Im going to start week 3 tonight myself. I had a zig zag going in my calculated weights from 15 to 10. I wondered if I might want to decrease the increments and still zig zag, but not as much. I noticed you are hitting tough spots at the end of week 3 with your setup. Makes me want to keep a zig zag pattern going in my routine, but decrease the increment jumps so I can get to the weight I used at max 15 quicker than the 2nd week of 10s that my origional increment would have allowed. I really dont want to have to do rest pause untill late in the 4th week if at all.

Still nice work. 

Yea, thats what it is. I read on the HST site that its ok to do that. I need to read more on that site to make sure Im keeping the principles intact.

Mon 8/10/09  5:15 A.M.  (Had a birthday yesterday:  I'm 46 now!) 
HST (Hypertrophy Specific Training) program today
10 Rep Week 4 Day 1 

Warmup:  4 min Octane crosstrainer

(Warmup sets not recorded)

Back
Chins -28x10 (wide grip), -28x10 (narrow, neutral grip) (alright, strength plummets end of set, form suffers)
Cable Rows 180x10 (wide grip), 180x10 (narrow, reverse grip) (controlled form, nice)
 
Legs
Squats 175x7+3 (Pretty good!, down to level legs, rest pause, trunk lean controlled, wider than hips stance, toes/knees out, form pretty good, no knee pain!)
SLDLs 215x10, 215x10 (okay, some rest pauses in there, reaching 10rep max, these are not fun!)

Chest
Incline bench 150x8+2, 150x6+2+2 (controlled form, nice!!!, tough 2^nd set, but good)  PR!
Dips (elbows next to torso, trunk lean) +5x10( nice, went pretty deep!)

Traps
BB Shrugs 215x5+5 (mixed grip changed mid thru set)  (ROM is terrible!, weight too high, will reset lower next wk for 5 rep weeks) (bad form PR )

Shoulders
Standing OH Press 100x10 (whoa!,  now we're talkin'!)  PR!
Lateral raises (machine) 75x10 (good, want more weight!)
Rear delt (machine) 120x10 (good, want more weight!)

Biceps 
EZ bar curls  100x10 wide, 100x7+3 narrow (lots of trunk lean elbows fwd cheat end of sets, 2nd set on preacher, shoulders came off pad, weight too high, will reset lower for 5 rep weeks starting next Monday)

Triceps
Skullcrushers 90x10, 90x10 (Probably my decent form max for now, was difficult, dangerous?, wouldn't want this exercise to live up to its name!)  PR!

Calves
Calf raises on leg sled 520x10, 520x10 (very nice!, 10 sec squeeze end of set 1, 30 sec squeeze end of set 2 = BURN!)  PR

Abs
Cable crunches (back to stack) Pilates later will address this.

After w/o HIIT:  
No time.  Pilates later.   
 
Stretch:  Will do in Pilates.. 

Workout time:  1 hr. 15 min. 

Pilates:  Pretty good!  Knees weren't an issue.  Ab work was awesome.  Stretching helped a lot.  I'm still not quite as flexible as I was before I started hitting legs hard with weights.  Yoga on Tuesday should help too.
 
Comments:  This workout was a little bit of a letdown after Friday's incredible session.  But the good news is I seem to be on a slow and steady weight-gaining pace and I don't see too much of it coming on as fat.  Don't exactly know where muscle weight is but I notice improvement in anterior deltoids and hamstrings.  I think triceps too.  Perhaps traps a little.  Maybe back thickness and width.  I am so exhausted in the afternoons of these early morning w/o's.  An hour (or two!) nap is a beautiful thing!  Sleeping well with that entire body worked over feeling!  So training is hard enough and I'm figuring out how to get calories in, even if the diet isn't as healthy as it should be.  Knees are on the mend but I'm keeping my Fri. orthopedist appt.  Hoping to finnagle an MRI to get a look at what's going on in there.  Things look promising, and I'm having fun!  :)

Wed 8/12/09  5:15 A.M. 
HST (Hypertrophy Specific Training) program today
10 Rep Week 4 Day 2 

Warmup:  4 min Octane crosstrainer

(Warmup sets not recorded)

Back
Chins -22x10 (wide grip), -22x10 (narrow, reverse grip) (alright, strength plummets end of set, form suffers) PR, sort of! (BW-assist=200-22=178=PR)
Cable Rows 185x10 (wide grip), 185x10 (narrow, reverse grip) (controlled form, okay, wondering if machine rows w/chest pad wouldn't be better)
 
Legs
Squats 180x8+1+1 (Pretty good!, down to level legs, rest pause, trunk lean controlled, wider than hips stance, toes/knees out, form pretty good, no knee pain!)
SLDLs 220x10, 220x10 (okay, no rest pauses)

Chest
Incline bench 155x6+2+2, 155x4+2+3+1 (controlled form, some reps ony got to about 2 inches above chest)  PR!
Dips (elbows next to torso, trunk lean) +10x9+1( nice, went deeper)

Traps
DB Shrugs 90x5, 130x5, 150x10 (much better form and ROM than with the heavier weight BB shrugs, feel much better about these!)

