My HIT log

[figgs]

Although I've only done 2 HIT workouts I decided that since I'm so sure this routine is going to work like no other, I'm going to keep a thread where I write about my experiences with this routine. I know I write a lot but I try to make it interesting. I'll get started right away.

Here's my first and last HIT quad workout (just as posted on my other thread):

Total training time-5 minutes

3 drop sets of leg extensions for pre-exhaust-each drop set taken to absolute failure with forced reps
Immediately I went over to the leg press and started my set without any rest-25 reps taken to absolute failure with forced reps
40-50 second rest
Another set of leg presses taken to absolute failure with forced reps

In the end I just sprawled my body over the whole seat and nearly passed out. I got up just to feel what it's like to try to stand after such an endeavor. HOLY SHIT! What a feeling! I couldn't stand! After a while I tried to walk. While walking I had to keep my legs fully extended or else my thighs would sink to the ground! You tinytits try this shit!!

This is a whole new experience for me. I feel like I've taken my training to a whole new heightened level of intensity. And I'm only in the infancy of my potential. With more experience with HIT I will learn how to increase the intensity from workout to workout. I feel like a newborn! This is a very refreshing experience! And my muscles are going to blow up!!

I just enjoyed a post-workout meal of the Gods. A chicken quesadilla from baja fresh! Before I left for the gym I told myself that if I felt my workout wasn't satisfactory enough, I would feed the quesadilla to my dog!


And today's HIT calves, chest and hamstrings workout:

Total training time- 6-10 minutes

Since calves are my most desired muscle and they're also are a genetic struggle, I always start my workout with them. I warmed and stretched before beginning. It took me a little while to psyche myself up for the standing calf presses before I began. After stretching and warming up I started pacing, clenching my fists and stuff. And I set the pin to a moderately heavy weight, climbed up and felt realization sweep over me. This was going to be intense, and I knew it.

I then did my calf rises, focusing on proper form and slow reps. I just do that until I can not raise my calves a millimeter. I try to keep my form 100% even while on my last reps. My last reps are fucking crazy. I get into the stretched position and press as hard as I can! And it takes a good 5 seconds of force until I started lifting up. And then the rep takes about 10 seconds long to complete. I have about 5 or more reps like this until nothing is left. And then when I reached that point, I decided on the last minute that I wasn't satisfied with the set. It didn't burn enough. So I lowered the weight by 4 plates. OK it feels light. So I'll work with it anyway. And so I go through the same process. This drop set burns a lot more than that first. And then I realize I just keep going and going. It's really hard, but I'm not hitting failure. So I raise a plate. Then I was able to reach failure. I get off and stretch immediately. And this is the hardest part. The burn multiplies like you wouldn't believe. I stretch for 30 godawful seconds. And get moving along (limping) to do my chest.

I found a huge bodybuilder friend of mine in the gym. I knew I could rely on him for a spot so I and asked him to help me during my 2 minute chest workout. After agreeing, to my relief because I absolutely needed a partner for this, I got warmed up with some push ups and stretches. I saw that huge guy I owned in the squat racks. The guy I wrote about in my thread "Story of a natural kid owning a juicer". I saw him doing flyes with the 45s and I saw a monster opportunity to own the shit out of him a second time. I was going to start my chest workout with flat flyes using the 70s. I wanted to neighbor benches with him and fucking put him to shame. BUT THE DAMN BENCHES WERE TAKEN!!!!

And then my chest workout begun. I flyed the 70s for a surprisingly high amount of reps. I was happy with the increase in lift. And the intensity. I took the set to absolute failure with forced reps. And then I dropsetted immediately using the 45s (motivated to do so by you know who). My pecs were set ablaze. Immediately after failing, I went over to the incline bench, where I set up my bar of a mere 155 pounds. Low reps! My pecs were feeling it! Took off 40 pounds and repped out some more! 20 pounds off and I swear to you, I hit absolute mother fucking failure. My spotter was just curling the weight (95 pounds!!!!). My chest was done, my shoulders were fried, and my triceps were limp. I had no power left in me. Not an ounce of it, even with all the adrenaline flowing through my veins. My pecs were annihilated in 2 minutes. My pump was unbelievable. Even now, hours later, I still feel the remnants of what was a truly extraordinary pump.

