High intensity training is a particular exercise protocol in which a practitioner performs a set of an exercise to positive muscular failure. Those who are train this way say that one set is just as good if not better than doing three sets the regular way.
Anyone a least a little bit CNFN knowledgeable about High Intensity Training has heard the names of Arthur Jones and Mike Mentzer, to name a couple proponents. Nautilus founder and exercise promoter Arthur Jones made high intensity training popular in the 1970s. Later on, a bodybuilder named Mike Mentzer put his own spin on H.I.T. and came up with a training discipline called Heavy Duty. Although Mentzer died in 2001, his fans still abound online extolling the virtues of his famous Heavy Duty program and exercise philosophy.
What are the Basics of High Intensity Training?
High intensity training methods vary but the concept is the same. A weight is lifted for a certain number of repetitions until the lifter comes to the point of momentary muscular failure (MMF). The definition of MMF is when you either can’t do another rep or you can’t do another rep with good form.
The guidelines for high intensity training are:
1) Training intensely—intensity of effort is the main concept. You do reps very slowly. This is only possible when the weight you are using is lighter than used in conventional training. Usually the cadence is two or three seconds on the concentric, hold for one or two seconds, and then three or four seconds on the eccentric. It is the slowness of the reps that recruit all muscle fibers from slow twitch to fast twitch.
2) Training Briefly–Hitters don’t spend hours in the gym but rather, minutes instead. No more than one or two exercises are done per body part. If you train with intensity to failure, you couldn’t do any more nor would you want to.
3) Training Infrequently—This means that you don’t necessarily train as regularly as other conventional ways. According to Mentzer, the exercise is only a stimulus, a trigger, to activate the growth mechanism. After this mechanism is activated, rest is the most important component in the training.
The staunch proponents of H.I.T. say that that while it may not be the only way to develop size and explosive strength, it is the best way.
Are There Any Opponents of High Intensity Training?
There are not really opponents but rather, experienced lifters who disagree with the premise that all an athlete needs is a good hit routine as a sole means to develop explosive power. Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell powerlifting fame and strength consultant to many pro football teams says that H.I.T. makes athletes slow and that it only develops hypertrophy and the endurance/fatigue of muscles. Dr. Fred Hatfield, another renowned powerlifter, made fun of hit mocking its “Jedi” practitioners as following a false religion. As of this date, there is no world class powerlifter who uses high intensity training exclusively. One critical difference between the two camps is a disagreement as to the rate of muscle atrophy without exercise stimulus: Mike Mentzer was reported to have said that it takes at least two weeks for a muscle to atrophy. Elite Powerlifters, however, say that they can start losing strength in less than a week.