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ttwarrior1 06-01-2005 10:32 PM

New member here
 
got tired of the other sites. This site looks new and good. I am a Hit trainer and moderator of the yahoo groups Heavy_Duty and bluegrassfitness.
I hope to get my members to come here and get this place going.

Darkhorse 06-01-2005 10:50 PM

Welcome! I'm glad to see someone else with some good knowledge. If you're into hard and heavy training, you might like my journals! What's your stats- :cool:

Darkhorse 06-01-2005 10:56 PM

BTW, look through all the forums so you know which one to post what in. ;)

WantingMuscle7 06-02-2005 03:17 AM

heyyy welcome these guys r great here ive learned a ton since joining and reading all the threads

verbatimreturned 06-02-2005 12:37 PM

welcome ttwarrior

Dr X 06-07-2005 04:27 PM

Welcome to the board. You sound like you have alot to offer.

apocalypse 06-11-2005 11:08 PM

He wont have enough to offer until he gets to know Rosie Dr.X. :p

Boxing Raven 07-04-2005 07:27 AM

Thank the lawrd!
 
Quote:

Originally Posted by ttwarrior1
got tired of the other sites. This site looks new and good. I am a Hit trainer and moderator of the yahoo groups Heavy_Duty and bluegrassfitness.
I hope to get my members to come here and get this place going.

Thank gawd! Finally our saviour has come to save this place!!! I was just thinking...."boy, I sure hope someone realizes how badly we need help and comes along looking to totally revamp, and moderate/control this website".

Lucky for me...my knight in shinning armour has arrived!

Raven :D

Boxing Raven 07-04-2005 07:30 AM

Wait a minute....
 
You've been here for a month, and you've only posted 5 times? Some f'n saviour you turned out to be!! Where are all our new, more knowledgable members? We really need your yahoo bodybuilding group to save us! Personally, I've been eating 5 grams of protein a day, with 4500 grams of carbohydrates and about another 2500 grams of fat (obviously I'm on a cutting cycle). As far as supplements, I take Devils Claw and Palmetto Root combined with 10 grams of Red Ginseng daily!!! My work out consists of a strict, every odd week work out, where I grab my 20 lbs dumbells and do nothing but arm curls. Please...Yahoo Bodybuilding Svengali....SAVE ME!!!

WantingMuscle7 07-04-2005 09:00 AM

Lol thats funny I hope July will have a little more posting.

verbatimreturned 07-06-2005 05:35 PM

didnt u want to be a moderator here too?

apocalypse 07-07-2005 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boxing Raven
You've been here for a month, and you've only posted 5 times? Some f'n saviour you turned out to be!! Where are all our new, more knowledgable members? We really need your yahoo bodybuilding group to save us! Personally, I've been eating 5 grams of protein a day, with 4500 grams of carbohydrates and about another 2500 grams of fat (obviously I'm on a cutting cycle). As far as supplements, I take Devils Claw and Palmetto Root combined with 10 grams of Red Ginseng daily!!! My work out consists of a strict, every odd week work out, where I grab my 20 lbs dumbells and do nothing but arm curls. Please...Yahoo Bodybuilding Svengali....SAVE ME!!!

Hhaha, I am laughing my booty off after reading that post raven. Why did u call him a saviour anyway? There is only one saviour, and u know that :D U might want to increase ur protein intake from 4 to about 93 by eating beef links :D

Boxing Raven 07-08-2005 10:02 AM

beef links?
 
Hey Apoc,

I'm really having problems here. I was relying on TTWarrior to save me! He said he was going to come here to help revamp us. I think we all could probably benifit from his Yahoo bodybuilding advice.

I don't know if I'd eat beef links for extra protein, I understand that you can get 0.1 grams of protein in a can of diet coke, so...if I just drink 100 cans of diet coke a day, I'd be getting 10 extra grams right there! Hmmm...nevermind, I bet you that regular coke has even more! I emailed TTWarrior for help, but for some reason he hasn't responded.

I was hoping to have Arnold Swartzenegger's upper body and Tom Platz's lower body by next week (when I go to the beach), but without TT's advice I have to settle for Tom Arnold's upper and lower body!!!

Raven

ttwarrior1 07-12-2005 10:49 AM

just say the word. Ill have up to a thousand here in a week . If not ill leave and never come back. But only if im a moderator. Just check out my yahoo groups bluegrassfitness and Heavy_Duty. Ill have them all join plus all the people i train through email. IM a mike menter hit trainer.

joeyboy777 07-12-2005 11:03 AM

Lets hope you are some troll, using someone elses name for fun

I helped you out in a thread earlier, http://www.mikementzer.com/

You mispelled his name in the topic, and you mispelled it in your last post. And this is your IDOL.

As you can tell, Im in a bad mood today, and I believe you sir - are an idiot.

