Hypertrophy Specific Training
HST runs on rep maxes, planned load increments and strategic deconditioning. The app holds all three so you can turn up and lift instead of recalculating every session.
What HST is
Hypertrophy Specific Training is a training method built around a small number of ideas about how muscle responds to load: frequent stimulation, progressively heavier loads within a rep block, and a planned period of reduced training so that lighter weights work again on the next cycle.
In practice that means two-week blocks at 15, 10 and 5 reps, with weight climbing every session toward the rep max for that block, then a deconditioning period before you start over heavier than last time.
- The 15, 10 and 5 rep blocks structured for you
- Loads calculated from your rep maxes and incremented each session
- Strategic deconditioning period built into the cycle
- Full logging so each cycle starts from real numbers
- Customize exercises, sets and increments
The arithmetic is the whole problem
HST asks you to know your 15, 10 and 5 rep maxes for every exercise, work backwards to a starting load, and step up by a fixed increment each session. That is a spreadsheet's worth of work before you have lifted anything. Enter the maxes once and the app produces every session in the cycle.
Who it is for
HST assumes you already know how to lift the movements safely and can judge a rep max without hurting yourself. If you are new to the barbell, run a straightforward linear program first. You will grow on it, and you will get more out of HST once you have numbers worth building a cycle around.
Attribution
Hypertrophy Specific Training was developed by Bryan Haycock. This is an independent app, not an official HST product, and it may differ in detail from material published elsewhere.
Common questions
Do I need to test my rep maxes first?
Can I change the exercises?
How long is a cycle?