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Originally Posted by Bob Smith The goal is not to hit failure, it is to adequately stimulate the muscle on a frequent basis. True, you are more likely to hit failure on the 6th day of each micro-cycle, but thats not the goal. If you do two leg movements, squat and leg press, then yes, the last Wed and Friday would be at your predetermined RM. IMO, Id stick with just squats, and any other major compound movement.
As for the squat example you gave, you are using enough weight to go with 6 increments instead of 3. So start at 315 and go up 10 pounds each workout till you hit 365 on that final Friday. |
Another thing I have found effective in HST is to alternate exercises. I see Bryan frequently recommends this as well. So instead of doing one exercise for example in a 2 week block, you can do 2 different exercises and alternate them. This will also keep you from starting at a too low of weight and the weight jumps would be only 3 times for that exercise. For example on using Bobs squat example. Instead of starting at 315, you can start at 335 and just add 10 pounds when you do the squat. and you alternate this with say for example, leg press, and you increase that weight 10lbs each time you workout that exercise. So, you are still progressively adding weight still, it is that you are not starting at a too low of a weight, that something you feel like it is hardly causing microdamage. Also, this will help you from overcoming overuse injuries by not doing the same exercise over and over again. When I first started HST, I kept getting injured. First was my bicep, then later it was my shoulder. By alternating the exercise, I still get the load on the same muscle, but it is from a different stress point, where overuse injuries takes longer to accumulate. I hope all this makes sense. Good luck.