High intensity training

High Intensity Training (HIT) is a form of strength training popularized in the 1970s by Arthur Jones of Nautilus and MedX fame.

Introduction and History

High Intensity Training (also referred to as HIT) is a technique used in weight training in an attempt to increase size and strength of muscles in an efficienct manner. It was popularized by Arthur Jones, the founder of Nautilus. Core to HIT is the belief that workout routines could become much briefer provided the intensity was increased significantly. This was a radical departure from the conventional wisdom of the era, which said that weightlifting involving hours in the gym and a large number of sets of a large number of repititions as typified by the widely publicized routines of Arnold Schwarzenegger and others like him.

Since it allowed a faster, yet allegedly equally effective, workout circuit through a gym that was equipped with exercise machines, it is believed by many that it helped enable the explosion of commercial gyms in the 1970's and 1980's..

Current HIT advocates (sometimes called Jedi) that are relatively prominant are (from 'http://www.drweitz.com/scientific/hit.htm'):

It is also important to note that there are a large number of skeptics who dispute the methodologies and results claimed by HIT advocates. Skeptic about HIT:'http://www.drweitz.com/scientific/hit.htm'

Principles of HIT

The fundamental principles of High Intensity Training (HIT) are intensity, progression, duration, and frequency. Exercises are performed with a high level of effort, or intensity, where it is thought that it will stimulate the body to produce an increase in muscular strength and size. Advocates of HIT believe that this method is superior for strength and size building than most other methods which, for example, may stress lower weights with larger volume (reps).

As strength increases, HIT techniques will have the weight/resistance increased progressively where it is thought that it will provide the muscles with adequate overload to stimulate further improvements. In HIT, it is believed that there is an inverse relationship between how intensely and how long one can exercise. As a result, high intensity workouts are generally kept brief. After a High Intensity workout, as with any workout, the body requires time to recover and produce the responses stimulated during the workout, so rest is as important in the HIT philosophy as with many weight training methods. In any workout, not just HIT, training schedules should allow adequate time between workouts for recovery (and adaptation).

While many typical HIT programs are comprised of a single-set per exercise, thrice-weekly full-body workout, many variations exist in specific recommendations of set and exercise number, workout routines, volume and frequency of training. The common thread among these is an emphasis on a high level of effort, relatively brief and infrequent (i.e. not daily) training, and the cadence of a lift will be very slow compared to a non-HIT weight training routine.

Most HIT advocates stress the use of controlled lifting speeds and strict form, with special attention paid to avoiding any bouncing, jerking, or yanking of the weight or machine movement arm during exercise. Variations of HIT will vary in advice from lifting the weights smoothly but at a natural pace, others will time the lift, peak hold and descent. In extreme cases, it may take up to 30 seconds to complete a single repetition. While high intensity training is strongly associated with Nautilus exercise equipment (the founder of the HIT movement, Arthur Jones, developed Nautilus equipment), advocates vary in their equipment recommendations.

Also emphasized when near exhaustion, doing staic holds for periods of time, and negative reps (lowering the weight) are all methods to further exhaust the muscles or muscles exercised, and it is thought that this will stimulate further growth and strength.

Advocates of HIT are very passionate about this method, and they sometimes are referred to as HIT Jedi. It is a term of respect among HIT advocates, but may be derogatory when used by those who oppose these training techniques.

Controversy

It is also important to note that there are a large number of skeptics who dispute the methodologies and results claimed by HIT advocates. One Skeptic about HIT: SkepticFAQ

Essentially, HIT violates much conventional wisdom in weight training, by always exercising at or near maximum lifts, very breifly, and so on, it has flown in the face of the exercise establishment.

Aside from ruffling feathers, other criticisms in the early days arose:

When exercising with heavy weights (near someone's 1 rep maximum) encourages bad form and subsequent injury.

Always exercising with high intensity will plateau development quicker than varying a routine or exercising with lower intensity and higher reps.

Results were uneven - some responded very well to the training (natural athletes and bodybuilders), and others did not

Beginning trainees might need less intensity with more repition or some sort of periodized or varying-intensity routine in order to progress.