On to hamstrings. This routine is purely mine. I didn't get it from the Menzter book. I started with 3 sets of drop sets on the leg curl machine. After 3 great sets, I went to where I set up a step-up platform thing to do stiff-legged DLs. With my hamstrings fatigued from the pre-exhaust sets, I knew this was going to do some damage. And it did. I chose a good weight to get 9-10 reps. 2 minute workout!

Tomorrow is back and abs. A 6 minute workout or so. I'll keep you updated. I can't write a lot like I did today. I just did today because I have no school tomorrow. So if you hate reading all my writing, this will come to a relief to you.

[figgs]

Today I did my first HIT back workout. I decided to train in my high school's weight training room during gym for the first time to show the little tits how it's done!

Today's back workout:

Total training time- 3-4 minutes

I started off with cable pullovers for pre-exhaust. I did 2 drop sets, each in a moderate rep range (6-10). I had forced reps on both sets until failure was achieved.

Immediately following pullovers I did BB rows. 195 for way too many reps. Around 13 or so. After hitting failure I lowered 20 pounds to blast out another 10 reps. Because of the high reps, I was really out of breath. So I took a 40-50 second break.

Now for the hard part. Deadlifts. With a back annihilated from pre-exhaust and drop sets, I had a set of deadlifts to do. And I had to do them without rest. I did only about 270 pounds or something. But I underestimated my strength. I did about 8 or 9 reps. When the set got at its most exhausting point, I looked around at the other students, all 30 of them were watching me. I knew I couldn't stop. I eventually hit failure, and collapsed on the floor.

Without stretching my ego, I know I can say as a matter of fact that I had the most intense workout to ever take place in my high school.

[JPM]

With all this HIT stuff going on, how are you doing in your goal to get the strongest grip possible? Last month it was all about the grip. Making progress? Wonder what's it going to be next month. Good Luck.

[figgs]

With all this HIT stuff going on, how are you doing in your goal to get the strongest grip possible? Last month it was all about the grip. Making progress? Wonder what's it going to be next month. Good Luck.

LOL yeah I have a lot of goals to meet. The grip training is going alright. I still need to order those COC grippers, but I've been doing static holds, farmers walks, tearing old notebooks and squeezing apples and potatoes. hahaha I'm having fun. Thanks.

[GoneAway]

Crazy stuff! What style did you do before HIT?

Also, why are you not doing anymore HIT quad training again?

[figgs]

Good shit figgs, keep us posted.  I am always looking for new routines to mix in every 8-10 weeks.  I like the sound of chest work.  Sounds good.

Try it that chest workout!

Crazy stuff! What style did you do before HIT?

Also, why are you not doing anymore HIT quad training again?

My style was high intensity, low volume. How it's changed is I've added pre-exhausting, drop sets and much (zero) rest time inbetween sets.

My next quad workout is sunday. And I'm doing leg extensions followed by hack squats!

[figgs]

HIT deltoids and arms:

Total training time- 7-8 minutes

I started with my deltoids. I chose to do dumbell laterals for pre-exhaust. I did the 40s for high reps with some cheating and forced reps. My spotter sucked so the set could have been better. Immediately following I used the 25s, again for high reps. My spotter did a better job this time after I scolded him haha. And then I went right into seated military presses. 105 pounds for decent reps. Maybe 6 or 7. I then lowered the weight by 20 pounds and did about 4 more reps. Absolute failure and complete exhaustion of my deltoids was achieved. They were functionally useless at that point. I finished off with 2 drop sets of bent over laterals.

Then on to triceps. I really enjoyed my tricep workout. It went perfectly smooth. Good spotter (a different one than before) and everything was set up right next to eachother. I started with french presses. I did 135 for about 10 reps to failure. I dropped down to 85 and got about 6 more reps. I went right into close grip bench presses with only 135. I got about 5 or 6 reps. I had never felt a pump like this! When I was walking around, psyching myself up for biceps, my arms swinging at my sides felt limp. My triceps were done, wasted, blitzed to fuckin hell.

Then on to biceps. I had a really good spotter for this workout. When this guy agreed to spot me I gave him the usual rules of spotting and told him to pretend he's torturing me lol. I started with BB curls. 115 pounds I did for 9 or 10 reps with perfect form, forced reps applied. BB preacher curls followed. I did only 50 pounds for about 6 reps. This was intense as f**k. I love preacher curls for this reason. There's no cheating and no way out of the pain that's felt. Not unless you give up the set, which in my mind isn't even a debatable issue. The negative on my last rep was slowwww. Great workout. My pump was past its prime, which meant I had done more than enough to stimulate the growth process. And now, the next day, my biceps are sore. They almost never get sore.

