If you couldn’t tell from any of my previous articles, or my “about me” page, then let me say it again.

I have a constant goal to gain muscle mass

This past summer, I decided to look for a new workout program which focused in gaining lean mass. I found HST, which stands for Hypertrophy-Specific Training (which essentially means muscle growing training).

While this workout may be prime for gaining mass, it can not do it alone. Just like drinking protein without lifting weights will not add muscle, exercising without consuming more calories than you burn will not add muscle.

This is simple math, and the basics of nutrition.

Therefore, if your goal is to gain muscle, your first step (assuming you’re already on some type of workout regiment) should be ensuring that you have a proper diet. This means you’re hitting all your nutritional requirements, and consuming more calories then you burn. I may sound like a broken record, but its the bottom line. You are what you eat, and if you don’t eat enough, you won’t get any bigger.

Read on to learn all about HST.

Hypertrophy-Specific Training, or simply HST, is a method of training designed to quickly and effectively induce whole body muscle growth. It is based on physiological principles of muscular hypertrophy. These principles were first discovered in the laboratory, and then organized into a method of training that would produce predictable and repeatable hypertrophic effects

(thanks to bodybuilding.com)

A quick search can show you the different types of HST workouts you can create, but I’m going to describe what I did as its what I have the most accurate experience with.

My initial fear of course was that if this new workout didn’t work, I would be weaker than when I started (you’ll see why). Let me squash your fears, I most definitely gained strength from this workout.

I’m going to explain HST through steps.

Step 1: Choose 8-12 combination exercises. I.E. Exercises which work more than 1 muscle group (such as bench press, squat etc.) Try an make sure the exercises are balanced to hit all your muscles. You’ll be sticking with these during the entire process.

Step 2: Now, we’re going to be using a 3-day split. So on Monday, go to the gym, with your list of exercises, and find the max weight you can do on each exercises for a total of 15 reps.

On Wednesday, do the same thing, but for a total of 10 reps.

On Friday, do the same thing again, but for only 5 reps.

Step 3: Next don’t touch a weight for 9-14 days. This is one of the most important steps as it is necessary to help shock your muscles and stimulate growth later.

Step 4: Now you need to plan out your weights in advance. For the first 6 workouts (2 weeks) you should decrease the weights by a minimum of 5lbs from your max workout. This means, each workout during the first two weeks on bench press for example, you will increase the weight until on the 6th workout, you are at your originally determined max.

You will be doing 1 set, of 15 reps of each exercise.

Step 5: Do the same thing, for the next two weeks, but with your 10 rep max weights.

This time you will be doing 2 sets of 10 reps of each exercise.

Step 6: Do the same thing for the next two weeks, but now with your 5 rep max weights.

This time you will be doing 3 sets of 5 reps of each exercise.

Step 7: For the next two weeks, you can continue on with your 5 rep max weights.

And presto! There is your 8 week workout. Before starting a second cycle, its important to decondition (step 3) again to let your muscles rest.

Personally, I felt it was a great experience trying an HST workout program. I’ll do it again some day, but I’ll rework my diet in advance to ensure I can gain more mass. Attached is the template I used for week 1 & 2 as I liked to record my reps, and any weight changes. Feel free to give it a look and change it around:  HST Workout Template.