As I posted before,

Dont know where you get more posts in one day on your yahoo groups. I already posted how many total members you have on each. Lets look at the stats on each.
HD
Message History
Search Messages:
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2005 10 10 1 2 5 2
2004 8 86 65 85 70 18 6 20 9 5 4 10
2003 2 1 1 4 4 16 14 16 7 1 6 2
2002 1

Total of 491 posts since inception...

only 30 messages since January of this year........
but I did find gils place from checkin out the board....



blue
well, im not a personal trainer, so didnt join, but stats...
56 posts since january of this year.
206 total members...

ttwarrior1 07-16-2005 06:51 PM

yeah but i get 50 emails a day from them personally . Plus big deal i typed it fast and typed menter. How about giving me a chance to get 1000 people here. Like i said just say so and if i dont ill leave in a week.
I guess you like it being small.

verbatimreturned 07-16-2005 07:22 PM

no, its just that we all believe that your bullshitting us and yahoo groups have a horrible reputation with the members here. how about you give us a "Sample" and bring 15 of your most knowledgable members from your groups...(if this is ok with the rest of the forum that is) if we are impressed then maybe we will be willing to believe you. no offense but it seems to me that we are hearing alot of talk and no real results, if you train all of these people through Email why not help out with some of the questions posted here, show everyone what you know. and your constant "please feel bad for me lines like" youll leave us if we say arent going to work...we arent just going to feel bad for you, and start kissing your ass. its obvious that everyone makes spelling mistakes also, but once again if your going to tell us all about all of these people that you help out daily...why not help out some people here and add some posts to your total of 7?

BG5150 07-16-2005 07:35 PM

Let's just lock this thread up and move on. It's geting very antagonistic.

Darkhorse 07-16-2005 08:30 PM

I know I already posted this before but got no response. HIT'ites think their way is God, which it isn't. Probably a shitty idea to put a thousand HIT'ites on here all saying to only workout once every 4 days.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ironaddict
Agreed throughout bodybuilding:
1.His basic premise that most bodybuilders overtrain is CORRECT!
2.His basic premise that doing less will result in better gains for MOST people is CORRECT!
3.The basic principles of muscle stressors and adaptation is CORRECT!
4.His ideas about exercise selection and execution are well thought out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Disagree
5.The routines given work GREAT for many people.......for a short time, and then quit working......no explanation is ever given how to get past this.
6.His diet recommendations are past the point of belief and just DON’T work.
7.His statement that we all as humans share the same physiology and thus all require the same loading protocol is just the lamest thing I can imagine. And the sad thing is a very long time ago, I read it and believed it. Pretty stupid.

There is nothing wrong with very low volume training providing you respond to it, but the way Mike presented it, just gets one started down the path and then leaves them stranded. I knew alot of experienced trainees try this and fail.

Mentzer's HD2 template basically had quirky frequency setups in his routine. For legs and back, he would have you work out once every 12 days. But the upper torso would be worked twice over a 8 day period, and then given a 8 day layoff.

What this usually meant was that both the back and legs were significantly deconditioned session to session. This, in addition to working with new PRs for legs and back, would guarantee significant microtrauma during each session. And because we're talking about a very low volume one-shot, it's not likely the muscle's resistance to future bouts would have been adequately developed anyway. Thus, each growth response would have been very significant and possibly sustained longer than the 36-48 hour window.

It should also be noted that cardio was strongly frowned upon with his program. The HIT conventional wisdom at the time was that cardio ate up gains, not only glycogen storage. Here, this was somewhat true. Due to HD (and 3-way split routines were designed in general) very, very strong reliance upon a significantly deconditioned state to elicit growth, any amount of serious physical activity would significantly hurt potential gains. Looking back, it's probably the rise of the MWF split in the 90s that begun really demonizing cardio as this mass-eater. (Metzner) We all know that is bullshit because all you need to do is to take in more calories than you expand doing cardio to continue to grow.

The other thing is, general arm and upper torso gains, strength or sizewise, were not that great with HD2. People usually saw great gains in the back and leg work, but the arms were the first to taper a bit. In fact, I think the static contractions were introduced mostly to bump up arm development. (Though to his credit, Mentzer recommending hitching the stretch reflex in his movements too.) And again, the conventional wisdom was that, well, arms are a smaller bodypart and need more time to grow. And some people later on reasoned that arms didn't grow that much because the frequency was higher-than-optimal in his given template. People noticed that it was harder to continuously increase their bench press on HD2 whereas the legs and backs flew right by.

The problem was two-fold in his arm exercises. He chose peak contraction-style exercises, movements like lateral raises and tricep pushdown, which can induce a lot of stress (thus slowing down strength gains), but is often no better if not inferior to the bench press and other movements in producing microtruama.


Boxing Raven 07-18-2005 01:07 PM

Sleazy to give all admin privillages over to TWarrior?
 
Is there any truth to the rumor that Sleazy may be handing over all rights to the website to TWarrior and his squad of experts?

I for one am sick of being "small" as he posted. I require TWarriors help to get me all boosted up with 6 workouts a month! Help me TWarrior, you're our only hope!

(Don't you guys think we should let him be the admin just for 1 day so we can all laugh our heads off?) :D

WantingMuscle7 07-18-2005 03:21 PM

He'd probably like ban everybody here haha.

verbatimreturned 07-18-2005 04:56 PM

true or just the regulars here

ttwarrior1 07-19-2005 01:07 PM

no as a mentzer man, i train twice a week and have my clients lift twice a week, every week

ttwarrior1 07-19-2005 01:08 PM

#5 has been answered many times 031

WantingMuscle7 07-19-2005 02:42 PM

Your clients lift twice a week? Whats an example workout you'd give someone.

verbatimreturned 07-19-2005 02:46 PM

your "clients" lift twice a week. who do your "clients" consist of? if #5 has been answered several times then why not post the answer? or do you have to be the moderator before you tell us?

