HARRY'S OFFICIAL HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING THREAD - UPDATE COMING SOON

[D.L. 5]

As requested by many into H.I.T or curious to either try it or dismantle its premises, I am here to answer your questions or generally discuss H.I.T. I am an expert in all of Mike's work and I have done 6 cycles of workouts as of (July 2007). I am open to all opinions and do not try to belittle or totally disagree with others questioning H.I.T (as some people do).

OK LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED WITH MY OUTLINE OF THE BASIC H.I.T ROUTINE AND SOME PERSONAL GUIDELINES I HAVE AUTHORED AND AFTER THIS THE DORIAN YATES ROUTINE:

MIKE MENTZER WORKOUT PLAN AND TIPS

WORKOUT # 1 – Chest and Back

1. Dumbell Flyes - 4-6 reps
 
Pre-exhaust with

Incline Smith Machine – 1-3 reps ( after failure do a few negatives)

[periodically do static contraction to failure on pec-deck, choose a weight where u can hold the contraction for 8-12 seconds to fail]

2. Straight arm Pulldowns – 6 -7 reps

Pre-exhaust with

Close grip Palms up Pull downs – 6 reps

[periodically do static failure on close grip pull down, once again choose weight that u can hold 8-12 seconds in the contracted position]

3. Deadlifts – 6-8 reps  [ Do these nice and slow as per the advised rep speed]

WORKOUT # 2 - LEGS

Leg extensions –  4 - 8 reps

Static failure – hold for 8-12 seconds – use this at your discretion.

Superset with

Hack Squats – 4-8 reps.

Do negatives after positive failure. Remember purely negative reps are done after failure. Each negative rep : the weight should be lowered slowly for 10 seconds.

Leg Press Machine Calf Raises – 6-8 reps (sometimes a little lower sometimes a little higher)

Advanced techniques for calves:

Static failure: 30 seconds hold static contraction.

Negatives: lower for ten seconds on leg press machine (these are great for calf growth)

Cycle 1 Workout 3 –

Side raises – 4 – 6 reps

Do static failure after positive failure, hold for 8-12 seconds.

Do negatives too.

Bent Over rear raises – 4-6 reps

Do statics and negatives as well but they are quite awkward for this exercise.

Close Grip Palms up pull downs – 4-6 reps

Periodically do statics.

Triceps Push Downs – 3- 6 reps

Pre-exhaust with

Dips – 2-5 reps.

Always go to negative failure on dips after you have reached positive failure.

WORKOUT # 4 – REPEAT LEGS

HEAVY DUTY WORKOUT GUIDELINES

1. Rep Speed is 4 second positive, 2 second static (where applicable) and 4 second negative. This is essential and beginners must make rigorous effort to adhere to the rep speed and make it become second nature. Remember, the aim is to increase the poundages lifted, however the key is that YOU and YOUR MUSCLE are responsible for moving the weight and not momentum. Forget about impressing others if training at a commercial gym and focus on your goals and your form. While the other lifters at your gym move large amounts of weight with momentum and make little or no progress (except for the satisfaction of their ego), you will be on your way to a HEAVY DUTY physique and reaching your goals. The other crucial benefit of this rep speed is that there will be no stress on your joints, tendons and connective tissue. All the force will be removed. Attempting a HEAVY DUTY regime with a quicker rep speed is a one way ticket to injury, arthritis and severe joint pain both in the near future and later in life.

2. You should rest 5-7 days between workouts. For example, if you did workout 1 on Monday, the earliest your next workout should be is Saturday. Your need for rest will depend heavily upon your diet, your amount of cardio, your use of advanced intensity techniques such as negatives, forced reps, statics and rest-pause, and of course your genetics. Experience and logic dictate that those not adhering to a high protein diet of 6 meals per day will not progress as well those who are. Sometimes you may feel you need longer than 7 days between workouts, that is fine, only workout when you feel you are ready. HEAVY DUTY training places a remarkable stress upon the Central Nervous System and you will feel this effect after your very first workout.

3. High Intensity training is harder than any other style of bodybuilding. The ability to reach TRUE FAILURE (where your entire bodily system cannot complete another rep…not even if your life depended on it, not even if your survival as a human depended on it) is very difficult and you will have to build up to this. Do not be deterred or feel inadequate or incapable if you stop short of true failure in your first cycle. Remember, the body and mind will naturally fight the need to reach such an intense effort, and your mind will question the need to push so hard. Other times, the agony will be so intense that you know you can do more however you feel like stopping. Once again, do not worry, as time progresses you will cope better and even exceed your expectations. The intensity of effort to complete a HEAVY DUTY workout is extreme and in order to go through with it you must have a strong emotional attachment to not only the workout itself but also the results you desire. Without this desire you will not be able to reach TRUE FAILURE and you will not workout close to your true potential. HEAVY DUTY is all or nothing, if you do not push the limit or have the desire, your workout will not produce optimal results. Funnily enough a lack luster H.I.T workout will still stimulate the growth mechanism better than your run of the mill endurance style bodybuilding workout which is the industry standard these days.

4. A low rep range staying between 4-6 reps is the best rep range for stimulating the growth mechanism and forcing your body to adapt and grow. With this rep range your body is always being put under extreme pressure to adapt to lift a heavier weight. This is imperative and even more crucial for the natural bodybuilder. Another important reason is it is harder to concentrate and achieve high-quality contractions as the reps become higher, especially since the reps for HEAVY DUTY range from 8 seconds for those exercises without a static, and 10 seconds for those with a static contraction. Therefore just 6 reps will result in you controlling the weight for one minute! That is a lot of time which your muscle is under tension! So be at ease for those who feel more secure using higher reps!

