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 As my regular readers know, I've been working through a H.I.T. (High Intensity Training) program for the past 4 weeks now. I wanted to stop and reflect on what this has meant for me in my workouts so that you can make a decision about trying H.I.T. yourself. What is H.I.T.? H.I.T. is High Intensity Training. It was made popular by Arthur Jones, the inventor of the Nautilus line of equipment. It has had alot of proponents over the years. It involves working with intensity, form and progression to give your entire body an incredible workout. While there are alot of ways to approach the H.I.T. philosophy of lifting, the basics are very simple. The program revolves around a 3 day a week full body routine. The frequency of the workout can change depending upon your recovery abilities. You do 1 set of every exercise in the routine and you take it to complete failure (defined as not being able to complete another repetition with good form). For the upper body you are aiming for a repetition range of 6 to 10 repetitions and for the lower body you are aiming for the range of 8 to 12 repetitions. When you hit the high end of the repetition range you add more weight to the exercise. One wrinkle in my own H.I.T. program is that I am using timed repetitions with 3 seconds on the up and 3 seconds on the down to increase the intensity. What is my workout? This workout that I am doing is incredibly effective at hitting all the muscle groups more than one time. While I am only doing one set per exercise I am doing multiple sets per body part. The frequency was originally set to 3 days per week. At the start of the program this frequency worked perfectly. However, as I continued to attack the weights with a fierce intensity, my ability to recover diminished. As a result, I dropped my training frequency to 2 days instead of 3. Immediately the intensity went up in my workouts. I was able to attack the weights in an even more ferocious manner. I was able to do things that I had not previously thought possible. Progression One key to the success of H.I.T. is the fact that it forces you into proper progression. You either add weight or repetitions at every workout. The amazing thing is that as you push your body harder and harder, it responds by accepting a larger and larger load. My progression has been amazing. Through 4 weeks of this program I have averaged an increase of 45% in volume (weight x repetitions). This is the best increase I've ever seen during a workout routine and most of the routines I've done have been longer than 12 weeks. For me to see this kind of increase in just 4 weeks is amazing. Adaptability This workout is extremely adaptable. I highly suggest that you do a Google search for "high intensity training" and review the information that you find there. Like me, you will find that this approach to lifting is going to suit you perfectly. It does not assume that you must workout a certain number of days a week. It allows you to fit the workout regimen to your body's ability to recover. I have found this to be the most desirable part of the entire system. Remember, I started out doing H.I.T. 3 days a week and now I've dropped to 2 days a week. My body is getting hit just as hard with 2 days a week as it was with 3 days a week. I honestly could not do the 3 day a week routine right now because my body just is not recovered. I know it seems strange that 2 days a week can work, but it honestly does. ConclusionI strongly suggest that you give H.I.T. a try if you have been trying to add muscle. You will not be sorry if you do. H.I.T. lends itself perfectly to the Experiment of One. You adjust the workout to your own needs and to the way your body responds. The results will simply amaze you! |
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I arrived at the gym at 4 a.m. and I felt like a man possessed. After warming up on the cardio equipment, I loaded up the plates on the leg press sled and figured I'd add 50 pounds to the previous week's weight as I had hit 12 reps. I managed to crank out 19 repetitions at 500 lbs. I proceeded on to the standing thigh curl machine and added 5 lbs. to the previous workout. I got to 9 reps and started to feel a severe burn in my right thigh. I pushed until I got 13 reps and then repeated on the other leg. The seated calf raise was no different. I managed to get 15 repetitions (more than last week) with 10 lbs. more weight on the rack. I then proceeded to get into the squat rack and prepared myself for front squats. I realized today why I really don't like this exercise. It just hurts all over! I proceeded to the Quad Blaster and instead of going up to 45 lbs. I upped the weight to 47.5 lbs. I pushed out 11 reps at which point I collapsed to the ground in pain. My thighs were huge from the pump I was experiencing. I had to spend about 2 minutes on the ground because of the intensity with which I attacked my legs today. The rest of my workout proceeded in the same insane fashion. On every single exercise I pushed my body to its most extreme limits. The most interesting thing came about when I hit the deadlifts. I realized that on my Monday workout I had done 9 reps with 255 lbs. so I aimed for 12 reps with 255 lbs. today. I walked up and loaded the bar with 3 plates on each side like I had on Monday and then proceeded to do the lift. By the 4th repetition my lower back was burning and my glutes were on fire. I wondered why the weight felt so heavy when it hadn't been as heavy on Monday. As I finished the 7th repetition and set down the weight I realized my mistake. On Monday I had put 3 plates on each side — 45 lbs., 35 lbs. and 25 lbs., which is 255 lbs. when you do that on both sides and include the bar weight. Today I had put 3 plate |
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 "Nothing in this world is so powerful as an idea whose time has come." Victor Hugo |
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 Have you ever tried H.I.T.? Comment this post to answer the question. |
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Until tomorrow…GET BACK TO LIFTING! |