Darkhorse 07-19-2005 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ttwarrior1
#5 has been answered many times 031

*sigh*well, guess I better waste time looking everywhere. Matter of fact, every website I go to is completely against HIT. This ranks up there with Weider, the jackass who thinks lifting past failure having a spotter do 3-4 more reps for you AND lifting one muscle per day with a ton of volume....Boy oh boy.

If HIT is superior, go onto this website and see what actual science says about it. www.hypertrophy-specific.com ;)

Darkhorse 07-19-2005 04:04 PM

Oh by the way, if you are a "trainer", can you explain to me about the rest of it I posted. Answers about cardio eats away muscle or a response to anything besides it's answered.

IMHO, Unfortunately HIT does not recognize that constant change is necessary and that muscles will eventually suffer from the repeated bout effect. ;)

Don't get me wrong, I don't completely hate the Hit'ite logic. I just thought of you being arrogant saying I'll bring my legions of Hit'ites here and square things away with my God given (Sleazy) supermod powers. I do in fact hate some of the HIT principles, but I will keep an open mind and anxiously await a mature debate. :cool:

Darkhorse 07-19-2005 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Viscious
One more thing to add...

Given a sufficient bulking diet, most beginning-to-intermediate natural trainees can gain 17lbs in 5 months. The real question, then, is how much of it will be water, fat, and lean muscle. HD was particularly bad about this. Most who gained a lot of weight on HD in a short time also gained a lot of fat, usually around 1:1 muscle to fat. Those who did better than that, would store the excess calories in glycogen stores and gain a lot of water weight. Easily 4-6lbs can be gained from water weight alone over this way in a short time, but only by people who either have below-average glycogen stores or highly conditioned muscles by which more of excess carbs can be shuttled into the stores. It happens that athletes and high-volume trainees fit that bill. They can partially deflect the bulking diet by storing it in water, which would create higher LBM gains.

But, that in turn suffers due to the relatively light frequency. A person is caught in a double-dang situation with the HD schedule. If you are sedentary between each metabolically iffy session, you start to lose your aerobic conditioning, your water weight wll drop, your metabolism will drop, and in turn your ability to partition nutrients optimally drops. But if you remain active and vigorous, you hurt your potential for real-world gains session to session. The only "safe" alternative to mantain that weight is to eat a proper bulking diet everyday; bu without the exercise, you'll get fat. LBM gains taper off rapidly.

Therefore, a person who gained 17lbs in 5 months on HD may only gain 5-10lbs in fat, 7-12lbs in LBM, and 3-4lbs of that is in glycogen/water storage. That in itself is not a bad, but it tempers the rapid results from said program.

And it levies why HDers find it difficult to continue gaining signficantly on the program. The HDer is basically left with two choices if they stick with the program. They can eat significantly all the time and risk a lot of fat gain. Or they can eat smaller meals, accepting that a 10-15lbs gain (for the beginner/intermediate) is a very good year as long as they feel very strong. The combination of their strength gains and their belief in their mediocre genetics or ectomorph metabolism soothes their doubts over whether another routine could produce better results. If you were a trainee with normal-to-average metabolism, pretty strong conditioning from previous training experience, and a desire to eat calorically significant meals, you could veer toward true bulking with less worry of fat. Those who don't, will stick to their lower calorie diets and reinforce their prophecy that "significant strength gains before real size gains." When the strength numbers stagnate, they lower frequency, which gets them stronger, but lowers their upside in LBM rate. .


At WantingMuscle-> This was his usual routine.. Not WarriorTT, I don't know what he does, but this was Mentzer as far as I know. TT can correct me if I'm wrong...
Usually, Mentzer used a 3-way split spread over 7-14 days. The layout was chest/back, legs, and arms, each day was separated by 2-4 days or so. I *think* the arms day included dips but I don't remember.

This meant that, after your chest day, you would rest 8 days before going for arms. But, you would only rest 4 days going from arms to chest. Big, big disrepancy here.

There was two problems with this. First, because you took 8 days off, the arms day had the potential to create a lot of DOMS. In addition to this, because you were training to failure with peak contraction movements (and since we're talking about Heavy Duty, we're talking real failure here, plus a static hold), you also fried your CNS. And remember, you're not doing enough exercise anyway to improve your functional performance, so glycogen storage and replenishment can be an issue too. Triple jeapardy in terms of strength loss. Now, you have 4 days to not only recover your previous arm strength but be in the surplus.

Darkhorse 07-26-2005 08:34 AM

Still swinging in the breeze...Here's a bunch of studies about how multiset periodization is vastly superior to HIT. Science shows that only one set to failure only stimulates 20-30% of muscle fibers; it bogs down the psuedo-science that you only need one intense set to fatigue all the fibers.

Actual science shall prevail.