DORIAN YATES HIGH INTENSITY TRAINING SPLIT

BICEPS

Incline Dumbell Curls 1* warmup 10 reps x 50 pound dumbells. 
                                  1 working set 6 - 8 reps x 70 pound dumbells.
EZ - Curl Barbell Curls     1* warmup set 10 reps x 100 pounds
                                  1 working set 6 - 8 reps x 140 pounds.

Nautilus Curls                  1  working set 6 - 8 reps x 120 pounds

(REST OF WORKOUT ROUTINE TO BE POSTED SOON)

[benchthis]

explain how HIT could be used for a sport specific trainning or is it just for bodybuilders???

[D.L. 5]

explain how HIT could be used for a sport specific trainning or is it just for bodybuilders???

Hello Benchthis,

thank you for ur questions.

I think H.I.T could be used for sport specific training but primarily its best use is for bodybuilders.

First of all it is better for bodybuilders because it results in the maximum adaptive growth a.k.a muscle growth response. It truly overloads the muscles however as u know the body is too clever to simply overload our muscles so radically and not effect our central nervous system. This effect on the central nervous system is radical and harsh. Simply two sets (a pre-exhaust of leg extension and squats) with H.I.T will be all u can handle for legs 'IF DONE PROPERLY'. the standard bodybuilding technique and style is more endurance based. In my humble opinion, a bodybuilder will need 6 months to improve his ability to reach true failure (failure where ur whole body cannot muster enough strength to complete a rep- this sort of failure is not as intense in standard training, as we are using one set on the exercise and only 4-5 sets for the entire workout, to reach failure at this sort of intensity is murderous).

Thus the issue for bodybuilders to be able to reach that ability to push beyond ur entire body. I believe at least a year is needed to train the body for this ABNORMAL response (by 'train' i mean be able to not only generate such failure, but to cope with it, and mentally push through it).

Now back to ur question: this form of failure and affect on the central nervous system is not good for sports! Furthermore, the soreness generated from H.I.T is more than likely to impede upon the ability to play your sport during the week.

Its application for sport specific training could be this: using the slow rep scheme to build strength without putting tremendous force onto the tendons, joints, etc. I would do this with higher reps and not true failure for an athlete (eg- failure for a normal person, not the true failure of h.i.t). So the slow reps could give great strength benefits.

Now for the reality of sport specific training: Lifting weights only makes u good at one thing: LIFTING WEIGHTS. yes it helps your strength but u always need a way to 'transfer' that lifting movement to ur skills of particular game u play.

The best program for learning this is by Michael Jordan's trainer 'Tim Grover' he created a revolutionary program which not only prolonged jordans career and many others but transfered weight lifts to basketball. for example here is a sample of a routine which is sport specific:

Squats 1 set.
followed by plyometric movement of jump squat
finished off by simulating ten jump shots (on the spot with out the ball).
followed by a 'specific' static muscle stretch for 30 seconds (as we know flexibility leads to explosiveness)

see how u did the squats, then did a specific plyometric movement and then did 'pretend' jump shots and transfered it to ur sport, and then did a specific stretch for that muscle.

The other issue with slow reps and sports specificness, is that no sport moves in slow motion lol. So the best bet is to be as sport specific as possible while minimizing the impact on the joints and tendons. the best way to safeguard this is to do alot of 'wobble board' work, and one leg squats and balance exercises not to mention to strengthen the glutes with 'bridges' etc.

I hope this answered your question.

Keep the questions coming everybody.

[D.L. 5]

TEACHING MILOS THE IMPORTANCE AND DEFINITION OF INTENSITY (NOT ENDURANCE, WHICH FEELS 'HARD TO DO' BUT IS NOT INTENSE BY DEFINITION):

Quote from: BEAST 8692 on Today at 07:47:38 PM
milos was actually trying to convince me that you can go flat out for an extended period. i couldn't believe a highly paid trainer could be that stupid.

D.L.5 REPLY:

TO MILOS (no disrespect u are a great bodybuilder with a legendary physique which i look up to):

intensity and endurance are two different things, maybe milos should read mike mentzer's literature (namely 'high intensity training the mike mentzer way') to learn about the true meaning of intensity.

to break it down easier for milos:

a sprinter runs his race for 10 seconds in 100 meters.

u then get him to run it again after two minutes. (it will be a slower time)

then u get him to run it a third time (this time it is even slower than the first two)

Did running the 2nd and 3rd time feel hard to the runner? yes! was the intensity the same? no, could the muscles generate the same force and power as the first race? no!

with weights u want to attain the highest possible performance and most intense lifts and contractions, with each subsequent set ur bodies ability to generate this intensity diminishes. its human nature. u can't run 100 meter sprints for 10 seconds flat ten times in a day.

remember u want to reach a level where u get an adaptive response an overload of the muscles beyond that of last time.

If u want to turn bodybuilding into an endurance event to see 'how long' u can lift weights at ur best lifting capacity (a low intensity endeavour) that is fine.

If u want bodybuilding to be a high-intensity event that generates the most intensity which requires the least amount of exercise, or should i say the exact amount! and no more, then do so.

maybe ask your friend dorian yates....u know that guy, i think he won a few olympias.

[benchthis]

awesome just awesome thanks

[D.L. 5]

awesome just awesome thanks

NO WORRIES.

[D.L. 5]

Thank you to everyone for their private messages, questions, support and requests. As a result of this generation of interest I have updated the topic with an outline of the H.I.T workout plan, my recommended rep range, some advanced intensity techniques and some guidelines.