to either aim for a range of sets+ for e5ample when you plan out your

routine+ rather than say that you will do $ sets for s,uats+ you might say /)0 sets' Then

depending on how you feel that day+ you either do / set or you do all 0+ or maybe you only do

$ sets' The other way to go would be clustering+ which is basically aiming for a rep total and

not using sets at all' If you clustered+ then you could 7ust set your rep target during the 9s as

/9)$9 reps total+ and once you get into that range+ 7ust stop when you feel necessary'

@et-s pause for a second and discuss clustering real ,uick+ as this is a common tactic

used by ad"anced lifters and the meaning to which may not be ob"ious to more no"ice lifters'

When you cluster+ as I said+ you will aim for a rep total instead of a certain number of sets and

reps' So if normally during the 9s+ you do 0 sets of 9s+ when you cluster+ you may 7ust aim for

/9 reps' What is the difference? Well+ when you cluster+ instead of stopping at 9 reps+ you

would go until you are a rep or two away from failure' Then you would rest 7ust as you

normally do between sets before resuming your reps'

In practice+ this will look similar to this' 6ou are doing s,uats with /%% kg' 6ou want to

do $% reps total+ so you begin s,uatting and you bang out si5 reps no problem' #n the

se"enth and eighth reps+ the bar is slowing down noticeably as you go up+ so you know that

you are getting fatigued and that it is time to take a rest' 6ou stop' After a minute of rest+ you

are ready to go again' This time you get fi"e reps fairly easy and on the si5th rep+ the bar is

slow going back up+ so you stop and rest again' ;e5t time+ you manage si5 reps again+ 7ust

barely making the si5th rep' 6ou-"e hit $% reps' In your log+ you notate it as follows4 (S,uat4

3&


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/%% kg 5


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6ou can do this through drop sets or simply high rep (burn sets* done after your hea"y

work is all finished' Is this totally necessary? ;o+ and for most beginners it is not

recommended' Those who are early in their training need to focus on building the foundation'

8or those who are more ad"anced+ adding in metabolic work is one easy way to try to

optimi&e your growth potential' In addition+ you will find that in the hea"ier parts of a cycle+your muscles look fuller due to the increased fluids in the muscles which definitely helps keep

you moti"ated to complete your cycle'

6ou can also combine metabolic work with clustering' The way this would work with

clustering is that you would do all your hea"y work in clusters as usual and when it comes

time to do the metabolic work+ either do standard sets with high reps+ or simply set a high rep

target' ither way is "iable' 6ou can e"en use a range' I-"e had success using 0%):9 reps

total as a target and clustering for metabolic work' 2oing something like @oad 5 /


38/73

is significantly higher+ so you ha"e to be "ery mindful to get sufficient sleep and enough

calories each day when doing a routine such as this' Also+ it is for ad"anced trainees only'

Something this intensi"e will likely be more than a beginner is conditioned to handle+ which

compromises gains in the long run' "en intermediates would be ad"ised to stick to

alternating routines for at least a while before incorporating more ad"anced techni,ues'

Speciali&ation cycles are another important thing to co"er here' 8or trainees who are

more ad"anced+ it may at some point become necessary to address imbalances in physi,ue'

"eryone has different strengths and weaknesses from a genetic standpoint' In my case+ I

ha"e good genetics for leg and back growth but my pecs and triceps are much harder to

encourage growth out of' In order to correct this+ I manipulate "olume in order to focus on the

problem areas'

8irst off+ maintaining si&e in an area is much easier than getting that muscle to grow'

So for a speciali&ation cycle where I want to focus on pecs and triceps while simply

maintaining legs and back+ I would need only the bare minimum "olume for legs and back'

Why not eliminate them completely? Well+ you don-t want to lose ground in those areas+ it is

a much better idea to instead add in 7ust enough "olume to maintain them' We can then add

more "olume to the trouble areas+ ending up with the same total "olume for the whole body as

we would get running a standard cycle'