1) Schlumberger A, Stec J, Schmidtbleicher D.J Strength Cond Res. 2001 Aug;15(3):284-9.
(2) Paulsen G, Myklestad D, Raastad T. J Strength Cond Res. 2003 Feb;17(1):115-20.
(3) Rhea MR, Alvar BA, Ball SD, Burkett LN. J Strength Cond Res. 2002 Nov;16(4):525-9.
(4) Kraemer WJ, Ratamess N, Fry AC, Triplett-McBride T, Koziris LP, Bauer JA, Lynch JM, Fleck SJ.Am J Sports Med. 2000 Sep-Oct;28(5):626-33.
(5) Kraemer, W.J., Newton, R.U., Bush, J., Volek, J., Triplett, N.T. and Koziris, L.P. (1995). Varied multiple set resistance training produces greater gains than single set program. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise, 27, S195.
(6) Kramer, J. B., Stone, M.H., O'Bryant, H.S., Conley, M.S., Johnson, R.L., Nieman, D.C., Honeycutt, D.R. and Hoke, T.P. (1997). Effects
of single versus multiple-sets of weight training: Impact of volume, intensity and variation. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 11, 143-147.
(7) Stone, M.H., Plisk, S., Stone, M.E., Schilling, B.K., O'Bryant, H.S. and Pierce, K.C. (1998). Athletic performance development: volume load - 1 set vs. multiple sets, training velocity and training variation. Strength and Conditioning, 20, 22-31.
(8) Stone, M.H., Chandler, T.F., Conley, M.S., Kramer, J.B. and Stone, M.E. (1996). Training to muscular failure: Is it necessary? Strength Conditioning, 18, 44-48.
(9) Edstrom L & Grimby L (1986) Effect of exercise on the motor unit. Muscle & Nerve 9:104-126
(10) Siff M C (2000) "Supertraining" Fifth Edition; Supertraining Institute
(11) Source: Brian P. Hamill, "Relative Safety of Weightlifting and Weight Training," _Journal of Strength Conditioning Research, Vol. 8, No. 1(1994): 53-57
(12) Siff M C (2002) "Facts and Fallacies of Fitness" Fifth Edition, Denver USA



As for showing the superior of Periodization over HIT check out pub med and ST group.

Darkhorse 07-26-2005 08:35 AM

Bloomer RJ & Ives JC 2002. Varying Neural and Hypertrophic Influences in a Strength Program. Strength and Conditioning Journal 22(2): 30–35.

Most of these are found in Pubmed

Darkhorse 07-26-2005 08:39 AM

"It takes two years to meet your genetic potential??"

A link to one at pubmed:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/q..._uids=14971985

The full text is in the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research as it states. I can post most it if you'd like to see. They reference 63 studies in it.

Of the 39 studies they used, 21 studies showed single sets "Until Failure" as opposed to "just fatigue" or whatever. Even though over half the studies used HIT style principles, multiple sets still won out.

In case anyone is wondering, I'm bored and think this board would benefit more from seeing two completely oposite point of views...

In one corner, hailing from Kentucky, Mr...........1,000 members!! :(

In the other corner, hailing from Boston Massachusetts, 00000hhhh threeeee eeelevennnnn! :D

Darkhorse 07-26-2005 08:51 AM

This one everyone will LOVE!!!!

"HIT" WITH A "HAMMER"
Frederick C. Hatfield, Ph.D., International Sports Sciences Association

To avoid being HIT with a HAMMER, I feel compelled to make these two important disclaimers before I begin writing:

As long as whatever form of training you're using doesn't hurt you, it's "good." Even if it keeps you from achieving your maximum potential, it's better than no training at all. So, on a scale of good, better, best, training according to the tenets of HIT theory is "good."
As long as whatever type of training equipment you're using doesn't hurt you, it's "good." Even if it keeps you from achieving your maximum potential, it's better than no training equipment at all. So, on a scale of good, better, best, training with Hammer equipment is "good."
Now, my tongue-in-cheek inclusion of the good folks at the Hammer equipment welding facility is merely that: Tongue-in-cheek. Actually, Hammer's inventor was none other than Arthur Jones. His son took over the company and made Hammer equipment a success story. So much so, in fact, that Life Fitness bought the company! The point is that Hammer, like Nautilus (Arthur's first foray into the wonderful world of weights), is frequently touted as the equipment of choice for the Hit Men. Me? I like BOTH companies' equipment no more or less than I like the rest of them. In fact, each has some unique merits, as do many others.
Recall the seven laws of weight training from most sport scientists' perspectives. Here they are:

The Law of Individual Differences: We all have different abilities and weaknesses, and we all respond differently (to a degree) to any given system of training. These differences should be taken into consideration when designing your training program.
The Overcompensation Principle: Mother Nature overcompensates for training stress by giving you bigger and stronger muscles.
The Overload Principle: To make Mother Nature overcompensate, you must stress your muscles beyond what they're already used to.
The SAID Principle: The acronym for "Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands."
The Use/Disuse Principle: "Use it or lose it" means that your muscles hypertrophy with use and atrophy with disuse.
The GAS Principle: The acronym for General Adaptation Syndrome, this law states that there must be a period of low intensity training or complete rest following periods of high intensity training.
The Specificity Principle: You'll get stronger at squats by doing squats as opposed to leg presses, and you'll get greater endurance for the marathon by running long distances than you will by (say) cycling long distances.
Many of the current "systems" of training offer nothing new, and they often violate one or more of the seven "grand daddy" laws. If you are to understand my critique of HIT theory (below), you will have to be familiar with the seven laws. I recommend that you re-read the article on these laws if the synopsis above isn't enough.

