posted Fri, 11/22/2013 - 11:46
1365
Thoughts on HIT (ala Mike Mentzer / Dorian Yates / Arthur Jones)
ad
I used to work out with a traditional plan when I started lifting (17 years ago). After a year of ok progress, and wicked DOMS, I started looking around and found Mike Mentzer.
Once I started HIT, I never looked back. It gave me consistent progress.
Since I've started working out again, natty, I've been using HIT and seeing the same consistent progress as before.
But I'm curious, my knowledge is 10 years old at this point. I notice most guys here use a more traditional, higher volume approach. Has a better technique been found? Is HIT a poor approach given AAS usage?
Thanks!
- Bookmark
- 0
- 0
I have been following Arthur Jones style training for the last 2 years.1 set to failure.I train alone.My gym has a Jones Smith machine that I use for squats.I set the safety bars at my lowest depth and when I can't get another rep,I let the bar down on the safety bars and crawl out from under.The gym has Star Trac equipment that I use for my other exercises.I could use the Jones machine for benching,but the Star Trac chest press is a good machine.I do dumbbell exercises also.I started out doing 3 full body workouts a week.It takes about 45 minutes.As the weights got heavier,I cut back to 2 days a week.I have pushed past size plateaus that I couldn't get past 16 years ago.I have tried pretty much every routine.3 day split,4 day split,two a days,5x5,you name it.With my work,I end up not being able to train 2 to 6 months a year.I recently had 2 1/2 months off.My arms went from 17 7/8 to 17 3/4.I make sure I get the calories my body needs and that definitely makes a difference in how much size I retain.I feel the time off helps.I lower my weights down when I start back up and by the time I get back to my previous highest weight,I am a little bigger.I don't know when the gains are going to stop,but it's been working for 2 years now.
HIT would have to be the simplest most effective training style around. Heaps of others claim to do this and that, but at the end of the day its intensity that is the key to growth. I cycle drop sets and rest pause even using those techniques with in Giant sets and Monster sets. Leaves you gasping at the end of it but the intensity again is where it's at.
Yeah, for example my leg day is less than 20 minutes, but I have yet to walk away from a leg day. Instead I stumble away like I have rubber legs and usually feel nauseated for at least an hour.
The other thing I got from Mentzer / HIT is that recovery requirements are very individual and they increase as you gain strength / size.
So as you grow and your workouts get more intense, you need a longer recovery. Otherwise you end up constantly over-trained.
To me, it makes no sense that we increase everything, strength, size, how much we eat, but we assume our recovery abilities can automatically keep up with our increased load.
X2. Whatever you want to label the training style, intensity equals growth. The number if guys I see spending two hours in the gym but leave huge gaps between sets while they chat / text etc.
If you don't feel like you're going to fall over when you leave the gym you didn't work hard enough.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVY-QD65SsE
check out what ben pakulski has to say he makes some good points
I watched the video, but he didn't really make any points. He didn't quote any research, and only made inferences regarding people not being able to be as intense as Dorian.
HIT is by far the most efficient method for strength and size gains. Some find it very hard on the nervous system and training that way for prolonged period of time can take its toll. Injury can also be a issue. Also this style of training requires a solid trusted training partner. Love to read and watch the old Arthur Jones stuff. Mike Mentzer also had some wild seminar footage. But I think Dorian took it to another level. Blood and Guts still has to be the best training video of all time! But I think without the genetics it is better to cycle HIT with more traditional volume style training. The most I could ever handle was 3 or4 months then the gains came to a grinding halt. Like the fact that you can get in and out of the gym in under an hour. But the intensity required can also leave you pretty much spent for a couple of days. If you keep gaining strength keep going! Don't have to fix what ain't broke!
Would you increase your rest period as the results slowed down? What was you max rest period?
I could only handle each body part every 8 days. I trained chest, shoulders, and triceps day1, legs and calfs day 3 or 4, and back and biceps day 7 or 8. Sometimes I would rest 2 or 3 days depending how I felt, then started at day 1 again. Better to do less than more! Some don't get how intense this type of training should be. It should go like when you feel like you would like to stop, that's when the work starts. Most people just don't want to push that hard. Also having a like minded training partner is crucial to success. Can't do this alone. Also some can't train this little and more would be overtraining.