[slaveboy1980]

HIT sucks...volume training is better, that was proven long ago. That being said, volume and intensity should be varied over time, so its ok to have periods of planned overreaching(maybe 3 weeks of extreme intensity, and during these phases each muscle can still be worked more than once a week l..) Often its the fact that you change a routine that adds muscle..not the fact that its HIT, HST or whatever.

[figgs]

HIT sucks...volume training is better, that was proven long ago. That being said, volume and intensity should be varied over time, so its ok to have periods of planned overreaching(maybe 3 weeks of extreme intensity, and during these phases each muscle can still be worked more than once a week l..) Often its the fact that you change a routine that adds muscle..not the fact that its HIT, HST or whatever.

No. HIT is a proven formula that produces optimal increases in muscle strength and size for EVERYONE. That is, everyone that can bear to train on such a level of intensity.

Anomtomically and physiologically, every human being is essentially the same. So to say that there is no specific scientific nature or cause of what activates the growth process is to say something devoid of all logic and reasoning. Muscle is muscle. A human being is a human being.

Volume training is not only a waste of time and effort, but is actually counterproductive. You draw from your energy reserves during training. And it doesn't take 5 minutes after your workout to restore the energy that was used up. It takes days. And It's far more important for your body to restore it's energy reserves than it is to use energy for building new muscle tissue because those energy reserves are necessary for survival, while building a 20 inch arm is not.

Imagine each set performed is like digging a hole into your energy reserves. The more sets performed, the deeper the hole and the longer that hole takes to fill up during rest. The first thing your body must do after the workout is not build a mountain, i.e., the new muscle growth on top, but fill the hole you've made below. That is, it must recover, overcome the deficit, compensate for the exhaustive effects of the workout. And so because it takes several days before that hole is filled up, it takes even longer to start building the mountain.

With that in mind, we're able to see just how and why HIT is as effective as it is. When volume is lowered, and energy reserves are spared, we are able to restore our energy reserves faster and enter the muscle building process sooner. Not only do we enter the muscle process sooner, but we also have a greater amount of energy which can be used to build new muscles.

This is a workout program that was the result of one man's use of of a specific method of thought. One of logic and reasoning. Mike Mentzer was perhaps the greatest bodybuilder of all time. He dedicated himself to making a science out of bodybuilding. And that he did. It's called HIT.

[GoneAway]

Figgs, what other physical activities do you do besides working out?

[TDK]

Figgs - Do you warmup for any exercises?  For you flyes for example do you warmup to the 40lbers for your worksets before the dropset?

I dont imagine you warmup after the flyes for inclines do you?  You go straight to workset as pec muscles are already warm?

[Your MAAAAaaaa]

Are you gaining much weight from HIT?

I trained it for ages and loved it to, the short bursts of intense training are so much better than long drawn out sessions! This keeps the mind motivated which in my experience is 99% of the battle!

Good log Figgs!


ta ta

[figgs]

Figgs, what other physical activities do you do besides working out?

Nothing much right now. If my high school were able to afford a football or wrestling team I'd be the first to sign up, but I have no opportunities.

Besides working out, I consider running a hobby.

Figgs - Do you warmup for any exercises?  For you flyes for example do you warmup to the 40lbers for your worksets before the dropset?

I dont imagine you warmup after the flyes for inclines do you?  You go straight to workset as pec muscles are already warm?

I warm up and stretch before I start each workout. And do so very thoroughly. I'll warm up with both flyes and presses for example. Tearing a muscle is my worst nightmare.

I don't warm up after flyes because that wouldn't be HIT. I have to go right from set to set, exercise to exercise with literally no rest inbetween each.

Are you gaining much weight from HIT?

I trained it for ages and loved it to, the short bursts of intense training are so much better than long drawn out sessions! This keeps the mind motivated which in my experience is 99% of the battle!

Good log Figgs!


ta ta

I just finished my first week so I havn't noticed an increase in weight, but I really feel great. I feel I'm at my biggest and strongest. I can really almost feel myself improving after only a week of HIT.

It's hard to find others who have the power to willingly put themselves through that kind of pain and intensity. Glad to know you not only were able to, but enjoyed it as well. How much experience do you have and how did it work for you?

Thanks guys. 

