HSS-100 Program: A Few Questions!

Bigger Stronger Leaner Competitive Bodybuilding
1

HSS-100: http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1031781

I’ve been looking for a new routine for a while now and didn’t just want to settle for any old routine, considering there’s thousands of them out there. I came across HSS-100 & immediately thought “this is the one for me”. I have a couple of questions though, and would be extremely greatful if anybody could answer them for me:

  • In the article shown above about HSS-100 it gives an example of a training split at the bottom, which suggests training 5 days a week. I was just wondering if there was any way to split it into 3 days a week instead of 5?

I mean does it HAVE to be 5 days a week, or can it be 3? If it CAN be 3, would you mind letting me know how it would look? E.g. maybe Back/Biceps, Chest/Triceps, Legs/Shoulders? Something like that?

  • For the last 4 weeks it suggests mainly working on strength (Max Strength Phase). I am a little concerned that working mainly on strength for 4 weeks will cause me to lose muscle mass & be in a catabolic state. Is there any reason to worry?

  • And last of all, for the “special exercise” there are a lot of them listed a person could use. Do I HAVE to pick one of them for the special exercise? If I was just to pick another normal exercise, I take it that it wouldn’t be considered a “special” exercise & therefore would defeat the whole object? It’s just that I’ve never heard of some of the “special” exercises listed and am a little sceptical, as I’m sure you can appreciate.

Thanks a lot for looking and I’ll await some responses.

2

[quote]BiggerV wrote:
HSS-100: http://www.T-Nation.com/readTopic.do?id=1031781

I’ve been looking for a new routine for a while now and didn’t just want to settle for any old routine, considering there’s thousands of them out there. I came across HSS-100 & immediately thought “this is the one for me”. I have a couple of questions though, and would be extremely greatful if anybody could answer them for me:

  • In the article shown above about HSS-100 it gives an example of a training split at the bottom, which suggests training 5 days a week. I was just wondering if there was any way to split it into 3 days a week instead of 5?

I mean does it HAVE to be 5 days a week, or can it be 3? If it CAN be 3, would you mind letting me know how it would look? E.g. maybe Back/Biceps, Chest/Triceps, Legs/Shoulders? Something like that?

  • For the last 4 weeks it suggests mainly working on strength (Max Strength Phase). I am a little concerned that working mainly on strength for 4 weeks will cause me to lose muscle mass & be in a catabolic state. Is there any reason to worry?

  • And last of all, for the “special exercise” there are a lot of them listed a person could use. Do I HAVE to pick one of them for the special exercise? If I was just to pick another normal exercise, I take it that it wouldn’t be considered a “special” exercise & therefore would defeat the whole object? It’s just that I’ve never heard of some of the “special” exercises listed and am a little sceptical, as I’m sure you can appreciate.

Thanks a lot for looking and I’ll await some responses.[/quote]

  1. I think 3 day split would be fine, assuming you want to do it that way because that’s all you have time for. The one you posted is probably the one I would suggest as well, in that order.

  2. I don’t see how you could lose muscle mass doing the strength phase, so I wouldn’t worry about that.

  3. If you really don’t want to do any of the special exercises then I’m sure a standard one would suffice but don’t be skeptical, I’m all about trying new things in the gym I’m sure once you try it you’ll feel the muscle working in a way you are not used to and will really want to keep doing it.

3

It is very obvious you are a beginner, and this program is not for you. Here are a couple of my thoughts on it.

-Skip the program until you have time to commit to it fully. There are dozens of programs on here that are adapted to 3 days a week, this one is not and cannot be.

-You are worried that the strength section will cause muscle loss…

-When an author writes a program and puts an exercise in it, he does so for a reason. You, as a rank novice it sounds like, do not have the experience to go subbing stuff out for the special exercises.

-Do the program as written or dont do it at all. There is no way to get the 5 day split down to a 3 day split without major sacrifices.

4

I can see how you’d assume I was a beginner purely from the “lose muscle mass in strength phase” comment, but I can assure you I know a hell of a lot more than you think. Here’s my stats:

Age - 21
Height - 5,10"
Weight - 245lbs
Bodyfat - 13/14%
Experience - 6 Years
Insulin Dependent Diabetic
AAS Use - Just come off a 10 week cycle of Test-E. Am now in the 2 week waiting period since my last shot before starting my 21 days of PCT. This was my first ever experience with AAS.

