Lets discuss HST

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

I know a lot of folks here are on dat dere PHAT routine

But whats the opinion on HST

Its a different approach... basically a full body routine 3 days a week, w/like 1-2 sets for each body part each trip

Here is a typical HST routine

Vs a regular routine

The big claims are

- anything beyond 2 sets on a body part is just to burn calories (not sure I believe that)

- the body can recover + stops growing after 2 days (I do somewhat believe that)

I'm sticking to my routine as I havent even given it a chance to disappoint me, but I think wifey might be due for a switch up and this looks like a good place to start. Very simple routine

 

[Spliff]

HST been around for over a decade. Bryan Hayock releasing his HST book "in a couple weeks" has been a running joke along with the release of Martin's Leangains book.

HST is gene expression at its core: constant stimulus for protein synthesis while eliminating factors that would obstruct it (neural fatigue, glycogen depletion, injury, etc). It's not necessarily a set program, but a set of principles that can be applied to a program.

The biggest debate I've seen has to do with the stimulus per workout for more advanced lifters. Is one squat set of heavy 8s enough to promote a growth response? More often than not the answer is no, which is where specialized routines come into play and periodization is your best friend.

 

[TLR Is Mental Poison]

It seems like damn near any sustained "heavy" lifting will work for noobs, but then like you said eventually you need either more volume or more focused efforts

Still though for a purely aesthetic lifter (i.e. many chicks) I think this is a really good program to start with

W/a circuit and switching shyt around it can be pretty quick too

 

[Spliff]

Yea, it is a good program. I was thinking of trying out a 2 month stint on it somewhere down the line. We'll see. I'd make some substitutions (RDL instead of SLDL) but overall its solid.

I would go in another direction for raw beginners though. One set per exercise doesn't do much for technique.

I know you've been workin out wit wifey for some time tho, give it a try.

 

[nalej]

I count 22 sets without warmup sets. So after that you're damn near putting in over 30 sets at 8 different stations. That seems like such a hassle besides the fact that I don't feel you're going to get enough work off just 2 sets. I'm open to a new routine but probably won't do this one.

 

[Spliff]

I count 22 sets without warmup sets. So after that you're damn near putting in over 30 sets at 8 different stations. That seems like such a hassle besides the fact that I don't feel you're going to get enough work off just 2 sets. I'm open to a new routine but probably won't do this one.

You'd only need to warmup for squat, bench, and rows.

The rep scheme in the example (10) is usually accompanied by a ~2min rest, but that applies to multi-set workouts so its not much of a factor here. You'll be out in probably an hour once you've got the groove of things. Superset antagonistic muscles for the multi-set lifts if you need.

But yea, your worries is probably the main critique about this philosophy. It applies to those transitioning up from intermediate level lifting. For everyone else, I'd imagine to really get an effect you'd have make sure the intensity stays up where you only have 1-2 reps left in the tank.