HIT History
It all started back in the early seventies with Arthur Jones of Nautilus fame. Arthur's chief mission, of course, was to sell equipment. His marketing plan was brilliant. My interpretation of his plan was that in order to sell his equipment (which for the day was quite expensive) he had to create a religion for the masses. To create a religion he needed 1) churches, 2) disciples, 3) a bible, and 4) clergy.
A scientist (Ellington Darden) inspired by God (Jones) wrote his bible, and (much later) a strength coach named "Moses" Matt Brzycki put the Ten Commandments from that bible into lay language. The Ten Commandments are presented below.
Then he paid a bunch of guys to follow the gospel (their test results were later incorporated into the bible). Later, a chosen few of them became his disciples.
The churches came next (Nautilus gyms sprang up all over the place... most are dead now, their respective flocks having flown the coop upon realizing that they were not making it to the promised land quickly enough -- in my humble opinion).
His clergymen (gym owners) LOVED Arthur because he had really neat looking equipment and a way for them to rustle their clients in the front door and out the back real fast by convincing them that one set to failure was "the way."
To support the notion that HIT is a Pagan religion, let me quote the word as it is written in the HIT page of the internet by one of his high priests, Matt Brzycki:
"To some--including me--Jones was years ahead of his time and full of brilliant, revolutionary ideas about exercise; to others, he was the devil incarnate. One thing that everyone seems to agree upon was that he was abrasive, outspoken and brutally candid."
Old timers like me recall that the most popular movies of the day were 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and The Time Machine. Arthur got the name "Nautilus" from one movie (his offset cam, copied from German physical therapy equipment of the mid 1800s, looked like a cross-sectioned conch shell), and the design from the other movie (his first machines were curiously reminiscent of the "Time Machine").

Yes. Arthur's business plan was brilliant, and it was carried out even moreso. It's no wonder that the religion has persisted to this day, so stauchly converted were his disciples.


Meet some of the HIT Disciples:
There is a small (but utterly vocal) band of Arthur Jones disciples who have, since the early seventies, clung desperately to the oft discredited notion that one high intensity set to failure is all you need to achieve your maximum potential in growing stronger or bigger. In fact, the contemporary biblical interpretation (below) admits that one may profit from three sets, although one set is just as good as three. I say "desperately" for good reason. These guys (who like to call each other "HIT Jedi") invested their hearts and souls (and, quite often, funds from their respective organizations) in the superiority of both Jones' equipment and his theories on how best to use it. Others have been or are "sponsored" by Arthur. It almost seems as if they are afraid of losing face (if not their jobs) if they were to back away from the tenets of the HIT theory now, despite the huge volume of scientific studies discrediting many of its tenets.
From a social-psychological view, it's utterly fascinating to watch the HIT men scramble. It brings to mind the great movie, "Lord of the Flies," in which a bunch of shipwrecked boys, left to their own devices, created a sort of Pagan society amongst themselves. Some of the Jedi who are more vocal than most, having written many passionate articles or books on their own cute little variants of the old Jones theory, bear mention. How they refer to each other as "Jedi" (which, I'm assured, means "priest") is yet more proof that HIT is a Pagan religion. I must say, however, I admire their zeal for lifting (albeit at a sub-par level)!

Meaning to cast no dispersion on these well-meaning gentlemen by identifying them to the readership of this website, and acknowledging that not all those listed may care to admit to, and in fact vehemently deny their Pagan beliefs (until after the cock crows), here they are in alphabetical order (this is neither an exhaustive listing, nor is it mine -- it came from their web site):

Matt Brzycki (strength coach at Princeton University);
Ellington Darden, Ph.D. (Jones' longtime science advisor);
Ken Leistner, D.C. (New York chiro who runs a gym there);
Ken Mannie (strength coach at Michigan State);
Stuart McRobert (publishes a "Hardgainer" newsletter);
Mike Mentzer (now deceased, former bodybuilder who fabricated his own "Heavy Duty" interpretation of Arthur's disproved tenets);
Dan Riley (strength coach of the Washington Redskins);
Rob Spector (keeper of a HIT web site); and
Wayne Westcott, Ph.D. (a YMCA fitness director)
Kim Wood (strength coach of the Cincinnati Bengals)
The Jedi also claim as disciples, bodybuilding converts such as Dorian Yates, Ray Mentzer and Casey Viator.
Just as Protestants split from Rome, some Jedi have gone their own way to create their own denominations of the HIT religion. The religious wrinkles provided by the various denominations after their split from Rome are quite interesting reading. I mentioned Mike Mentzer's "Heavy Duty" system of training in a previous article in this series -- really no different than HIT with a few funky (read: "mystical") wrinkles added.
There's also the "Superslow" system created by the Protestant HIT Jedi Ken Hutchins, who actually provides a fitness trainer certification in his system (which can be yours for as little as $495.00). His peculiar wrinkle to HIT theory has to do with friction. Says he:

"When you pull a trigger on a rifle or gun, you're supposed to pull with a slow, steady squeeze to the rear - if you jerk the trigger than the shot will be off. Same thing when lifting weights - each repetition should be a slow, steady squeeze of the muscle with no jerking.

"...if an exercise has little friction, it's better to use a longer negative as you don't get the "partial respite" that you would from an exercise with lots of friction."

Utter nonsense, of course...a topic for a future article, I'm afraid (space constraints, you know). Now I'd like to introduce you to the HIT commandments and some pointed comments on each relative to the seven grand daddy laws.


The Ten HIT Commandments according to Jedi Brzycki:
1. Train With A High Level Of Intensity.
"Intensity," according to HIT dogma, "relates to the degree of the "inroads"--or amount of fatigue--you've made into your muscle at any given instant. In the weight room, a high level of intensity is characterized by performing an exercise to the point of concentric muscular failure: when you've exhausted your muscles to the extent that you literally cannot raise the weight for any more repetitions. Failure to reach a desirable level of intensity--or muscular fatigue--will result in little or no gains in functional strength or muscular size. After reaching concentric muscular failure, you can increase the intensity even further by performing 3 to 5 additional post-fatigue repetitions. These post-fatigue reps may be either negatives or regressions and will allow you to overload your muscles in a safe, efficient manner."

