Hypertrophy Specific Training (HST)

One of the best thought out programs of all time!

Bryan Haycock

I present to you an article about the workout that I have reaped the most results on. The facts, opinions, and method of communication are only my rendition of the creator of the HST principle, Bryan Haycock. No, I agree with all the information. However, this man is one of the first to break the barriers of perceived myths and half-truths, so he should be treated with respect. Many other coaches are also based on his principles.

History of HST

Hypertrophy-Specific Training originated from research into the stimulatory mechanisms for muscle cell hypertrophy. HST is based on physiological principles first discovered in laboratories. The experiments focused on methods and mechanisms of loading muscles to induce hypertrophy. Of course, merely translating the applications of these investigations into training (reps, sets, and plan) would be a mistake. Let's see how science continues to discover the exact mechanisms of muscle hypertrophy, and how I've eliminated the errors.

Before I knew how muscles really grow, I read bodybuilding magazines and bought various books, only unfortunately with this knowledge I didn't achieve even a fraction of the volumes I admired in the magazines. After all this, I came to the conclusion that the process of muscle growth cannot be detected with the naked eye and not everything can be read from the mentioned literature.

For ten years I trained according to popular training methods. I made a lot of progress in the beginning, but as time went on, the progress seen in the mirror became less and less and last but not least, I had no one to advise me. But I continued to explore, building muscle on.

When I started college and then graduated, I came across information about the methods that led to the beginnings of my new form. My further interest in muscle growth was in academia, like a new unrecognized dimension. As I began to study the research, I began to discover that the traditional routines as I knew them were not based on physiological principles at all.

It was a fantastic discovery inspired by the European view of training. On a microscopic level, researchers were talking about myo-genetic cell strains, growth factor, mechanical loading, synergistic ablation, blurred z-lines, MAPk/ERK and many other concepts that are, to the naked eye, invisible to the general population because common training routines overlook many of these facts.

The principles on which HST is built!

HST Principles

1) Mechanical Load

Mechanical loading is necessary for muscle hypertrophy. Unless this mechanism is limited by MAPk/ERK factors, satellite cells, growth factor, calcium, and many other commonly known variables, hypertrophy is induced. It is incorrect to say " We don't know how muscle grows in relation to training." The main point of HST is not to discuss it, but to present the conclusions from research on how hypertrophy works. If your goal is hypertrophy, then HST has become the obvious summary.

2) Rapid vs. sustained stimulation

To meet the requirements that will result in apparent hypertrophy, steady stimulation must be achieved. To achieve this, a sufficient frequency of stimulation must be chosen to create an environment as opposed to seemingly random and acute fluctuations on the mechanical sensitivity of the muscle fibers. If you let a muscle part rest for an entire week since your last workout, you are completely ignoring the facts for increased proteosynthesis, prostaglandin levels, IGF-1 and mRMA levels. All of these values return to normal after 36 hours. In this case, you stay in growth for two days and the next half of the week you are only in a semi-anabolic state. In this case, scientific studies show us that it is best to load the muscle after 48 hours, or the greatest muscle growth activity lasts only two days, if you let the muscle rest longer you will only induce nitrogen retention instead of increasing it.

3) Progressive loading

Over time, muscle fibers date, or become stronger, while also becoming resistant to damage from mechanical loading. This adaptation (resistance to stimulus) can occur in 48 hours (repetitive burst effect, rapid training effect). As this happens, hypertrophy stops, although neural and metabolic adaptation may continue. Conversely, the basis for hypertrophy for strength development is the natural neuromuscular system. The increase in strength from weight-bearing exercises will, attributed to normal neural adaptation, contain altered, enhanced regularity, involving an enhanced degree of encoding, motor unit synchronization, reflex amplification, primary movement of antagonistic activities, and primary movement of atomistic activities. Thus, beyond incremental changes in increments of filament numbers (hypertrophy), strength is mostly the result of activating motor units.

4) Strategic Deconditioning (Strategic Deconditioning )

At this point, it is necessary to either, increase the load (progressive loading), or decrease the degree of loading (strategic deconditioning). Muscles are sensitive not only to absolute loading, but also to load changes both upward and downward. The point is that you get a hypertrophic effect from increasing the weight relative to the previous one. Because you are still loading the body with strength, basic exercises, it is recommended that you lower the strength level temporarily and then continue. After all, the gains in strength are not infinite. That's the whole strategy.

HST Methods

Using lactic acid as a stimulus to prepare the tendons and conditioningHSTincorporates a few other things like higher repetition counts (due to lactate), to prepare the muscles and tendons for future heavy loads.
This is for routine maintenance i.e. "regular maintenance". Without this preparation you risk chronic injury and pain. Metabolically demanding repetitions help the recovery of strained tendons.

Combined exercises
HST also recommends sticking to a combination of exercises for all muscles to maximize the effects of loading.

Progressive regulation of the number of repetitions in the sense of progressive loading
HST uses blocks with the same number of repetitions for two weeks. Why? It has nothing to do with adaptation. It's the simplest way to accommodate ever increasing loads, of course you can vary the number of reps each week (15,12,10,8,5) but it's much more complicated and a lot of people may not understand it. Often when you want to convey an idea you have to simplify things at the expense of perfectionism. If people don't understand what to do, they won't do it. Is that going to be good for anybody? In short, people will find other principles (without the principles of hypertrophy) on their own.

