Why HIT is wrong (or not totally right)

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[stephenrimbach]

Or you could have said "Cherish those who seek the truth but beware of those who found it"

[normapadro]

Hello. I have been applying this style of training since 1996. I did research on it. I applied one exercise for the upper body, one exercise for the lower body. I use a compound exercise like bench press, squats, or leg press for the lower part of the body. One set until failure. No warm ups. Just one set. 3 times a week. Monday, wednesday, friday. I let the muscles rest saturday, sunday, tuesday, thursday. I don't use anything heavy, because you can give tension to the muscles with no weights at all. Push ups against the wall, squatting in place until muscle failure, and go on with the rest of the day. This 2 exercises have kept me mobile for many years. Many years ago I was skeptical, because the more is better idea was very tempting back then. I got off that anxiety, and my body feels fine. The skeletal muscles, and tendons work the way they should. For my forearms I use hand grips. I squeeze them several times one set untill failure. Each hand. For the calves I do calf raises. One set until failure. I stopped counting, because some days the muscles will give up on a few reps. Walking is easier than running. You have to walk everywhere. Walk slow. Slow walking is beneficial if you have a lung disease like I have. For years I learned that I couldn't run. So walking slow helped me to get the benefits of cardio. This is what worked for me. I'm 57, and aging. I know my limits. You will learn yours too. If you have health issues exercise at your own pace. I do.

[Piccolo_Re]

I can’t remember if it was Arthur Jones or Mike Mentzer who said this, but it was that our lower body needs high reps because its main design is endurance (eg you have to walk or run or jog to survive and hunt). And the upper body is ok with lower reps because it’s genetically designed made for short bursts of heavy lifting, pushing, or pulling.

[stevesorensen]

Wait a minute. The last video I watched of yours you went on and on about how great Super Slow training is. That's a form of High Intensity Training. This sounds like program hopping to me.

[papaspaulding]

I think most people are looking for simple answers to building muscle (as per also most things in life) and also drawn to extremes so it becomes 'high volume' vs 'HIT' or super slow rep speed vs heavier weight and power based rep speed. full body vs bro split etc etc etc.

Truth is correctly as you stated in that it's very nuanced based on different muscle groups and how the person responds, and as for the basics like most things the optimal is neither one extreme or the other its the best of both, ie intensity with enough volume.
all training advice should be treated as a pick n mix, ie never blindly follow one program or one persons advice or approach to training, take from different sources and reject that which doesn't work for yourself. what is optimal for one person might be the worst for the next person and visa versa.
It's for this reason despite trial and error over the years ive never followed any one programme ive seen or read. Ive taken from many but never taken copied a set programme someone else has wrote

I agree also 100% in what you say about trial and error, It's how Ive always approached my training since starting out as a teen during the 90s to even today age 45, I know what works for me and what doesn't and much of what 'the studies' would say is wrong for me in some regards and were I to blindly follow I would never have learnt that and made the results i have.

I think also in terms of being able to truly listen to the body and knowing how to respond in regards to different muscle groups and the stimuls they need re frequency, load, volume etc is something that takes a long time to learn and is hard to explain to someone just starting or even someone who has been training a good few years as these things often take trial and error over long periods of time and consistency to find out.
Which again comes back to people looking for easy answers and short cuts

[jerome.armstrong]

Thanks for this video. I'm a big HIT guy, but in my most recent video I've speculated that for some people direct calf or forearm or shoulder work could constitute overtraining given how often those muscle groups are used in other movements. If I had to guess, that's probably why your calves weren't responding to HIT. Oddly enough, this would be explained by HIT principles, LOL, but I agree that in a sense people are too focused on programs, not principles.

[HITsweden]

I have the same thoughts. Now I´m trying 2 sets with 1 RiR on biceps and chest (lagging) and the rest of the body I go one set all too MMF.

[SBU_]

Imagine being this 150 lb guy and thinking Dorian Yates and Mentzer were wrong lol

[AlphaInvesting]

Progressive overload and super set or giant sets with going to failure on last set with 12-15 sets per muscle group and 2-3 days rest between

[rickholzer]

When not on CUTTING, Blood and Guts style 5x week max (Naturals). Cutting? H.I.T. style 3 X WEEK MAX...

[danielreed]

BAD ADVICE....i have done both high volume and H.I.T. and H.I.T. is by far the 40 yrs says so. i've been training longer than you've been alive.