There is no question that going to failure can constitute a more "intense" workout. But, in the real world -- in the gym -- intensity is so much more than that. Webster defines intensity as having or showing the characteristic of strength, force, straining, or (relative to a bodybuilder's focal point) other aspects of his or her effort to a maximum degree. The words intense and intent both have the same Latin root, intendere "to stretch out." If one is intent on doing something, he does so, by definition, with strained or eager attention -- with concentration! That intensity of effort is largely a function of the mind is not this writer's opinion. It is true by definition as well as by practical usage of the word! "Intensity" is increased by:

amplification of mental effort -- getting "psyched"
approaching your training with a burning passion, as though it were your LIFE
adding reps
adding weight (this is the common definition of intensity)
decreasing rest between reps
decreasing rest between sets
increasing the number of exercises per body part
increasing the total number of exercises or body parts trained at one session
increasing the number of training sessions per day
increasing the speed of movement
increasing the amount of work done at the anaerobic threshold (maximum pain tolerance)
increasing the amount of eccentric work your muscles are required to perform.
Perhaps most importantly, going to failure is NOT a prerequisite to adaptation!
The SAID Principle is violated by the first commandment of HIT. Their idea is to go to failure all the time, but certain "specific" training objectives mitigate against it (e.g., speed training). And, the GAS Principle, which states that there must be a period of low intensity training or complete rest following periods of high intensity training, is violated. These guys go to failure all the time!

Darkhorse 07-26-2005 08:51 AM

2. Attempt To Increase The Resistance Used Or The Repetitions Performed Every Workout.
"...every time you work out you should attempt to increase either the weight you use or the repetitions you perform in relation to your previous workout. This can be viewed as a "double progressive" technique (resistance and repetitions). Challenging your muscles in this manner will force them to adapt to the imposed demands (or stress)."


The SAID Principle is violated. Sometimes, lighter weights done rapidly is required. And sometimes heavier weights done for 3 reps is required. (If your training requires that you go to failure with a weight that's so heavy you can only do three reps, you are BEGGING for a MAJOR injury if that takes you to failure!) The GAS Principle is also violated. Alternating periods of high versus low intensity is a better way to go. If you wait until total recovery is accomplished in any given muscle, atrophy place.

3. Perform 1 To 3 Sets Of Each Exercise.
"...numerous research studies -- which I once again am probably viewed as dreaming up--have shown that there are no significant differences when performing either one, two or three sets of an exercise..."


Yep! You're dreaming pal! Dr. Richard Berger (my mentor during my doctoral studies at Temple) years ago showed that there IS a significant improvement in gains with three sets as opposed to one. Other studies have shown the same results. Nowadays, many athletes (bodybuilders included) do as many as 10 or more sets. Even Arthur Jones --the original HIT man --showed that people with white, fast-twitch muscles require fewer reps, sets and workouts per week than people with predominantly red, slow-twitch muscles.

Apparently, all HIT men are white muscle fiber guys? I think not! So, while none of the seven laws are violated here, some (especially the overload principle and the SAID principle) are not being applied to their maximum potential.

4. Reach Concentric Muscular Failure Within A Prescribed Number Of Repetitions.
"Repetition ranges differ from body part to body part and from coach to coach. In the course of training hundreds of collegiate athletes over the past eleven years, these are the ranges I usually assign: 15 to 20 (hip exercises), 10 to 15 (leg exercises) and 6 to 12 (upper body exercises). Other HIT strength coaches are pretty much in that neighborhood, with a few electing slightly lower ranges but not less than six."


Woah! You guys should be blushing on this one! The SAID principle is quite specific in recognizing that not everyone is alike. Not everyone responds in the same way to any given rep/set scheme. Look again at my response to Commandment Three.

5. Perform Each Repetition With Proper Technique.
"A quality rep is performed by raising and lowering the weight in a deliberate, controlled manner. Lifting a weight in a rapid, explosive fashion is ill-advised for two reasons: (1) it exposes your muscles, joint structures and connective tissue to potentially dangerous forces which magnify the likelihood of an injury while strength training, and (2) it introduces momentum into the movement which makes the exercise less productive and less efficient. Lifting a weight in about 1 to 2 seconds will guarantee that you're exercising in a safe, efficient manner. It should take about 3 to 4 seconds to lower the weight back to the starting/stretched position."


First, I grow weary of the HIT business of being "safe." Where in the book does it say that going slow and deliberate with a heavy weight is safer? I think otherwise. And, certainly, these slow, deliberate movements are not as effective as other methods in many instances. SOME reps are well performed in the manner described above. However, this commandment clearly disregards the importance of cheating movements, explosive lifting (e.g., the Olympic lifts), and many other techniques of lifting. Further, slow, deliberate movements are nowhere NEAR as effective for forcing an adaptive response in connective tissues as are more explosive (and yes, often "ballistic") movements. So much for their claim to "safety!" Deinhibition of the Golgi tendon organ's protective feedback loop can be moved back far more effectively with controlled ballistic movements than with slow, deliberate movements. Clearly, this commandment is in violation of the Overcompensation, Specificity and SAID principles.

