The story of HIT - meaning High Intensity Training - begins with former Mr. America and Mr. Universe, Mike Mentzer's so-called Heavy Duty training which was a strong influence on such prominent bodybuilding figures in the 80s and 90s as Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates. Mike Mentzer was in turn a student of Dr. Arthur Jones and his Nautilus principles. Mentzer then developed High Intensity Training - which is based on performing very intense but brief and infrequent workouts - from an obscure theory to a mainstream practice.
The significance of High Intensity Training really came to even greater prominence during this period with the success of elite bodybuilders like Dorian Yates. His approach to training during his ascent to the Olympia title consisted of only two sets per exercise (after warming up), along with very specific reasons for each set. He later developed this technique into just one set per exercise program, and the results paid off in a physique which in many ways has never been completely surpassed.
The basic model that Yates and others built their own versions of HIT from consists not of one total set per exercise, but one working set per exercise: one or two progressive warm-up sets are an essential prerequisite before performing the working set. Secondly, in a typical 1 set training program, there are five to 14 days (or more) periods between sessions of training the same body part. These recuperation periods are vital due to the intensity of the training and complete tear down of the muscle fibers. Finally, there is a good deal of emphasis on both psychological and physiological warm-up. .
HIT for a New Level of Competitive Achievement
Exactly because it is both time efficient and effective for many body types and training lifestyles, HIT has had a huge appeal to bodybuilders seeking to move ahead in their sport by achieving dramatic improvements. One example of this was Musclemania pro champion Markus Reinhardt, who personally trained with Mike Mentzer before the former Universe champion died in 2001. Explains Markus about his background and experience with HIT: “I always had good genetics for my lower body, so I really didn’t have to train as specifically or intensely for my upper body at first. I had already gotten into a more scientific approach to training: I read a lot about Dr. Fred Hatfield’s training principles and was applying them to my workouts. But as my body was growing, and I got stronger and used more weight, I probably made the mistake of training too much.”
A combination of intensity and heavy-duty training principles enabled him to break out of this trap of overtraining. In workout sessions of heavy-duty training with Mike Mentzer himself, Markus found the former champion’s technique to be “close to what I did, but more extreme.” Their training sessions together were “the toughest training I’ve ever been through,” he remembers. “It opened a lot of new areas that I’ve never gotten into previously. It was a lot more intense than anything I had thought I could put myself through. So I was very enthusiastic about that, very motivated."
A Training Legacy to Build On
While low volume and high intensity are the central features of HIT, there are variations to the ways that bodybuilders can tailor the program to their own objectives. Some of these supplementary techniques within HIT include assisted training and superset training. Of course, the best source for an in depth tour of HIT and a detailed explanation remains Mentzer’s own book on the subject, High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way. Throughout the book you are encouraged to think for yourself, rather than just take the author at his word, and apply his theories to your existing program and its results and how the theories of HIT apply. Detailed workouts are listed, including all the information needed such as: exercise selection; number of sets; target repetitions; repetition speed; rest period between sets; and workout frequency. Each of these areas is explained diligently, and an explanation is also given for why a particular route is recommended. Very importantly, Mentzer also encourages you to analyze your results and explains what to do if you stop getting consistent strength increases.
Hal W. Peat - Hal Peat is an independent journalist on fitness, exercise, health and sports personalities. He has contributed for over 12 years to a ...