Here is the e5ample4

S,uat / set K warmup

8lat Bench 0 sets K warmup

Weighted 2ips 0 sets K warmup

Weighted Chins / set

1ilitary 3ress $ sets K warmup

Close .rip Bench 0 sets K warmup

BB Curl / set

Tricep 5tensions $ sets

3(


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As you can see+ the total number of sets is about the same as a regular HST setup+ but

we ha"e only one working set for legs+ one for back and much more for chest and triceps'

;ow this is 7ust an e5ample' 8or a real speciali&ation cycle+ I would add in metabolic work as

well+ although only for the focus muscle groups'

1ore like this4

Reps Sets

S,uat 9 / set K warmup

8lat Bench 9 9 sets K warmup

Seated 2ips /9 $)0 sets

Weighted Chins 9 / set

1ilitary 3ress 9 $ sets K warmup

Close .rip Bench 9 0 sets K warmup

Tricep 5tensions /9 $)0 sets

BB Curl 9 / set

Clearly this is something that a more ad"anced trainee would ha"e to personali&e for

themsel"es+ which is why I-m not pro"iding an out of the bo5 routine for this portion' There

are too many different combinations of speciali&ation cycles one might need to run in order to

correct imbalances' ust keep in mind that you need to actually be at the point where there

really are imbalances to address before you should worry about speciali&ation'

3)


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CHAPTER %'(EATI;. 8#R SIO

4"


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1ost often when someone claims that HST did nothing for them+ they gained no

muscle+ no strength+ it e"entually comes out that they gained no weight during the cycle' To

those in the know+ it is immediately apparent what the problem is' How does one e5pect gain

muscle without gaining weight? And you cannot 7ust miraculously gain weight through

e5ercise alone' 6ou ha"e to eat for si&e if you want to grow larger'

Some "ery intelligent people o"er the years ha"e somehow not reali&ed this simple

fact' They may be knowledgeable about science or other fields of study+ but when it comes to

building muscle+ they suddenly e5pect the human body to "iolate the laws of physics by

creating matter and energy out of nothing' But as we all know+ matter and energy cannot be

created or destroyed+ only changed' So to add mass to the body+ you clearly need something

to build that mass out of' It-s really not that complicated once you understand the basics'

8irst of all+ the weight of a human body will ne"er change if the calories you are taking

in are not either greater or less than the amount of calories you are burning each day' So if

you want to grow+ you need to be taking in more calories than your body burns each day'

"ery organ in the body re,uires calories to operate+ so that takes up a big chunk of your

daily calorie re,uirements' Then there is maintenance of body mass+ such as body fat+

muscle+ etc' This is why basal metabolic rate is based on how much you weigh' There are a

lot of ways to figure out how many calories your body burns each day and we will co"er a

couple ways of figuring this out shortly'

2oes this mean that if you want to gain weight+ you should 7ust start sho"eling food

down all day long? Well+ that would certainly allow you to gain weight for sure' Howe"er+ you

would likely gain a lot of fat along with whate"er muscle you gained' The thing to remember

is that you are almost ne"er going to gain /%% muscle' The body doesn-t really like muscle

that much' 1uscle re,uires more energy to build and maintain than fat and you cannot store

a lot of calories in it' 8or the purposes of the human body+ it would much rather store those

calories for later in body fat

ssentially+ any weight you gain+ e"en if you ha"e the perfect routine+ is always going

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to be partially fat if you are training as a natural without any chemical assistance' We

minimi&e this fat gain by figuring out how much we need to grow and consuming only that

amount+ not going cra&y with the bulking' In"ariably+ when someone says they only got fat on

HST+ it comes to light that they were not counting calories and were eating hapha&ardly

instead of bulking up responsibly' 2on-t do that' nless you want to gain unnecessary fat'

