HST Cycle 12 - 8 - 5 Reps

[Cp bball3]

I was thinking about either doing a 10,5 cycle for 4 weeks total, or a 12,8,5 cycle for 6 weeks total.

What are the pro's and con's of each? I won't do the 15's because they are nearly pointless unless you feel worn down or an injury coming on, which I don't.

My only problem with the 12,8,5 is that there is a lot of "zig-zagging" with weight poundages. This might help recovery though. I also feel that if you skip the 15's and you only do 4 weeks you are limiting yourself because of such a small time period of the actual workout.

[jobe]

I would do 15's, but 12-8-5 is perfectly fine to do.
The routine was written to have a high rep part on purpose. I grew fairly well during the 15 rep weeks.

[Cp bball3]

Im thinking of:

12's - 2 set
8's - 3 sets
5's - 4 sets

Do you think I would get better gains trying it this way?

[jobe]

There are a couple of different methods people have used.

12's/15 x 1
8's/10 x 2
5's x 3

or week 1 12's/15s x 2, week 2 12's x 1
week 1 8's x 2, week 2 8's x 1
week 1 5's x 3, week 2 5's x 2

Personally I prefer the 2nd method, as on the first week of chosen reps the weight is lighter so you can get 2 sets in, and then on the second week when the weight gets close to your RM you only do 1 set (apart from the 5's)

Google HST for plenty of websites with different versions for more details.