[Stubborn]

Maybe you can format your log as follows:


Exercise 1
sets x reps x weight
rest period

Exercise 2
sets x reps x weight
rest period


This will not only make it quicker to read but you can reference it faster as well. Just an idea!

 

[figgs]

Yep! But the thing is I like to write and can get carried away sometimes. Also it's that this thread is also being used as a personal log for myself. So I'm writing down my experiences as detailed as I can for now, in the beginning.

[Eyeball Chambers]

You seem to have really really good/intense workouts. 

I saw that huge guy I owned in the squat racks. The guy I wrote about in my thread "Story of a natural kid owning a juicer". I saw him doing flyes with the 45s and I saw a monster opportunity to own the shit out of him a second time. I was going to start my chest workout with flat flyes using the 70s. I wanted to neighbor benches with him and fucking put him to shame. BUT THE DAMN BENCHES WERE TAKEN!!!!

You really should work on not sounding like an arrogant douche though. 

[davie]

Figgs have u eva considered using am arthur jones type approach. 1set of each, 3 times as week full body??

davie

[Moen]

What Mentzer book exactly do you have?

I have several and I have never seen him recommend dropsets or second sets ?

[figgs]

You seem to have really really good/intense workouts. 





You really should work on not sounding like an arrogant douche though. 

They're awesome workouts. And I'm not usually a dick. I just thought that would have been really funny hahaha.

Figgs have u eva considered using am arthur jones type approach. 1set of each, 3 times as week full body??

davie

Yes. Actually, myseone has just pmed me a few links to very informative websites on alternate HIT routines, one of which by Arthur Jones.

What Mentzer book exactly do you have?

I have several and I have never seen him recommend dropsets or second sets ?

I have HIT training the Mike Mentzer Way. And you're right he doesn't recommend drop sets. I'm just a lunatic. I have, however, eased up on the drop sets because I got REALLY sore and suspected overtraining. And you'll see the changes I've made on my last workout.

[Eyeball Chambers]

And I'm not usually a dick. I just thought that would have been really funny

It actually was lol.

[figgs]

Quads:

Total training time- 2 minutes

Leg extensions- 3 drops sets x 8-18
Leg presses- 1 x 16

Without a spotter I couldn't have a maximally intense leg extension workout. To compensate for the fact I chose to do 3 drop sets. I otherwise would have done 2 drop sets. These sets were really intense, although I was dissappointed. My final set I could not left the weight unless I cheated. And so I cheated for a few more reps.  

My set of leg presses was done to absolute failure. And I'm very happy to be able to say that.

Next week I'm going to increase the weight on leg presses. And will do so little by little each week by at least 10 pounds.

Overall, the workout was just alright. It was extremely intense but I feel it could have been more so if I had a spotter. Goddamnit.

Today I'm going swimming. I need to do more cardio now that I'm burning much less calories. I've gotten a bit chunkier. With added cardio I should get down to a good maintainable BF%.

[TDK]

figsy - I know from experience that really good spotters who you can trust are few and far between in most gyms.

It must be hard to be able to trust just anyone to spot you especially seeing as you have 1 set and 1 chance to get all you can out of your workout with HIT so if the spotter is intent on barbell rowing when you are bench pressing it could fuck the entire workout.

Do you just have a few guys in the gym who you can pick and chose from that you can trust.

A good spotter for HIT is vital and probably not emphasised enough.

[Moen]

You're training too often too figgs! 
If I remember correctly In the mentzer way Mike said to train only every 5-7 days 

[figgs]

You're training too often too figgs! 
If I remember correctly In the mentzer way Mike said to train only every 5-7 days 

hahahah nahh Mike made some crazy claims like that but I actually LIKE to train so I'm not going to limit myself like that!

figsy - I know from experience that really good spotters who you can trust are few and far between in most gyms.

It must be hard to be able to trust just anyone to spot you especially seeing as you have 1 set and 1 chance to get all you can out of your workout with HIT so if the spotter is intent on barbell rowing when you are bench pressing it could f**k the entire workout.

Do you just have a few guys in the gym who you can pick and chose from that you can trust.

A good spotter for HIT is vital and probably not emphasised enough.

You're absolutely right. I'm very picky with who spots me. I picked the wrong idiot today. I told him to help me with the lift the slightest bit and he's doing half the work until I scold him about it. 

[Bast000]

Quads:

Total training time- 2 minutes

brutal stimulation