It is worth noting that muscle is composed of protein+ not fat' 6ou cannot con"ert your

body fat into muscle' In some rare instances+ such as total newbies or obese indi"iduals+ it is

possible to gain some muscle while losing body fat when these people first start weight lifting+

but this is not body fat turning into muscle' It is simultaneous loss of fat and building of

muscle+ and it is not a common occurrence so for our purposes+ it is best to simply assume it

will not happen to you'

;ow+ since the muscles are composed of protein+ it is pretty clear that you need an

ade,uate intake of protein in order to build more muscle' 6our body is constantly building

protein and breaking it down' The goal of lifting weights is to increase protein synthesis to a

higher rate than protein breakdown and the goal of eating for si&e is to then pro"ide ade,uate

protein and calories to fuel that protein synthesis' Bryan wrote an entire article about this

years ago on the HST site but rather than simply refer you to that article+ we will co"er the

basics of eating for si&e right here'

#ne simple and ,uick way to figure out your basal metabolic rate or B1R! is to take

your weight in pounds and multiply it by // or /$' 8or women+ you want to stick to // as

women generally ha"e a lower metabolism than men' To con"ert your weight from kilograms

to pounds+ simply multiply by $'$'

5ample4 /%% kg 5 $'$ P $$% lbs $$% 5 /$ P $=:% B1R!

So an a"erage $$% lb lifter likely needs about $=:% calories to maintain body weight

But what about gaining weight? 8or weight gain+ instead of using // or /$+ multiply by /='

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5ample4 $$% lbs 5 /= P 09$% calories needed to gain weight!

It may not be immediately ob"ious+ but as you increase in weight+ your calorie

re,uirements will go up' So as you grow+ it is a good idea to re)figure your calorie

re,uirements periodically or else growth will e"entually slow and then stall'

Another formula which is perhaps more accurate is the following4 Weight in kilograms!

5 $: hours P B1R' So our /%% kg lifter will ha"e a B1R of $:%% calories' But because our

B1R does not take into account how acti"e an indi"idual is+ we must ad7ust'

Here are the acti"ity factors4

ery acti"e4 /': Q /'9 this would be someone who performs daily intense e5ercise

or works a "ery intensi"e 7ob+ such as construction

Acti"e4 /'0 Q /': for indi"iduals who e5ercise and work on their feet most of

the day

@ight Acti"e4 /'/ Q /'$ e5ercise three times a week with a desk 7ob or staying home

most of the day

Sedentary4 /'% no e5ercise and a desk 7ob or staying home most of the day

#ur /%% kg lifter who works on his feet all day and lifts 0): times a week picks /'0 as

his acti"ity factor' $:%% 5 /'0 P 0/$% calories a day to maintain his weight' ;ow+ the final

step is to add 9%% Q =%% calories to that total in order to figure out how much you need to eat

to gain weight+ so our /%% kg lifter will need 0=$% Q 0D$% calories a day to grow' 6es+ it is

"ery similar to the number we got using the first formula'

I mentioned the importance of ade,uate protein intake earlier+ but how much is

ade,uate? Well+ first let us discuss all the macro nutrients' 8or those new to managing diet+

there are four macro nutrients but only three of them are really rele"ant here' The four are

fat+ carbs+ protein and alcohol' 6ou should probably not be figuring alcohol into your diet'

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8at is by far the most calorie dense macro+ pro"iding E calories per gram' Carbs and

protein are roughly e,ual+ both supplying : calories per gram' Regardless of calorie content+

e"ery macro nutrient is important to your diet and you will need an appropriate intake of each

in order to gain consistently' We won-t be figuring the caloric impact of alcohol into our diet'

3rotein pro"ides the building blocks for building new muscle' If you are not already

aware of this+ proteins and amino acids+ which make up proteins+ are the dri"ers behind e"ery

single process in the body' "ery gene in actuality 7ust codes for a particular protein and that

protein causes something to happen in the body' It stands to reason that in the course of

lifting+ you will be turning o"er more protein than someone who does not e5ercise+ and since

your body already needs some protein for it-s daily processes+ you will need a higher intake

on top of that to maintain those processes while also building muscle'