6. Strength Train For No More Than One Hour Per Workout.
"If you are training with a high level of intensity--and you should--you literally cannot exercise for a long period of time. ...Training with a minimal amount of recovery time between exercises will elicit a metabolic conditioning effect that cannot be approached by traditional multiple set programs. Don't ask me why cause I've been makin' all this stuff up as I go along."


Ol' Jedi Brzycki continues to put his sandalled foot on top of his golden tongue. Here, I think (one can't really tell) he's claiming that doing one set of squats, then one set of benches, then one set of pulldowns, then one set of curls, and one set of 3, 4, 5 or so additional exercises, and you're outta the gym. C'mon!

Clearly, this commandment is in violation of the Overcompensation, Specificity and SAID principles. Re-read my response to Commandment Three. People are DIFFERENT!

7. Emphasize The Major Muscle Groups.
"The focal point for most of your exercises should be your major muscle groups (i.e. your hips, legs and upper torso)."


Oh? Have we lost sight of training weaknesses first? Bodybuilders know this instinctively. Most athletes do as well. Clearly, this commandment is in violation of the Specificity and SAID principles.

8. Whenever Possible, Work Your Muscles From Largest To Smallest.
"Exercise your hips first, then go to your legs (hams, quads and calves or dorsi flexors), upper torso (chest, upper back and shoulders), arms (biceps, triceps and forearms), abs and finally your low back."


Duhhhhh! Am I missing something? In the Eighth Commandment, you told us NOT to focus on smaller muscles! In addition to violating one of your own commandments, this commandment is in violation of the Specificity and SAID principles.

9. Strength Train 2 To 3 Times Per Week On Nonconsecutive Days.
"...a period of about 48 to 72 hours is necessary for muscle tissue to recover sufficiently from a strength workout. A period of at least 48 hours is also required to replenish your depleted carbohydrate stores. ...Performing any more than three sessions a week can gradually become counterproductive due to a catabolic effect. This occurs when the demands you have placed on your muscles have exceeded you recovery ability. Recovery time is adequate if you continue making gains."


Sometimes 48-72 hours is sufficient, and sometimes it's not. Depending upon the muscle involved it may be less or it may be more. Remember:

Big muscles take longer to recover than smaller ones
Fast twitch muscles (your "explosive" muscles) take longer to recover than slow twitch muscle fibers ("endurance" muscles);
Guys recover faster than girls;
You recover faster from slow movements than from fast movements;
You recover faster from low intensity training than from high intensity training.
The older you get, the longer it takes to recover
By carbohydrate stores, do you mean glycogen? Not 48 hours...something closer to 2 or 3 hours!
I, and every athlete I've ever trained, often trained twice a day! The Russian athletes do, the Bulgarian weightlifters train 3-6 times a day! And, even if there were (as Bryzcki put it) a "catabolic" effect, wouldn't that call for a "periodized approach to training?

Grand daddy laws violated with this one are the SAID, GAS and Specificity Principles.

10. Keep Accurate Records Of Your Performance.
"Records are a log of what you've accomplished during each and every strength session. Record keeping can be an extremely valuable tool to monitor progress and make your workouts more meaningful. It can also be used to identify exercises in which a plateau has been reached."


OK. I'll give the HIT men this one.

On the other hand, HIT folk will have to use their logs to refer back more often than other (non-HIT) trainees. They're bound to be hitting plateaus a lot more than others.

Jedi Bryzcki ended his "Sermon On The Web" with these words:

"Don't be misled by the brevity or simplicity of a program that calls for one set of an exercise done with a high level of intensity. Strength Coach Ken Mannie has stated that HIT is "the most productive, most efficient and without a doubt, the most demanding form of strength training known to man [and woman]." Of course, I read that in Nautilus magazine. And Mannie was drunk at the time."

Need I say more?


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sidebar:
HIT Jedi Matt Brzycki posted these gems in the HIT Web Site:
"...HIT received a lot of attention--and created quite a controversial maelstrom--in 1970 with the publication of numerous articles written by Nautilus founder Arthur Jones. Although Jones didn't invent HIT, there's no question that he certainly was the one who popularized it and formally suggested guidelines and principles for its use.

"Jones has mellowed with age but I got some laughs a few months ago when I saw him insult a group of unsuspecting sportsmedicine people with his trademark brash comments and demeanor. Anyway .

"...what was seen was rarely a pretty sight. In fact, it was kinda ugly. Rarely were more than two sets of an exercise performed--and never more than three. You really couldn't do much more anyway. The level of intensity suggested by Jones was performing each exercise to the point of muscular failure.

"If you were too exhausted to crawl--which was sometimes the case--you were physically grabbed and dragged to the next exercise. Jones' opinion of an acceptable level of intensity might best be summed up with one of his many colorful quotes: "Have you ever vomited as a result of doing one set of [biceps] curls? If not, then you simply don't know what hard work is. Ahh, those were the days."