Low volume per exercise (average volume per week)
In HST, you are supposed to lower the limit on the number of sets, or in HST, train one, at most two sets per exercise. This principle is based on the idea of one effective set, additional sets just lead to unnecessary calorie burning. There is nothing wrong with burning calories, however, when you reach my age you will not have as much exercise tolerance as you have now. Using HRT - Hormone Replacement Therapy can of course increase the number of sets you do, but you will be doing them under unreasonable loads, i.e. they can be done at a reduced intensity.

Some may have questions about the validity of HST if we don't increase the number of sets per exercise. The number of sets is reduced because of the frequency adaptation required to create the optimal environment for stimulating hypertrophy. The work volume during the week does not differ from standard.

The optimal way to stimulate hypertrophy of your muscles is through 6 sets of total work volume in one week. This total number of sets is spread out over three training days, then if you perform this high intensity volume in one training unit at a time, you are putting a strain on your CNS (CNS = central nervous system) and thus increasing the risks of burnout syndrome.

HIGH FREQUENCY, ECCENTRIC TRAINING //

High Frequency, Eccentric Training HST assumes that you will practice eccentric training for 2 weeks. This assumption is only for exercises that can be effective in an eccentric composition without risk of injury. Eccentric series are performed with a load that exceeds the series limit for 5 repetitions maximum. HST must be adapted so that the loading progression of one cycle is spread over two weeks. The risk of overtraining is no greater than the previous week if the volume is well controlled. Recent research demonstrates this (Example of cycling the number of repetitions: 1-2 week - 15 repetitions, 3-4 week - 10 repetitions, 5-6 week - 5 repetitions). The effect of eccentric, muscular action has the greatest effect on hypertrophy of muscle tissue, as confirmed by research in the fields of physiology and exercise methods.

As research continues to discover the basis of load inducing hypertrophy, HST applies this and adds new knowledge to make it more effective. Today's HST presents the state of the science of hypertrophy.

HST is a principle that directly targets muscle hypertrophy and muscle performance.I have tried these principles on myself and have successfully applied them to training competitive bodybuilders. However, it is not only specialized for competitive athletes, powerlifters, weightlifters, but also for athletes from other industries, it can be effectively used in their off-season training with amazing results.

HST is such a high quality program, incorporating useful information, that I am able to sign off on it in good conscience. I regard HST as a principle, as one of the few truly miraculous ones. This is just the beginning, a prelude to the consideration of HST, which I intend to address in future articles, which I will be preparing shortly.

References:

1: Nosaka K, Newton M. Repeated Eccentric Exercise Bouts Do Not Exacerbate Muscle Damage and Repair. J Strength Cond Res. 2002 Feb;16(1):117-122.

2: Nosaka K, Newton M. Concentric or eccentric training effect on eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2002 Jan;34(1):63-9.

3: Proske U, Morgan DL. Muscle damage from eccentric exercise: mechanism, mechanical signs, adaptation and clinical applications. J Physiol. 2001 Dec 1;537(Pt 2):333-45.

4: Nosaka K, Newton M, Sacco P. Responses of human elbow flexor muscles to electrically stimulated forced lengthening exercise. Acta Physiol Scand. 2002 Feb;174(2):137-45.

5: Allen DG. Eccentric muscle damage: mechanisms of early reduction of force. Acta Physiol Scand. 2001 Mar;171(3):311-9.

6: Clarkson PM. Eccentric exercise and muscle damage. Int J Sports Med. 1997 Oct;18 Suppl 4:S314-7.

7: Paddon-Jones D, Abernethy PJ. Acute adaptation to low volume eccentric exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 Jul;33(7):1213-9.

8: Nosaka K, Sakamoto K, Newton M, Sacco P. How long does the protective effect on eccentric exercise-induced muscle damage last? Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 Sep;33(9):1490-5.

9: McHugh MP, Connolly DA, Eston RG, Gleim GW. Exercise-induced muscle damage and potential mechanisms for the repeated bout effect. Sports Med. 1999 Mar;27(3):157-70.

10: Nosaka K, Sakamoto K, Newton M, Sacco P. The repeated bout effect of reduced-load eccentric exercise on elbow flexor muscle damage. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2001 Jul;85(1-2):34-40.

11: Rennie MJ. How muscles know how to adapt. J Physiol. 2001 Aug 15;535(Pt 1):1.

12. Nosaka K, Sakamoto K. Effect of elbow joint angle on the magnitude of muscle damage to the elbow flexors. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2001 Jan;33(1):22-9.

13: Lieber RL, Friden J. Morphologic and mechanical basis of delayed-onset muscle soreness. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2002 Jan-Feb;10(1):67-73.

14: Nosaka K, Clarkson PM. Influence of previous concentric exercise on eccentric exercise-induced muscledamage. J Sports Sci. 1997 Oct;15(5):477-83.

15: Carson JA. The regulation of gene expression in hypertrophying skeletal muscle. Exerc Sport Sci Rev. 1997;25:301-20.

16:. Lieber RL, Friden J. Mechanisms of muscle injury after eccentric contraction. J Sci Med Sport. 1999 Oct;2(3):253-65.

17: Nosaka K, Clarkson PM. Muscle damage following repeated bouts of high force eccentric exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1995 Sep;27(9):1263-9.