A general rule of thumb is that you should get about / gram of protein per pound of

body weight+ or $'$ grams per kilogram of body weight' So our /%% kg lifter will be getting $$%

grams of protein a day+ or


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sipping a carb drink during the workout keeps strength le"els and e"ery higher+ especially for

those who lift earlier in the day' After the workout+ I consume another 9%)/%% grams of protein

without carbs' If you did not consume carbs during the workout+ you will want to get some

post)workout' Again+ I would try to keep the protein fat free after the workout'

6ou don-t need a ton of calories during the day leading up to the workout as protein

synthesis will likely be at baseline le"els prior to the workout+ so e5cessi"e calorie intake prior

to the workout risks some degree of e5tra fat gain' Jeeping the ma7ority of calories in the

post)workout time frame is smarter from a fat management standpoint' This doesn-t mean

star"e yourself all day until the workout+ 7ust don-t go cra&y packing in the calories all morning

when you don-t lift until 9 pm and ha"en-t lifted in :< hours+ as protein synthesis will be at

baseline and e5cess calories at this point risk e5cess fat gain'

What about your off days? Jeep in mind that studies show protein synthesis to spike

$: hours after a workout and return to baseline at roughly 0= hours after the workout' If you

lift at 9 pm on 1onday and don-t eat enough on Tuesday+ you are compromising gains' Time

and again+ there are guys eating big on workout day and eating small on the off day'

Someone eating big all day 1onday+ lifting at 9 pm+ then restricting calories on

Tuesday is actually doing it totally backwards' If he was really that scared to gain e5cess fat+

he would be much better off restricting calories all day 1onday until his workout+ then eating

big the rest of 1onday night and all through Tuesday until 9 pm comes around'

Howe"er+ one who is terrified of fat gain is going to compromise their gains in most

cases when they try to restrict calories in order to pre"ent fat gain' 8at gain can always be

cut back later' As long as you are responsible with your diet+ counting calories+ tracking your

diet+ there is no reason for you to gain e5cessi"e fat' Realistically+ one should only be aiming

for /)$ lbs of a"erage weight gain per week+ or roughly / kilogram' #b"iously weight gain will

fluctuate depending on hydration+ sodium le"els+ etc+ but if you take your a"erage weekly

weight gain and figure it o"er time+ it should not be e5ceeding $ lbs a week and should not be

less than / lb a week' 6ou can also check your waist measurement+ as long as it is not

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e5panding ,uickly+ then you shouldn-t worry too much' 8or the more #C2 folks+ skin fold

calipers are a good way to keep track of fat gains' A"oid the scales that claim to measure

bodyfat or e"en those handheld bodyfat measurement de"ices as they are notoriously

inaccurate for people who lift weights'

6ou will notice o"er the course of time that there are always different fads in dieting' A

long time back+ fats were e"il' Then carbs were the de"il responsible for America-s obesity

crisis' At one point eggs were terrible+ then suddenly eggs were good for you again'

Saturated and trans fats are going to kill you+ e5cept then we find that some degree of

saturated fat is necessary''' It is always the same story+ 7ust a different "illain' 6ou ha"e to

learn to ignore what mainstream tells you about diet and nutrition because typically they are ill

informed on the latest research' Rest assured+ while you are definitely going to be steadily

gaining a small layer of fat o"er the course of this program+ as long as you count your calories

and stick to the diet+ you will not gain massi"e amounts of fat in a short period regardless of

how much gluten is in your diet+ whether your carbs are high .I or low .I or anything like that'

How to track calories? There are plenty of free sites for tracking your calories' 1y

fa"orite is http4MMwww'myfitnesspal'com' This site makes tracking calories easy with it-s

e5tensi"e database of foods' ntering in your calories only takes maybe a total of /% minutes

a day and helps ensure you are getting the correct amount of calories and macros' 2on-t get

too hung up on being e5act' #ur /%% kg lifter abo"e needs 0=$% Q 0D$% calories a day to

grow' It is unlikely he will hit 0=$% e5actly each day' Allow yourself a small margin of error'

