High-intensity training (HIT) is a form of
strength training
Strength training or resistance training involves the performance of physical exercises that are designed to improve strength and endurance. It is often associated with the lifting of weights. It can also incorporate a variety of training te ...
popularized in the 1970s by
Arthur Jones, the founder of
Nautilus
The nautilus (, ) is a pelagic marine mollusc of the cephalopod family Nautilidae. The nautilus is the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina.
It comprises six living species in ...
. The training focuses on performing quality weight training repetitions to the point of momentary
muscular failure. The training takes into account the number of repetitions, the amount of weight, and the amount of time the muscle is exposed to
tension
Tension may refer to:
Science
* Psychological stress
* Tension (physics), a force related to the stretching of an object (the opposite of compression)
* Tension (geology), a stress which stretches rocks in two opposite directions
* Voltage or el ...
in order to maximize the amount of
muscle fiber recruitment.
Principles
The fundamental principles of high-intensity training (HIT) are that exercise must be very intense, but workouts should be relatively brief and infrequent.
Exercises
Exercise is a body activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health and wellness.
It is performed for various reasons, to aid growth and improve strength, develop muscles and the cardiovascular system, hone athletic s ...
are performed with a high level of effort, or intensity, where it is thought that it will stimulate the body to produce an increase in muscular
strength
Strength may refer to:
Physical strength
*Physical strength, as in people or animals
* Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations
*Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human c ...
and size. Advocates of HIT believe that this method is superior for strength and size building to most other methods which, for example, may stress lower weights with larger volume (sets x reps).
As strength increases, HIT techniques will have the weight/resistance increased progressively where it is thought that it will provide the muscles with adequate overload to stimulate further improvements. There is an inverse relationship between how intensely and how long one can exercise. As a result, high-intensity workouts are generally kept brief. After a high-intensity workout, as with any workout, the body requires time to recover and produce the responses stimulated during the workout, so there is more emphasis on rest and recovery in the HIT philosophy than in most other weight training methods. In any workout, not just HIT, training schedules should allow adequate time between workouts for recovery (and adaptation).
While many typical HIT programs comprise a single-set per exercise, tri-weekly, full-body workout, many variations exist in specific recommendations of set and exercise number, workout routines, volume and frequency of training. The common thread is an emphasis on a high level of effort, relatively brief and infrequent (i.e. not daily) training, and the
cadence
In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (199 ...
of a lift, which will be very slow compared to a non-HIT weight training routine.
Most HIT advocates stress the use of controlled lifting speeds and strict form, with special attention paid to avoiding any bouncing, jerking, or yanking of the weight or machine movement arm during exercise. Technical HIT advice varies from lifting the weights smoothly and at a natural pace, to timing the lifts, peaking at hold and descent. In extreme cases, like Ellington Darden PhD's 30/30/30 protocol, it may take up to 60 seconds to complete a single repetition.
Also emphasized when near exhaustion in order to further exhaust the muscle or muscles exercised: doing
static holds for periods of time, and
negative reps (lowering the weight). Some belief this will stimulate further growth and strength because muscles are weakest in positive/contracting movements (sometimes referred to as first stage failure of a muscle). Although you may not be able to lift a weight for another rep you will almost certainly be able to hold it statically for a further period (second stage of failure) and finally lower a weight at a slow controlled speed (third stage of failure). Until all three (lifting, holding and lowering) parts of an exercise can no longer be completed in a controlled manner a muscle cannot be considered thoroughly exhausted/exercised .
Antecedents and Controversies
A large number of skeptics dispute the methods and results claimed by HIT advocates. Some of the criticism asserts that HIT violates much conventional "wisdom" in weight training. By always using a weight that one can lift 8-12 times, using 4 second
negatives, and so on, it has flown in the face of the exercise establishment.
There exists also an issue related to the development of HIT and its originality. Near the close of the 19th century, a medical doctor by the name of
Gustav Zander
Dr. Jonas Gustav Vilhelm Zander (29 March 1835 in Stockholm – 17 June 1920) was a Swedish physician, orthopedist and one of the originators of mechanotherapy. He is known for inventing a therapeutic method of exercise carried out by means of a ...
developed a complete set of machines and a workout method remarkably close to that promoted by inventor and HIT enthusiast Arthur Jones in the early 1970s. Jones acknowledged Zander stating:
So, in attempts to improve my exercise results, I designed and built a total of about twenty very sophisticated exercise machines, then believing that these were the first exercise machines ever built by anybody. But many years later, I learned that a doctor named Gustav Zander had designed and built a number of exercise machines in Europe nearly a hundred years before I built my first one; I did not copy Zander's work and learned nothing from him, was not even aware of his work until long after I had made the same discoveries that he had made. But if I had known about, and understood, Zander's work, it would have saved me a lot of time and a rather large fortune in money, because the man was a genius; his only problem was that he lived about a century ahead of his time, at a time when very few people cared about exercise and even fewer knew anything about it.
Regardless of who originally developed the systems (and machines) it is clear that through Arthur Jones and his company and a crew of HIT advocates, the principles and concepts of HIT became popularized.
HIT and other training routines
HIT workouts usually include one set of one or two exercises per muscle group, performed to the point of momentary muscle failure. The recommended repetition ranges vary, with most being from as low as 3-5 to as high as 15-20. Lower repetition ranges are often recommended for upper body exercises, while higher repetition ranges are often recommended for the lower body, lower back, abs, and neck.
