Training system | Hypertrophic Specific Training

HYPERTROPHIC SPECIFIC TRAINING (HST) | BY BRIAN HAYCOCK

Hypertrophy Specific Training is a relatively new training method in bodybuilding and strength training that is characterized by short but frequent training sessions. In contrast to almost all other training principles, HST does not involve training to the point of muscle failure.

ORIGIN AND DISTRIBUTION

Brian Haycock is the inventor of HST training. After 23 years of strength training, Haycock set about developing a new training system that was to be fundamentally different from previous systems. His motivation was simply to overcome his own plateaus, especially since the existing principles were not working for him. HST was created in October 2000, spread relatively quickly, among other things through the newsletter on the homepage www.ThinkMuscle.com and the Internet as a new medium, and enjoyed great popularity in a very short time.

In order to develop the system with the greatest possible effectiveness, Haycock focused primarily on the scientific basis of muscle growth and recognized that conventional training systems in bodybuilding did not take the latest scientific findings into account. With HST training, he therefore attempted to implement the scientific relationships between stress on the one hand and muscle growth on the other hand in a simple, coherent training system.

THE 4 PRINCIPLES OF HST

1. MECHANICAL LOAD

The muscle must be mechanically stressed in order to grow. A number of complex biological processes, such as MAPk and ERK, play an important role in hypertrophy. HST uses these processes to help develop special training rhythms and integrates them into a given training plan.

2. FREQUENT TRAINING LOAD

Since scientific studies have shown that the muscle size returns to its original level after just 36 to 48 hours, the muscle must be stressed again after this time at the latest.

The second principle of HST is therefore to place frequent strain on individual muscles in order to stimulate sustained hypertrophy. According to HST, each muscle group should therefore be subjected to at least 3 training sessions per week. If the strain is lower, the breaks would be too long, meaning the muscles would not be constantly stimulated and would deteriorate. However, in one training session it is sufficient to perform only one or two sets per exercise, which should not go to the point of muscle failure.

3. PROGRESSIVE WEIGHT INCREASE (PROGRESSIVE LOAD)

Since it has been found that the muscles can adapt to a certain load (e.g. the last training session) within 48 hours, which makes further muscle growth under the same load no longer possible, the training weight should be continuously increased with each training session during Hypertrophic Specific Training.

4. STRATEGIC DECONDITIONING

Since the frequent training sessions per week place a great strain on the body and the body no longer responds to the training stimuli with muscle growth at a certain point, regular regeneration breaks are the fourth principle of HST. These rest days allow the muscles, as well as the strained ligaments and tendons, to recover and can also be used for endurance sessions. However, these should not exceed a maximum length of 40 minutes.

The following summary can be derived from these four basic rules:

• The training weight must be steadily increased or at least remain constant, but must never be reduced.
• If a weight is too high, the weight is never reduced, only the number of repetitions.
• At least 3 training sessions per week must be completed for each muscle group.
• Training must be stopped before muscle failure occurs.
• It is enough to do 1 to 2 sets per exercise.
• The rest days must be observed.

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As a very new training method, Hypertrophic Specific Training uses completely new approaches and departs from the path of conventional training. While almost all other training principles have muscle failure as their main goal, reaching this is strictly prohibited with HST. Due to the completely divergent approaches, HST can be used very well as a supplement to existing training methods. This could help overcome plateaus and stimulate muscle growth again through the unusual and new stimuli.

The frequent training sessions, i.e. always a full-body workout in a 3-day training session, have a big advantage over the basics of shorter and less frequent training according to HIT or PITT: the muscles are constantly supplied with nutrients due to the frequent blood flow, and are stimulated continuously, although not maximally. Although we believe that HST reaches its limits more quickly than is the case with HIT, for example, it is still a useful supplement and can therefore be recommended without reservation!