8or him+ the ideal range is 0=$% Q 0D$%+ so I would recommend that he 7ust keep his intake in

that range each day' Same thing with your macros' ust try to stay within 9)/% grams of your

target' 2on-t get all upset if you got


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back when I was /:% lbs' I ha"e a higher metabolism than normal and in addition I also ha"e

a "ery high acti"ity le"el which includes a career that has always kept me on my feet all day

long' So for me to bulk up+ I really ha"e to pack in the calories' When I was first starting out

and could not handle a lot of calories+ this shake really helped me out4

Weight .ainer 3rotein Shake Recipe4

$)0 cups of whole or $ milk

= scoops of whey isolate

cup of oli"e oil

6ou can also add in a couple table spoons of peanut butter+ a handful of fruit or oats if

you want' I ne"er did+ simply consumed it e5actly as abo"e' 6ou will need a blender in order

to mi5 this and it will be thick' 2epending on how e5actly you make it+ it ends up roughly

around /%%% calories and with /9% Q $%% grams of protein' I typically consumed it prior to

bedtime on workout days' The oli"e oil gi"es it a slightly funky taste but it-s not too bad and

you get used to it' Could be worse+ you could be drinking tuna shakes' A tuna shake is a

couple cans of tuna blended into apple 7uice' It tastes 7ust as bad as you are probably

imagining' And no+ it is not a magic shake that will pack mass on to you' It is tuna floating in

apple 7uice' 6ou are better off drinking my shake instead' At least it tastes better'

Tricks like this shake are useful for those who are not accustomed to eating a lot of

food+ after all+ it can be a struggle to get it all in' I-"e been there and I know how hard it is'

2on-t despair' Stick with the diet and o"er time+ your body will ad7ust and it will get easier to

take in more calories' I used to struggle to eat any meals larger than /%%% calories back

when I was /:% lbs' There were many nights here I was so stuffed that I had to 7ust lay in bed

and try not to puke' Sometimes I did puke simply from eating too much+ and of course then I

was de"astated about all those wasted calories getting flushed down the toilet' But now I can

wolf down 0%%% calorie meal that has a good macro nutrient breakdown all in one sitting' @ike

I said+ stick with it+ it will get easier'

4(


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;ow that you know how to figure out how many calories you need to gain weight+ make

sure you track your weight accurately' The best time to weigh yourself is in the morning after

you-"e used the bathroom' Always weigh yourself at the same time each day' Rather than

get hung up on daily weight fluctuations+ figure your a"erage weight for the week on Sunday'

Remember+ you want to ha"e an a"erage of / to $ lbs gained a week' Some weeks may be abit more+ some a bit less' This is for a "ariety of reasons' It could be you ate a sodium hea"y

meal yesterday or maybe you ha"e not been getting enough water' 1aybe you sweated a lot

more yesterday than usual+ or you ate a lot more starchy carbs than normal and are bloated'

"en a night where you drink a few beers can cause a drop in water weight the ne5t day'

2on-t get too upset if you are not gaining e5actly $ lbs a week' ust look for an a"erage

increase'

8or those slightly less #C2+ it is not necessary to actually weigh yourself e"ery single

day' 6ou could 7ust do it at the same time e"ery 1onday' 6ou would still want to make sure

you do it in the morning 7ust after waking and after going to the bathroom' I don-t recommend

getting all into taking measurements of e"ery body part each week as it is really tough to

7udge muscle growth from week to week' 6ou are much better off doing body part

measurements at the beginning and end of a cycle instead' And reali&e that you will likely

only be gaining less than an inch on each per cycle' That-s normal and fine' We aren-t

looking for massi"e gains within the conte5t of one cycle' We are looking for consistent

growth o"er time' That is what sets HST apart from other programs' When you are getting

ade,uate nutrition+ HST will keep you growing consistently o"er time whereas other programs

that do not follow all the principles typically ,uit deli"ering results after a period of time'