The recommended repetition speeds are often relatively slow, but not always
Super Slow. Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones originally recommended a 2/1/4 cadence; a two-second positive movement, a one-second hold at the end point, and a four-second negative. Later, Jones, Mike Mentzer, and others would recommend performing the positive more slowly, reducing the cadence to 4/1/4 or 4/2/4. Some HIT methods involve even slower repetition cadences, like Ken Hutchins' SuperSlow, with a ten-second positive, ten-second negative, and a two to three-second hold at the end point on some compound pulling and simple movements, but not compound pushing movements, and Ellington Darden PhD's 30/30/30 method, consisting of a 30-second negative, a 30-second positive, and another 30 second negative.
HIT stresses intensity over repetition. Many
weightlifter
Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lif ...
s will use a HIT routine to help break a 'plateau' - meaning they will use HIT temporarily when another routine stops giving desired results. Some HIT trainees will use HIT exclusively as well - Arthur Jones believed HIT was all that was required.
Different strength training authors from
Ellington Darden and
Mike Mentzer
Mike Mentzer (November 15, 1951 – June 10, 2001) was an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, businessman and author.
Early life and education
Mike Mentzer was born on November 15, 1951, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. In gramma ...
to
Dorian Yates
Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates (born 19 April 1962) is an English retired professional bodybuilder. He won the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times from 1992 to 1997 and has the fifth-highest number of Mr. Olympia wins in history, ranking behi ...
and
Gordon LaVelle have called their system HIT, with each individual having credited Arthur Jones for the formulation of its basic tenet principles. However, there has never been a clear and consistent guideline on how to utilize HIT. Darden advocated full body routines, while Yates recommended to split the workouts into four different sessions a week. Mentzer believed that no more than one set to muscular failure per body part was all that was required,
[''High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way''] yet Yates and LaVelle believed that more than one exercise per body part is necessary to get complete development as a bodybuilder.
Rest-pause
A former Mr. Universe, the late
Mike Mentzer
Mike Mentzer (November 15, 1951 – June 10, 2001) was an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, businessman and author.
Early life and education
Mike Mentzer was born on November 15, 1951, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. In gramma ...
achieved his lifetime best condition from performing rest-pause, an old system of lifting involving single-rep maxima interspersed with brief (10 second) rest periods. Rest-pause has the advantages of old-school power training while also allowing for enough overall reps to be performed for
hypertrophy
Hypertrophy is the increase in the volume of an organ or tissue due to the enlargement of its component cells. It is distinguished from hyperplasia, in which the cells remain approximately the same size but increase in number.Updated by Linda J. ...
and
cardiovascular exercise purposes.
Notable HIT bodybuilders
*
Mark Dugdale
Mark James Dugdale (born December 25, 1974) is an American IFBB professional bodybuilder. He lives in Woodinville, Washington.
His first competition in bodybuilding was in 1997 when he competed in the NPC (National Physique Committee) Emerald ...
*
Mike Mentzer
Mike Mentzer (November 15, 1951 – June 10, 2001) was an American IFBB professional bodybuilder, businessman and author.
Early life and education
Mike Mentzer was born on November 15, 1951, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia. In gramma ...
*
Ray Mentzer
Ray Mentzer (August 3, 1953June 12, 2001) born in Philadelphia was the 1976 Junior Mr. America, 1978 IFBB Mr. USA and was winner of the 1979 Mr. America competition. Ray's brother, Mike Mentzer won the rival IFBB Mr. America in 1976 during Ray' ...
*
Clarence Bass
Clarence Bass (born 1937 in New Mexico) is an American writer, fitness expert, and retired lawyer. He is best known for his book and DVD series ''Ripped'', which chronicle his fitness, including becoming a past-40 bodybuilding champion. Bass was ...
*
Casey Viator
Casey Viator/Casius Viatoro (September 4, 1951 – September 4, 2013) was an American professional bodybuilder. He is noted as the youngest ever AAU Mr. America – gaining the title at the age of 19 in 1971.
Viator grew up in New Iberia, Louisi ...
*
Dorian Yates
Dorian Andrew Mientjez Yates (born 19 April 1962) is an English retired professional bodybuilder. He won the Mr. Olympia title six consecutive times from 1992 to 1997 and has the fifth-highest number of Mr. Olympia wins in history, ranking behi ...
*
Anibal Lopez
See also
*
Anaerobic exercise
*
Body for Life
*
High-intensity interval training
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a training protocol alternating short periods of intense or explosive anaerobic exercise with brief recovery periods until the point of exhaustion. HIIT involves exercises performed in repeated quick bu ...
*
Stuart McRobert
*
Super slow
References
Further reading
*Joanne Sharkey; Little, John B. (2006). ''The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer: the art, science, and philosophy of a bodybuilding legend''. New York: McGraw-Hill. .
*Little, John B.; Mentzer, Mike (2003). ''High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer way''. Chicago, Ill: Contemporary Books. .
*''Heavy Duty 2'' by Mike Mentzer
*LaVelle, Gordon (2006). ''Training for Mass''. Romanart Books. .
* John Little, Doug McGuff. ''Body by Science: A Research-Based Program for Strength Training, Body Building, and Complete Fitness in 12 Minutes a Week''
External links
What is High Intensity Training?
{{DEFAULTSORT:High Intensity Training
Weight training methodologies