I have tried many routines since starting out, but to be honest I’ve never focused on strength alone as that’s not what I’m aiming for, so I’m sure you can appreciate how I’d be sceptical about the 4 week Strength Phase of the program.

Looking back over it now I can see how what I asked may seem stupid, but when starting a new routine, I try to get all my worries off my chest beforehand no matter how big or small. I can easily see how the comment about the strength phase made me out to be new to the whole iron game, but please don’t judge me on that comment alone or by my post count.

I’ve been researching bodybuilding for years now and it’s basically my life, although like I said I’ve never trained purely for strength so I was just a little concerned, but now looking back over it I can safely say I was stupid to make such as assumption & feel fine with the Strength Phase of the program now.

Anyway, hopefully this clears up any assumptions of me being a complete newbie/beginner. I’m not saying I’m a know-it-all, an expert or anything like that, I’m just saying that I’m far from a beginner :slight_smile:

But if after this you still have reason to believe I’m a beginner, then I’ve said all I can say, and there’s nothing much more I can do about it.

I’m not lying about my stats or anything like that, there would be no reason to online as most likely I’ll never see you in real life anyway, so if I was going to lie I’d say I was around 280 @ 8% bodyfat, something like that. Anyway, like I said, if you still feel I’m a beginner then that’s up to you, I can’t change the way you feel, but I know myself I’m not a beginner at all & to be honest I’ve worked too damn hard for 6 straight years for people to think of me as a beginner.

5

I didnt judge you based on that comment alone… But it factored in. Just because you have been lifting for 6 years doesnt mean you are not a beginner in some respects, that goes for myself as well.

-As far as the “strength phase” goes we are talking about 4 weeks here. Even if you totally stopped training all together and just layed in bed and didnt eat you wouldnt lose that much muscle.

-The fact that you are trying to condense a 5 day split into a 3 day split was another red flag… That just sounds like someone who either doesnt know what they are doing, or doesnt have the time to commit to this particular program.

Re-reading my post I realize I came off a little harsh. The main point I was actually trying to make was that it really sounds like this is not the program for you right now, you either only have 3 days a week to train or you desire a little more frequency by trying to move the days together and then get back to the body part again sooner.

We are all here for a common reason, I was just trying to help you move in the right direction. I guess, to gather a bit more info, a better post would have been:

Why are you trying to condense this into a 3 day split?

6

That’s no worries at all man, I can see where you’re coming from. I admit I still have a HELL of a lot to learn but I just don’t consider myself a complete beginner is all.

The reason I’m trying to condense it into a 3 days split is because I’ve done 5 days a week in the past and mentally I just couldn’t stay motivated to stick at it, so I reverted back to a 3 day a week program.

3x a week programs have given me the best gains so far in all the time I’ve been training because I’ve actually been able to stick at it mentally and be motivated to go. “Consistency is the key” and all that.

If you feel this routine just CAN’T be toned down to a 3x a week program instead of 5x a week then fair enough, I will have to look around for something else. I usually just take important training principles & design my own routine, which has been working well so far.

It’s just that I felt I needed to try something new & see what others were doing etc, so I opted for the HSS-100 routine as it seemed to be one of the best I’ve come across whilst looking around.

Anyway, if you feel this just can’t be made into a 3x a week program, do you have any suggestions on a decent 3x a week program such as the HSS-100 one? Like I said, I can make my own 3x a week program easily, it’s just that I wanted to look around and see what else was out there to see if it would benefit me better.

Thanks.

7

You can try posting something like this in the Thib Zone under Authors Locker Room, but with that particular program I just cant see how you would reasonably condense it. It could be done, but it seems to me that there are programs out there already 3 days a week. I dont know if a body part split is set up for success with 3 days a week. You are talking about 16-20 sets per workout already on the 5 day split, and making it 3x/week would almost double that.

You may want to try something like EDT or a Waterbury program if you are trying to stick to 3x/week is all I’m saying.

8

I’ve actually decided to give it a shot and see how things go, even if I have to do 5x a week. Do you feel though, that I could put Hams & Quads together & make it 4x a week instead of 5 or would that still not work?

