Ok, I know that the HIT methodology has gotten some very bad press and rightfully so. But I want to tell you my experience with it and see what you think.
Many years ago I did the typical bodybuilding workout; multiple set with multiple exercises per body part. I did get some gains on this approach, but not very spectacular. I also did not get very strong. Then after a year of that approach I joined a Nautilus gym. While I didn’t adhere to a one-set-per muscle group ideal, I did use the machines and did about 3 exercises of one set each per muscle group. I also only rested about 30 seconds or less between exercise. Well, I trained this way for a few months and I got big, fast. I gained about an inch on my arms, chest, etc. Not too much on the leg though as the machine they had sucked.
In any case, I know that all new workouts will produce some results, but I have to say that I have never experience this kind of growth before doing this or any workout before or after. In fact, I have tried to duplicate this formula for many years since that time and never been able to duplicate it.
To me it seems getting the correct balance between volume and intensity, assuming everything else is the same, is the key. Keep in mind, that this was the kind of workout that was intense, almost made me toss my cookies several times, but also made me invigorated. It seemed that instead of getting burned out by the workout (which occurred with the “bodybuilding” method) each time I worked out I would feel stronger and want to do more. It’s like I was totally surfing the anabolic wave (no I didn’t do roids).
So I would like to know if anyone else has had the same experience, or you have ideas as to what the magic formula is for this kind of growth?
I think most people around here will agree that any time that you’ve been doing the same thing over and over, your body has NO reason to adapt, and therefore you will make NO gains.
You change the stimulus and all of a sudden the body must adapt to it, and it grows stronger and/or bigger.
After a few weeks, guess what, then it’s time to change stimulus again!
There’s a lot more playing into the awesome gains you had than just the workout alone. You also have to look at your nutrition back then compared to now, your age difference, hormones, supplements etc… all sorts of stuff!
While I think that sometimes High volume is good, I also think that at times HIT/HD can be good, (such as after doing LOTS of volume). I’ve made gains on both methods no doubt, although I think that each of these is extremes. Optimal muscle growth is probably somewhere between these too approaches. I would highly suggest you check out Chad Waterbury’s new article
here
http://t-nation.com/readTopic.do;?id=651322
and get an idea of what a good mix of intensity and volume is for your particular goal.
Yes, I read Chad’s article and I think it represents a good compromise between the HIT idea and the Wieder guys. But I think both have their place and that HIT can and does produce results. This issue is that no workout high or low volume is best. They all work at different times depending on a lot of variables.
[quote]Lorisco wrote:
But I think both have their place and that HIT can and does produce results. This issue is that no workout high or low volume is best. They all work at different times depending on a lot of variables.[/quote]
Well, yeah. The conclusion most have come to about HIT is that for those who have done a lot of high volume training, or are burned out, switching to a HIT style of training allows them to grow. It’s all about giving the body a break to allow supercompensation to occur.
[quote]Nate Dogg wrote:
Lorisco wrote:
But I think both have their place and that HIT can and does produce results. This issue is that no workout high or low volume is best. They all work at different times depending on a lot of variables.
Well, yeah. The conclusion most have come to about HIT is that for those who have done a lot of high volume training, or are burned out, switching to a HIT style of training allows them to grow. It’s all about giving the body a break to allow supercompensation to occur.[/quote]
Right. I think it’s that swing from one lower intensity high volume workout to the high intensity low volume workout that causes the great results. The two are so different that your body has to adapt. And once it does you switch back and it starts all over again.