I thought I’d resurrect this thread since with the new year approaching I imagine some people will be making resolutions. wink

Mine came early when I got sick about 2 months ago and lost 15lbs. I decided that since I’m getting up there in the years I had better try to put some muscle on while I still can.

15 years ago I use to powerlift but I figured I should take it easy to start slow so I opted for a program I found called “Hypertophy-Specific Training” (HST) which seems to be just a more programmed way of progressive loading.

http://thinkmuscle.com/

The thing I like the most about doing this is that rather than blasting each body part one sometimes twice a week and sitting on my backside most days I can split up my routine and do a full body workout 5-6 days a week if I want. Most people do 3 days a week and do an AM/PM split if they want 6 workouts a week but I prefer to exercise every day.

Some things I’ve noticed:

I can do a full body workout 5-6 days a week w/o feeling over-trained by spreading out the sets I would normally do on one day for each body part over a whole week.

Though I originally had some DOMS it faded quickly being replaced by only a general tightness and feeling that I had worked my body.

I can do a full body workout in under 30 minutes if I superset antagonistic exercises. Though I have all my own equipment at home so I don’t have to wait for anything at the gym.

I can get the same feeling of effort/tiredness in 30 minutes of weights that would have taken me 3 hours of running.

My sleeping has gone from 5-6 hours a night to 8-10.

Dead lifting almost immediately stopped my sciatica. Now not only can I bend over w/o pain I can pick things up w/o supporting my back.

I realized I should have been eating a lot more back when I was powerlifting.

Broccoli, Cottage Cheese, Oatmeal, Chocolate Whey Protein Powder, Liquid Egg White, Walnut, Olive Oil, Coco, and Cinnamon shakes don’t taste nearly as bad as they sound. wink

I can gain 1lb a week with a reasonable proportion of that going to muscle. Most people don’t know I’ve stopped running and started lifting but have several have already commented that I look like I’m getting bigger (despite having lost the weight) but not gaining any weight. Another customer at a health-food store miss-overestimated my weight at 175lbs and was shocked when I told him I was only 145lbs.

I will probably try this program for another cycle when I’m done with this one and then switch to a strength program, but I’ll see how it goes.

Get motivated to train now if you’re not and good luck with your continuing programs and any new programs for the new year.

Cheers,
Dean


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