Thanks.

9

[quote]BiggerV wrote:

  • In the article shown above about HSS-100 it gives an example of a training split at the bottom, which suggests training 5 days a week. I was just wondering if there was any way to split it into 3 days a week instead of 5?
    [/quote]

NO! The split is NOT a suggestion. If you can´t do it 5 days a week, don´t do it. You CANNOT do two HSS muscle groups in one session (except for arms) because the workouts would be too long and too stressful to progress optimally.

[quote]BiggerV wrote:
I mean does it HAVE to be 5 days a week, or can it be 3? If it CAN be 3, would you mind letting me know how it would look? E.g. maybe Back/Biceps, Chest/Triceps, Legs/Shoulders? Something like that?[/quote]

It HAS to be 5, UNLESS you decide not to train certain muscle groups.

You could do a truncated HSS in which you only train the main muscle groups (chest, back, lower body)… but even then you could not perform a full HSS for quads AND hams.

You COULD do:

DAY 1: CHEST HSS/ add 3-5 regular sets of triceps work NO MORE

DAY 2: QUaDS HSS / add 4-6 regular sets for hams

DAY 3: BACK HSS / add 3-5 regular sets for biceps NO MORE

That´s the ONLY way to make a 3 days a week program work using the HSS principles.

[quote]BiggerV wrote:

  • For the last 4 weeks it suggests mainly working on strength (Max Strength Phase). I am a little concerned that working mainly on strength for 4 weeks will cause me to lose muscle mass & be in a catabolic state. Is there any reason to worry? [/quote]

That´s honestly one of the dumbbest things I´ve ever read.

[quote]BiggerV wrote:

  • And last of all, for the “special exercise” there are a lot of them listed a person could use. Do I HAVE to pick one of them for the special exercise?

If I was just to pick another normal exercise, I take it that it wouldn’t be considered a “special” exercise & therefore would defeat the whole object? It’s just that I’ve never heard of some of the “special” exercises listed and am a little sceptical, as I’m sure you can appreciate.

Thanks a lot for looking and I’ll await some responses. [/quote]

I´ve worked with thousands of clients, these exercises were developped after years of tinkering. They work.

10

[quote]BiggerV wrote:
I’ve actually decided to give it a shot and see how things go, even if I have to do 5x a week. Do you feel though, that I could put Hams & Quads together & make it 4x a week instead of 5 or would that still not work?

Thanks.[/quote]

NO NO NO!!!

Actually doing HSS for quads and hams on the same day is the work thing you can do on this program. Most lower body exercises, the good ones, will involve both the quads and hams to some degree. Doing both HSS style in the same workout would be overkill.

Why do you guys always try to bastardize a program? They are designed a certain way for good reasons!

11

What he said…

12

CT, I have been reading as much of your information as I can get my hands on over the past few days. I am looking for as much leg growth as I can possibly get and it seems that your HSS-100 workout programs are ideal.

I plan to use both Quads and Hams days (on a 5 day split). My problem is that I want to develop the entire quad and in one of your articles you mention that the reason yours appear to be so developed is that ALL of the different muscles are targeted. To get my entire quad (including my adductors) would an HSS-100 program like this be adequate?

H-Front Squats (maybe with a narrower stance to target lateralis)
S-Leg Press/Leg Extensions (maybe with toe rotation for medialus)
S-Sissy Squat
100-?

Should I add in the adductor machine as another “special” lift?
Also, what would be a good exercise for the 100 set?

Help from anyone is appreciated…

13

[quote]Christian Thibaudeau wrote:
BiggerV wrote:
I’ve actually decided to give it a shot and see how things go, even if I have to do 5x a week. Do you feel though, that I could put Hams & Quads together & make it 4x a week instead of 5 or would that still not work?

Thanks.

NO NO NO!!!

Actually doing HSS for quads and hams on the same day is the work thing you can do on this program. Most lower body exercises, the good ones, will involve both the quads and hams to some degree. Doing both HSS style in the same workout would be overkill.

Why do you guys always try to bastardize a program? They are designed a certain way for good reasons![/quote]

Coach

A question, if I may… Did you ever write up a leg specialization article? I’ve tried and tried to find it, but have never managed.

G