8or those who are especially concerned about fat gain+ you can also purchase skin fold

calipers and take caliper measurements from cycle to cycle to see where your fat gain is'

Remember though+ a typical cycle is =)< weeks' If you gained $ lbs a week during that time+

that-s /$ Q /= lbs gained o"er the course of a cycle' "en if you gained a 9%M9% ratio of fat to

muscle+ that is not going to raise your body fat percentage significantly+ as the added muscle

mass will somewhat offset the added fat mass' This is important as people doing HST and

lifting in general! tend to freak out when they think they-"e gained a little bit of fat and when

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they look in the mirror+ the fat gain is suddenly e5aggerated in their heads to where they think

they-"e suddenly become morbidly obese in 7ust weeks' 1any a good bulking cycle has been

sabotaged by someone who let feelings get in the way of their progress when in reality+ they

hadn-t really gained much fat at all' So keep this in mind'

What about supplements? Jeep in mind that most supplements are designed for one

purpose and one purpose only4 to separate you from your money' All the really effecti"e

(supplements* are outlawed in most first world countries' Howe"er+ there is one legal

supplement that has years of research behind it demonstrating it-s efficacy and safety' That

supplement is creatine monohydrate' It is one of the cheapest supplements on the market+ as

long as you don-t shell out e5tra money for fancy "ersions that don-t work any better or are

less effecti"e in some cases! as plain old monohydrate' 8i"e grams a day+ preferably taken

prior to your workout and first thing in the morning on non)workout days can gi"e you an e5tra

boost during your bulks' There is no need to cycle creatine' 1any studies ha"e been done

on year round continuous usage of creatine and found that there were no ill effects' Aside

from creatine+ a good multi"itamin will help' I also recommend people to supplement with

&inc+ magnesium and potassium'

;ow+ an e5ample meal plan for our /%% kg lifter'

Breakfast4 #melet = large egg whites+ $ whole large eggs+ $ slices of fat free

american cheese! plus two pieces of whole wheat toast and :

ounces of fat free greek yogurt'

Calories4 9%=

Carbs4 09 grams

8at4 /$ grams

3rotein4 =$ grams

3re)workout4 / scoop of whey isolate in / cup of skim milk

Calories4 /


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8at4 % grams

3rotein4 0: grams

Intra)workout4 $ scoops gatorade powder mi5ed in 0$ ounces ice cold water

Calories4 :


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8at4 /= grams

3rotein4 D/ grams

Totals calories4 0=


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especially while bulking+ but e"en when eating normally+ you will be digesting food all night

long while you sleep' 6our stomach is not empty when you wake+ thus there is no catabolism

while you sleep' 6our muscles are not wasting away'

@ast thing here+ if you do opt to use the site I linked to a few pages back for trackingcalories+ you can easily track your weight there as well' This is especially con"enient as it will

allow you to set goals+ track progress o"er time and see at a glance how you are doing with

regards to weight gain'

That concludes eating for si&e' And now that we-"e gotten all that out of the way and

you know how to bulk up+ we need to talk about dieting back down'''

&3


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CHAPTER S')HST A;2 CTTI;.

&4


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At some point during your ad"entures in gaining weight+ you will come to the point

where you ha"e started to get fat' If you didn-t start out too fat and you managed your

calories right+ you should be able to bulk for at least four to si5 months before it becomes

necessary to cut' Ideally+ for most bodybuilders+ once you get around /9 body fat is when

you want to end your bulk and start cutting'