Darkhorse 07-26-2005 12:31 PM

HIT....... or Miss?
By: Louie Simmons


Many readers may not realize that I am involved in the training of pro-football teams and many college football and basketball teams. For example, the Kansas City Jayhawks and Utah Utes are heavily influenced by our training as it relates to speed strength. Two of the pro- football teams are the Green Bay Packers and the New England Patriots. Not a bad group to be associated with, huh? I also talk to a head strength coach that has been affiliated with a winning tradition in the NFL who tells me, although he is ashamed to admit it, that he has linemen coming into the league that can't vertical jump 19 inches or squat 300 pounds. He related to me that these players are from "high-intensity training" (H.I.T.) schools and that this type of weight program is making his job next to impossible.
A pro-lineman told me while I was at their camp that when he was placed on the H. I.T. program in college, his team was the top 5th school his senior year. He thought he was strong until the combines. When he got only 12 repetitions with 225 pounds, he was embarrassed. He was picked by a pro-team that utilized our training and that has an excellent strength coach. In 2 years this lineman did 17 reps with 315 pounds. He made a remark that machines and H.I.T. were useless. This got back to his old college team, who immediately banned him for life from their weight room. Gee, what a pity.
At Westside, we thought we would do some research on H.I.T. So Dave Tate and myself looked into this, I must say, misguided method. What is their viewpoint? Where was their research taken from? Why is it loved by some and despised by others?
First let's look at the concept of intensity. Apparently H.I.T. views it as a feeling, like a pump, a term bodybuilders made popular. Is it a scientific term? No. Is a bodybuilder quick or explosive? No. If you know a converted bodybuilder who powerlifts, he almost always lifts well under what he appears to be able to do. Why? He has trained only the muscle, not the central nervous system. That is why smaller ball players are almost always faster and many times stronger based on percent of bodyweight. Bodybuilders develop no reversal strength or starting or accelerating strength. Any sport coach will tell you that acceleration is paramount in sports.
A. S. Prilepin suggested that to achieve the proper intensity, one should use the rep/set scheme shown in the table, to ensure the greatest development of speed and strength. He discovered that if 7 or more reps were performed at 70%, the bar speed slowed and power decreased. The same holds true when using 80% or 90%; once one goes above the rep range shown, the bar slows, which translates to less power. Doing fewer or more lifts than Prilepin suggests will cause a decrease in training effect.


Number of Reps for Percent Training:
Percent Reps per set Optimal Total Range
55-65 3-6 24 18-30
70-75 3-6 18 12-24
80-85 2-4 15 10-20
90+ 1-2 7 4-10

Along the same parameters are the findings of Dr. Tamas Ajan and Prof. Lazar Baroga. They describe the zones of intensity as follows: 30 to 50% is low intensity; for speed-oriented sports; 50 to 85% is medium intensity; for force-oriented sports such as weightlifting; 85 to 95% is high intensity, for weightlifting and other sports; 1 00% and above is maximum and over-maximum Intensity, for the development of absolute strength.
Most authors who have studied strength as a physical quality examine it in four forms: absolute, speed, explosive, and strength endurance. The latter, strength endurance is basically all the H.I.T. program can possibly build. Strength endurance is characterized by a combination of great strength and significant endurance. It is needed by athletes who must compete for a prolonged period of time (3 to 4 hours) without diminished work capacity.
Well H.I.T. may increase endurance, but it does not promote great strength; in fact, it eliminates it completely by neglecting the other three elements of strength: absolute, speed, and explosive.
Dave Caster showed me an interesting paper, Strength, Power and Speed in Shot Put Training, by Dr. Poprawski, Director of the Sport High Performance Institute in Toronto and former coach of world shot put champion Edward Sarul. First, Poprawski realized the importance of intensity zones as described by Prilepin and the importance of using one weight percentage per workout. For example, weights of 50 to 75% were used for training speed and power. Much like our training, this training is based on a true max of, let's say, 500,600, or 700 pounds. Poprawski realized that a shot put always weighs 16 pounds; therefore he found that it was best to use one weight for a particular workout and to focus on increasing bar velocity rather than heavier weight to increase power. What was the key element for success? Speed, speed, and more speed.
Sarul was tested against other superior throwers, and while some could lift more weight, he was far ahead in tests of bar speed during the snatch and squats of 1 and 3 reps. His advantage in speed and the development of power was directly achieved by increasing bar speed, while the others fell behind from lifting too slowly. What does this tell us? Fast is good; slow is second team.
H.I.T. proponents use a lot of machines. This is truly a mistake. No stability can be developed. Most machines work on the peak contraction theory. Let's look at the pec machine. If you load a pec machine to the max, starting the movement requires a max effort, which is very difficult and dangerous. Yet at the finish, where the most weight can be lifted because of accommodating resistance, machines show their downfall.
More importantly, let's consider the strength curve. Take the case of two 700-pound deadlifters. One may blast the weight off the floor to near lockout and then fight the last 3 to 4 inches. The second may have difficulty starting the bar off the floor, pick up speed, and lockout easily. What does this illustrate? In the real world of strength these two lifters have quite different strength curves. If these same two lifters were to use a machine, only one would receive any benefit from that machine, because the machine has a predetermined strength curve. That's a 50% chance the machine won't work for you. Also, a machine will not build stability. The only good thing about a facility full of machines is that the instructor could be a moron and it won't make any difference.

ttwarrior1 08-03-2005 04:37 PM

most dont even know what mentzer hit is. Like did you know he generally recommends 4 up and 4 down training

Darkhorse 08-03-2005 05:02 PM

Wow, I did all this work and that's my response. That falls in line with an estimated 50% of HIT trainer's not knowing what they are teaching. The dark side of the force is weak in this one. :D

WantingMuscle7 08-03-2005 05:29 PM

I think anyone who were to read this would go with the light side.

verbatimreturned 08-03-2005 05:52 PM

the dark side of the force lmfao

joeyboy777 08-04-2005 06:12 AM

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