Shoulders
Standing OH Press 105x8+2 (last reps had a little leg assist) PR!
Lateral raises (machine) 85x10 (good, end of set tough!)
Rear delt (machine) 130x10 (good, feelin' it now!)

Biceps 
EZ bar curls  105x10 wide, 105x5+5 wide again (a little trunk lean end of 1st set , 2nd set using narrow grip was undoable at 105 lb, so I did another wide grip set)

Triceps
Skullcrushers 95x10, 85x10 (First set at 95 lb was weak, only 1/2 way down, can't call that PR material, 2nd set dropped to 85 lb, much better form!)

Calves
Calf raises on leg sled 540x10, 540x10 (very nice!, 10 sec squeeze end of set 1, 30 sec squeeze end of set 2 = BURN!)  PR

Abs
Cable crunches (back to stack) No time! 

After w/o HIIT:  
No time.    
 
Stretch:  Will do at home, hopefully! 

Workout time:  1 hr. 40 min.  Lots of resting between sets going on!

Comments:  I'm really enjoying the squats and stiff-legged deadlifts.  They're not necessarily fun but they sure are effective!  The wider stance I'm using for the squat seems to be great at reducing stress on my knees for some reason.  It also keeps my trunk more upright.  When doing SLDLs today, I really felt it in my shoulders and upper back.  Awesome feeling!  My hamstrings (biceps femoris) and what I've learned are the semitendinosus and semimembranosus (also part of hamstrings?) are really developing thanks to the deadlifts!  Friday will be my last 10-rep workout.  Next Monday starts 5-rep sessions.  Yay!  ;)

Perrynaytor

How far do your dumbells go? Ours only go to 120 and I am already there on rows. I lose.

P,
   Pretty sure 130s.  My biggest gripe about the DBs at my Y is that I wish they went in 2.5 lb steps instead of 5, at least up to say 30 lb.  Up to 40 lb I think, my gym has 2 pairs of each.  Wish they would have gotten 1 pair each at every 2.5 lb.  This of course assumes they even make them in those odd weights.  Good workin' out!

Wow a doctor that recommended squatting? Sounds like you actually have a good one.

Your doctor actually knows what SLDLs are?!??! I wrote before somewhere on here that the trainers at my YMCA don't know what that is.

Mon 8/17/09  5:15 A.M. 

HST (Hypertrophy Specific Training) program today 
5 Rep Week 5 Day 1  (First day of 5 reps) 

Warmup:  6 min treadmill (knees okay) 

Back Chins -22x5 (wide grip), -22x5 (narrow, reverse grip) (slight headache, I'm just no good at these)
Cable Rows 197x5 (wide grip), 197x5 (narrow, reverse grip) (controlled form, okay)
 
Legs Squats 190x5 (Pretty good, level quads, slight pressure in knees)
SLDLs 230x5, 230x5 (good) PR!

Chest Incline bench 145x5, 145x5 (controlled form) 
Dips (elbows next to torso, trunk lean) +5x5 ( nice, went deeper)

Traps DB Shrugs 150x5 (good)

Shoulders Standing OH Press 95x5 (easy)
Lateral raises (machine) 85x5 (good)
Rear delt (machine) 155x5 (okay, big jump in weight to reach PR by HST cycle end)

Biceps  EZ bar curls  95x5 wide, 95x5 narrow (good form, easy)

Triceps Skullcrushers 75x5, 75x5 (good)

Calves Calf raises on leg sled 590x5, 590x5 (good, 10 sec squeeze burn end of set 1; 30 sec end of 2)  PR!

Abs Cable crunches (Will do lots of abs in Pilates)

Stretch:  Will do in Pilates! 

Workout time:  1 hr. 10 min.

Pilates (11:00):  Very nice workout!
 
NMoney's DBB challenge:  1/2 BW benches and rows longest sets w/3 min rest between exercises
105 lb
bench: 28 reps
rows: 17 reps
I'll try to see if I can beat this another day.
 
After Pilates HIIT:   14 min Octance crosstrainer
Warmup:  2min Level (L) 5
12 intervals of 60 sec:
   High intensity (30 sec) L 11 to 20 in steps
   Reg intensity (30 sec) L 6 to 15 in steps
Cooldown:  2min L7 then L3
This was an awesome HIIT.  Was dripping sweat!  Very nice!     
 

Comments:  This was a pretty nice, short, workout.  Will be nice to bump weights up over the next 5 w/o's.  Today was a little easy on several of the exercises.

Good job J!

Workin' hard man. :)

Red PittBull

Good job J!

Workin' hard man. :)

Thanks man!  :)