Older trainees (>40yrs) may get better results and lower injury chances with lower weights at higher reps.

In the first few years, HIT became increasingly extreme - with at least one form of HIT designed by Mike Mentzer was so brief and intense that only a very advanced bodybuilder with tremendous natural gifts could hope to get results from them.

Fortunately for HIT advocates, in subsequent decades, the routines have been refined by HIT Jedi, and some have evolved into HIT-based systems that tend to produce more consistent results for recreational bodybuilders and athletes of average genetic potential. (And indeed, many HIT routines can be customized for any particular body type)

One of the most interesting controversies surrounding HIT relates to its developnent, and its originality.

Near the close of the 19th century, a medical doctor by the name of Gustav Zander developed a complete set of machines similar to Nautilus and also a workout method remarkably close to that promoted by Arthur Jones in the early 1970's. Critics accuse Arthur Jones of copying Zander's work and calling it his own. Arthus Jones vigorously denied this and claimed that he developed his system and equipment without knowledge of Zander's work:

"So, in attempts to improve my exercise results, I designed and built a total of about twenty very sophisticated exercise machines, then believing that these were the first exercise machines ever built by anybody. But many years later, I learned that a doctor named Gustav Zander had designed and built a number of exercise machines in Europe nearly a hundred years before I built my first one; I did not copy Zander's work and learned nothing from him, was not even aware of his work until long after I had made the same discoveries that he had made. But if I had known about, and understood, Zander's work, it would have saved me a lot of time and a rather large fortune in money, because the man was a genius; his only problem was that he lived about a century ahead of his time, at a time when very few people cared about exercise and even fewer knew anything about it."

Regardless of who originally developed the systems (and machines) it is clear that through Arthur Jones and his company, and a crew of HIT advocates, the principles and concepts of HIT became popularized.

Scientific Evaluation

According to an article analyzing the technique "The preponderance of research strongly suggests that gains in muscular strength, hypertrophy, power, and endurance are the result of the following others simple guidelines":

A range of repetitions between three and 15
One set of each exercise
After performing a combination of concentric and eccentric muscle actions, working to momentary muscular failure is recommended as this will force the muscle to adapt to the stress more quickly.
Enough time between exercises to perform the next exercise in proper form.
Depending on individual recovery and response, a frequency of 2-3 times/week to stimulate each targeted muscle group.

The efficacy of HIT or any other exercise methodology is usually not subject to much debate, though there is a great deal of controversy when the subject of which methodology is "superior" for desired results.

Compare HIT to Popular Routines

HIT will target a single body part with a single exercise, and generally a single set of 3 to 15, usually to or near muscle failure, and with an extremely slow cadence.

A more conventional routine will target a single body parts with 1-3 exercises, with 3-5 sets of 6-12 repetitions. Cadence is supposed to be smooth, but not always super-slow. If done correctly the 'time under tension' or the actual amount of time a muscle is working in a HIT routine compared to a 'typical' weight training routine, the amount of time would be very similar or in some cases greater, though it is unknown to the author if there are any actual studies or other neutral findings that this is the actual case, it certainly is a common belief amongst the HIT faithful.

HIT stresses intensity over number of repetition which is the main difference. A lot of weightlifters will use a HIT routine to help break a 'plateau' - meaning they will use HIT temporarily when another routine stops giving desired results*. Some HIT trainees will use HIT exclusively as well - Arthur Jones himself believed HIT was all that was required.

Many people feel that alternating amongst several types of exercise routines is all part of a well rounded training program, and HIT is one among many types of useful routines to be used non exlusively.

References

HIT Publications

Rob Spector: //www.hardtraining.com/hitfaq_products.html The HIT FAQ
Stuart McRobert: Brawn and Beyond Brawn
Mike Mentzer: Heavy Duty 2 and High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way.
Matt Brzycki: A Practical Approach to Strength Training
Ellington Darden: The New High Intensity Training : The Best Muscle-Building System You've Never Tried
John Philbin: High-Intensity Training

External links

Weight training

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