If I were you, I would stick with the HST. Once you get to the 4-6RM meso it is comparable to a 5x5. If you really want to (even though I don't recommend this) you could shorten up the 8-10RM meso so you can jump into 4-6 that much sooner. But trust me bro, you should keep with it (as boring as you might think it is) because the results are pretty much guaranteed. Make the changes mentioned above if it increases the "fun factor" for you and keep plugging along...just adding my $0.02 (and my experience with HST :D)

Surprised you lasted this long....Not surprised you decided to stop another program prematurely for yet another eye catching one.

If you don't want to gain mass, then stop HST. I couldn't even guess what you are actually after aside from labelling yourself a "library of routines". :)

thanks Kane and 0311.....and sorry for my rant....but i'm gonna stick with HST for a full cycle....but i'm not sure how to do weeks 7 and 8...the negatives and drop set week...how do i design that?

thanks

Anuj

In your case, you still have a lot of room to gain strength. You'll most likely keep progression for AT LEAST 3 if not 4 weeks during the 5's. I personally don't really think you need to do anything special in regards to drop sets. However, I'm sure you'll end up doing them anyways. :arg: If you must, just do a drop set for 2 or 3 compound exercises. Something like flat bench, squats, and a back exercise.

The only point I'll make with drop sets is that you SHOULDN'T strip too much weight off like a lot of people do. It should still be heavy enough to where you're struggling by 8 reps. And I wouldn't worry about negatives. Negatives are for people who hit their 5 RM within 2-3 weeks, making progression impossible. So they increase the load even further and incorperate the heavy negs. IMO, you'd be better served dropping a set down from 3 x 5 to 2 x 5 with a drop set.

^^^thanks sir...

Anuj

I agree you can probably run the 5's for 3 or 4 weeks before you stop progressing. I think after that instead of worring with drop sets or negatives you'd be better served by taking that same weight and running it for 4x5 and trying to prgress on that and then going to 5x5...

Essentially ramping up the volume and in the process getting a picture of your 5x5 maxes before you go into the 5x5 program.