HIT workout?

[DeusMalo]

So, always looking for great workout tips/thoughts. Seems I've tried everything over the years, but never got into HIT (high intensity training) Mentzer style. Just read his book. He makes a helluva case on why it should work, but wondering if anyone has done HIT and what the results are.

I've been trying it for the last week since my schedule is slammed - at least it gets me to the gym since I can talk myself into "it'll only take 30-minutes max". For me, seems starting working out at 14 mostly in Gold's Gyms in SoCal - a lot of time in Venice Gold's and Northridge where some big boys train. Learned a ton. Anyway, seems for me, I've been using high intensity in individual sets because I can't get any more higher: focused, intense - someone could talk to me before a set and I wouldn't know it - and I'm out of breath/beat/dizzy with strong pump after each set.

Seems I've subscribed to a little higher volume - bigger muscle groups I go 10-12 sets, smaller (bi's/tri's) I stick around 6-8. definitely not 20-sets like when I was 18, but I learned from some good bros. I also tend to stick with a 4/1 split. 3J hooked me up with a good 5/1 I've been doing.

Soooo, it's hard for me to feel like I'm really doing much with 1-2 sets per body part and resting for days. I don't really get sore anymore, but I can tell when my muscle has been hit hard - the HIT seems it may be doing that.

Anyway, enough rambling, thoughts?

 

[cjw2021]

Well for one I don't work my biceps as they get trained doing compound lifts. My biggest suggestion is not to overtrain, and instead to overeat if size is your goal. 2-3 x in the gym a week is all you need and all you CAN do if you are really pushing yourself. Work=mass times acceleration holds true in the gym. If you press the weight faster you are producing more work and more hypertrophy. IT doesn't all have to be extremely heavy. I vary my stuff up. A lot of times I'm going in the 10 rep+ range like on triceps and possibly some cage bench press work. Squats I usually stay at 5 reps since that produces most growth on me - same with deadlifts, most of the time under 5 reps. The whole workout should be intense otherwise u r doing it wrong is my opinion. I Don't believe in holding a rep for like 10 seconds like mentzer said. I would rather move a heavy weight very fast in a safe manner if possible than a light weight very slowly. I gain way more following a powerlifting type routine.

In my opinion the nervous system can't handle 4-5 times a week of heavy weight training. The guys doing that are doing splits and keeping their workouts to under 45 minutes. I like to train for an hour and a half or so 2-3 times a week instead.

 

[DeusMalo]

Yeah cjw, some of Mentzer's stuff is a little over the top - I don't believe pausing for 10-seconds does much (i'm not a huge believer in isometric emphasis). I suspect he may be over emphasizing the 4sec concentric/eccentric + 10sec isometric for controlled lift vs. momentum. That I subscribe too (w/a couple exceptions).

Great feedback - helps me know if my old school thinking is still current or not. I always vary. I won't stick w/any particular workout longer than 3-months and between workouts, I vary exercise, order and sometimes reps depending on my emphasis. If I feel my strength needs a kick, I will go lower reps, heavier weight, but tend to stick w/in 8-12 reps most of the time. Squats are a tough one for me to go heavy - my right knee has always been problematic, so I start with leg extensions and then go to squats, but stay 10-12 so I don't jack up my knee (and I wear wraps).

Is that varying things enough?

I am intense when I workout (it seems) - proper form, controlled sets, explosive concentric/slow eccentric, near failure (some phases I will go to failure for a brief time, never beyond failure since I don't have a workout partner) - but I do FEEL every set. Though, my 'explosive' is somewhat limited - I am heavy on slow twitch fibers, meso/ecto and I'm tall so leverage just doesn't always work in my favor.

Anyway, that's where I was going with this - years of intensity at many sets/workouts to thinking about Mentzer HIT 2-sets with days between workouts just seems weird. Perhaps I would have gained a helluva lot more? Of course, Mentzer's point is if doing many sets, people tend to save energy for upcoming sets so current sets aren't as intense - you know, I've never done that. I hit my peak workout weight right after warmup and adjust weight for rep target as I go (a sin in many books). I've been paying attention lately to see if I can be more intense/do more with fewer sets - not really that I can tell.

I hear you on nervous system. Something I learned years ago - including 5-min cardio warmup, I am rarely in the gym more than an hour - when creating workouts, that's always my target number. I don't let myself rest longer than 90-seconds max between sets so that ups the work/intensity as well. Hard for me to be there much longer anyway. Body parts only get worked once every 7-8 days unless I'm emphasizing one, which I always choose one to work on more for 1-month at a time, then it gets thrown in twice every 7-8 days. So all help keep my workout time down.

So, if you're in the gym 2-3 days/week @ 1.5 hours each time, how often are you working each body part? How many sets per? Or is this all part of your 'vary' definition?

Thanks bro.

 

[cash]

I have done several differnt versions over the years of H.I.T. or GVT (german volume training)
It works better for some muscle groups then others for me.
Legs work well for growth (20 rep squats)
with the chest workouts I ended up losing strength and not gaining any reps.
It can be a nice change of pace.

I just try and learn something from every program.

 

[DeusMalo]

Yeah, gave HIT a try for a couple weeks. I can tell pretty quickly (or I'm being impatient) that it's not great for me. I never really got a full pump, my muscles felt flat 24/7 and never felt I was really getting a workout on the larger body parts. I felt sloppy and flat (yes, flat not fat). 2-sets just isn't cutting it for me. Reducing sets on smaller parts such as bi's - we'll see how it goes for a few more weeks. Never had great luck with calves doing volume work so keeping those sets lower for now. (Calf tips always appreciated).

thanks for all the feedback guys.

 

[DoubleEdge]

What's your goal? Is it to gain size or are you looking for more definition? My opinion is that HIT is hit and miss no pun intended. Which is logical considering we all have differences in terms of our constitutions and the amount or type of training one can handle

 

[DeusMalo]

Size. In my case, it's not an issue of constitution for sure. Unless you mean physiological limitations - yeah, everyone is different, that I get.

Was more interested in seeing if anyone has had the type of results Mentzer claimed 1000s of his clients were seeing - including Aaron Baker, who I remember from way back when. I think Dorian Yates was someone who only hit 1-set per body part in his version of HIT. Though, I think he also didn't start doing that until he had a solid foundation IIRC.

Seems HIT is about where it was 20-years ago