Can you bulk indefinitely? Sure+ if you aren-t concerned with fat gain then go ahead

and keep bulking indefinitely' 6ou will get huge for sure+ but you will also ha"e an e"er

increasing layer of fat that will grow and grow' 8or those of us who prefer to stay leaner+ it will

e"entually become necessary to end our bulk and switch to a diet to trim away the e5tra fat

we-"e gained while we were focusing on building muscle' I will note that there is nothing

really wrong with bulking up to /


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during a cut than I do during a bulk' I prefer /'9 grams per lb of body weight+ or 0'0 grams per

kg of body weight In general+ getting more calories from protein helps retain more lean mass

than getting less protein' 8urther+ there the thermic effect from higher protein intake' 3rotein

takes a bit more energy to digest than carbs or fats to the point that some people ha"e

suggested that we should consider protein to ha"e slightly less than : calories per gram+ but Iwould strongly recommend that you don-t worry about that bit and 7ust keep counting it as :

calories per gram' 3rotein makes you feel fuller and helps blunt hunger as well' Howe"er+ for

those who ha"e a tough time getting in more protein+ / gram per lb of body weight is still fine

as well' The o"erall moral here is that on a cut+ more protein is generally better'

As for fats and carbs+ it really depends on which approach works best for you+ meaning

which one can you stick to better' Some people do better on lower carbs with high protein

and moderate fat' #thers do better keeping carbs higher and keeping fat lower' Jeep in

mind that success in a diet can also depend on what sort of carbs or fats you are taking in' A

spoon full of sugar won-t keep you feeling full for long whereas a cup of broccoli will occupy

more space in your stomach than an e,ui"alent amount of sugars'

8or our /%% kg lifter+ he will be getting 00% grams of protein a day+ which is /0$%

calories' This lea"es around /$%%)/0%% calories left for him to consume' If he opts to keep

fat at $9 of his calorie intake+ that is =0% calories or D% grams of fat' This lea"es him with

roughly /:% grams of carbs to eat each day' #r if he opted to go a lower carb route+ keeping

carbs at a ma5imum of /%% grams a day+ then he would ha"e to increase his fat intake to

about /%% grams a day' ither way will result in about the same amount of fat loss+ so the

deciding factor here is adherence' Higher carbs may allow him to feel fuller throughout the

day and be less likely to binge' Some people find they ha"e more blood sugar fluctuations on

higher carbs during a cut+ and so choose lower carbs'

#f course there are other options as well+ such as carb cycling' If our lifter decided to

carb cycle+ he may decide to eat /:% grams of carbs and D% grams of fat on workout days to

keep energy high for lifting and then reduce carbs to /%% grams and increase fat to /%%

grams on his off days' #r he may e"en dri"e carbs e"en lower on off days and slightly higher

&'


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on workout days' All these are possibilities'

There is also nutritional timing+ which we talked about in the pre"ious chapter'

.enerally+ you want to focus most of your calories in the $: hour window after the workout+

7ust like with bulking' So you may keep calorie intake rather minimal throughout the daybefore your workout+ then eat the ma7ority of your calories after your workout' 6ou can see

this approach taken to an e5treme if you look up (intermittent fasting'*

8or those who are still scratching their heads about dieting+ there are plenty of good

resources online to help you' There are also a lot of poor resources that will tell you crap that

isn-t e5actly accurate about dieting' @yle 1c2onald is one diet e5pert who is widely regarded

as a trusted source for information' He has se"eral books that can help one set up an

appropriate diet plan' A .uide to 8le5ible 2ieting is a particularly good one' 8or the more

#C2 bodybuilders+ the ltimate 2iet $'% or The Rapid 8at @oss Handbook are both solid

choices'

;ow we ha"e figured out how to lose weight+ which is all well and good' But how do

we ensure that at least the ma7ority of that weight lost is body fat? The answer is training

using HST' 6ou can use HST with no modifications and it will do a decent 7ob maintaining

lean mass during a cut+ howe"er there are some small changes you can make to optimi&e

your training for muscle retention while cutting body fat

8irst of all+ skip the /9s' The lighter weights of the /9s are not as effecti"e as the

hea"ier loads of th

Documents

Hypertrophy Specific Training Ebook