I was desperate to build muscle when I was younger, so I read everything I could, listened to what people said too, mostly they said to train 3 sets of 10 reps. I found out later that it is actually a good tip!
As I said, I trained Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty HIT for about 2 years, maybe longer. I didn’t even grow 1 cm around my arms, I think, I remember using a tape measure every week.
Was it because I was a little untrained, that it didn’t work? Well, I don’t really think so, even if you are untrained, you would have grown at least 1 cm or two from swelling from the training alone. There was no growth, simply.
I trained chin-ups and deadlifts one day, rest for 1-2 weeks, and then dips and squats the next session, rest 1-2 weeks again. I always trained to failure, as Mike Mentzer recommended, because it is the last 1-2 reps that you grow, he said.
And then cadence, I lowered for four seconds, held for two seconds, and lifted for two seconds. I think there is too little explosive training to grow much, I am not for training heavy all the time, although it tends to recruit more muscle fibers. I noticed that when Arnold Schwarzenegger was an actor in Terminator, he was shaking when he lifted a shotgun, but could lift 250 kg in a bench press, yes, he only trained heavy mostly so the slow-twitch muscle fibers were not trained that well, so he lifts heavy, but can struggle to lift a sled, as I said. Yes, it is a bit the same problem with Heavy Duty HIT, you only train slow-twitch muscle fibers all the time, instead of training everything.
It is true that muscles do not break down again until after maybe 3-4 weeks without training, but you tend to lose some strength after a couple of weeks anyway, often just a week too, so it is an advantage to train often. Mike Mentzer talked a lot about overtraining too, but most professional bodybuilders train each muscle group 2-3 times a week, sometimes every day too, without it causing problems until after 5-6 weeks for example. Overtraining is often noticed by becoming tired and weak, irritable, etc. As I said, you notice it when you have to rest, it’s a little different on steroids too as protein synthesis is more efficient.
It should be said that Mike Mentzer himself never trained HIT, he trained like all other bodybuilders, maybe a little more intensively. But it is noticeable that it is a bit of the wrong approach to train too intensively, as you become too hard in appearance, Arnold for example. had a softer, more flexible appearance, more classically handsome, and more muscular from training 25 sets of each muscle group. I don’t think MIke Mentzer, stretched that much either or posed enough, since he had a slightly harder appearance, which was probably why he lost to Arnold too.
Again, a problem with training a few exercises is that the body gets used to it, it is common in bodybuilding to shock the muscles, so the body does not get used to the same routine all the time, and then you tend to train more types of muscle fibers when you vary the exercises, and train more. If you like training, it is often better to have a little more diversity in your training too, it is not just to shock the body.
Mike Mentzer recommended 60 % carbohydrates, 15 % fat, and 25 % protein, but I think that is a bit wrong too, I am not against carbohydrates as it fills muscles, and burns fat more easily, fat burning is actually much more effective on some carbohydrates. The usual rule is usually 1 gram of protein, per 1 kg of body weight, which professional bodybuilders go by, I think it is a little more effective, than just 25% protein.
I could go on and on about why Heavy Duty HIT doesn’t work, I enjoyed listening to him talk about training and diet, I read most of his books about philosophy as well, in addition to training and diet. It is said that he was a bit mad because he lost to Arnold, and said it was a conspiracy, I personally think that he was a bit crazy at the end, he probably meant well to help beginners with training, but when it doesn’t work. I discussed a lot with someone on youtube about this type of training, and he was always stubborn, but one day he finally showed a picture of his arm, and he looked a bit pale and chubby with small muscles, it was clear that HIT was too little training to look good and grow.
As I said, it was fun to try HIT and read books, watch videos, discuss with people, etc. But it was two years without results
