H.I.T. and Cardio

[jeffh3c]

I have just finished reading Mike Mentzgers book. I understand that there are bennefits to the higher volume approach, and I have used them in the past. I made good gins on Arnolds program (Encyclopedia of BB) initially, but then the gains stopped. I have also tried MAx OT and that is the best gains I have made overall. With this in mind, I sought out the entzger book and read up on the HIT programs. I understand there are nay-sayers out there and having done the normal routines, I can see their point somewhat.

Introduction aside, I am wondering how the HIT programs from Mentzgers book have worked for others?

Also, of particular interest is the cardio. He says early on that extra activity makes inreads into recovery ability ad should be avoided, but then he goes through a contest prep chapter and says that lower intestity (can still talk while working out) cardio done 5 days (3 bike, 2 run) will be the pimary catalyst for fat loss. This seems contradictory and I am wondering what peoples thoughts are on this?

 

[jeffh3c]

Anyone?
I am switching to this style but really dont want to cut back too much and screw up the process too my too little.much cardio. I really would like to do 3 days per week at least, but was wanting some feedback from some who actively are using HIT

 

[DEE151]

Anyone?
I am switching to this style but really dont want to cut back too much and screw up the process too my too little.much cardio. I really would like to do 3 days per week at least, but was wanting some feedback from some who actively are using HIT

what does HIT stand for?
if you are doing cardio and you cant hold a conversation then you are going to fast. if you are doing cardio and you can hold on a conversation then you are doing it right i like to do 30mins of cardio on the stair master at like speed 5 or 6 hops this helps some what.

 

[jeffh3c]

what does HIT stand for?
if you are doing cardio and you cant hold a conversation then you are going to fast. if you are doing cardio and you can hold on a conversation then you are doing it right i like to do 30mins of cardio on the stair master at like speed 5 or 6 hops this helps some what.

HIT Is for High Intensity Training. All out to fail for 1-2 sets for 30 min. All ous is key. The term Heavy Duty was originally coined by Mike Mentzger. Thanks for that on cardio.

 

[Steveoph]

30 minutes is a pretty long HIT session. When cutting or trying to stay lean, I often do 10-15 mins of HIT after lifting. 20-30s on, ~40s off. Works quite well. I still am a fan of fasted cardio on some days, with lots of BCAAs, ECaY , cortisol modulator and perhaps some GH peptides though.

 

[jeffh3c]

30 minutes is a pretty long HIT session. When cutting or trying to stay lean, I often do 10-15 mins of HIT after lifting. 20-30s on, ~40s off. Works quite well. I still am a fan of fasted cardio on some days, with lots of BCAAs, ECaY , cortisol modulator and perhaps some GH peptides though.

HIT as in Hight Intensity Training (Heavy Duty lifting)as per Mike Mentzger. This was for the lifting portion. I am also looking to adjust the cardio (as above) so as to not overtain while using Mike Mentzgers principals.

 

[wearedbleedblue]

I tried HIT back in high school. Didn't make much progress on it. Was great for sleep though. I used to pass out within 30 minutes of getting home after the workout haha. IMO just take a few weeks of no cardio or maybe just go for a couple walks until you get more acclimated to the workouts and intensity of them.

 

[jeffh3c]

I tried HIT back in high school. Didn't make much progress on it. Was great for sleep though. I used to pass out within 30 minutes of getting home after the workout haha. IMO just take a few weeks of no cardio or maybe just go for a couple walks until you get more acclimated to the workouts and intensity of them.

What sort of plan do you use now that works for you?

 

[wearedbleedblue]

I really experiment with a lot of stuff. I haven't been in to the bodybuilder workouts in a long while. I don't do arms for the most part and I tend to play around with programs that are geared for athletic performance. I'm training a guy that we have a 10 year plan set up to get him to the olympics for weightlifting. So I've been working with a lot of Oly lifting training lately. Before that I did the UD 2.0 program. Its a complete diet and exercise program and I really enjoyed the results. My muscles got bigger and more defined while I lost roughly 2 inches in my waist in 5 weeks. Scale really didn't change much at all.

What are your goals first and foremost? If you just want body composition changes you'd do one thing versus strength another. Obviously if you wanted to someday compete in powerlifting you'd train a little bit differently than say a bodybuilding comp.

In general, I've had good success with programs that have upper/lower splits, doing each 2x a week, emphasizing on different aspects each workout. Let me know where you want to go and hopefully we can get you on the right path to get there.

 

[doingwork30]

This is just to clear up the confusion I've seen in a couple posts.

HIT (high intensity training) is very intense weight lifting.
HIIT(high intensity interval training) is the high intensity cardio where you go for some interval at top speed and then a rest period and then repeat.

 

[Steveoph]

Yup, noted. I assume HIT was a typo without the 2nd I.
I have never tried HIT.

 

[jeffh3c]

Even with the confusion, I still really do appreciate the feedback. As far as WEARREDBLEEDBLUE; my goal is to maintain muscle or grow slightly in size, increase strength, but really the muscle is a catalyst to burn more calories and get rid of the fat that I have been blessed with. Shorter term (not short, I know) is fat loss/recomp, long term is size/strength. Mentzger seemed to thinkt that his program would work both ways from what I gleaned from the reading. Thanks for all the relplies.

 

[wearedbleedblue]

Your eating is going to determine whether or not you lose fat. I've always seen weights as a way to maintain or build muscle while diet is the best way to lose fat. A basic plan that I like for recomp would be 3 full body weight sessions a week, 2 conditioning workouts revolving around either barbell or dumbell complexes, and 1 workout of sprints, either 3 400m sprints ran all out (less than 1:20 pace for men would be best) with 2-3 min rest between them or 6 200m sprints (0:40 pace or faster) with a min rest between.

For the weight workouts, I like to do one quad dominant exercise, one glute/hip dominant exercise, one push, one pull (alternate horizontal and vertical pulls). You can add in a couple sets of arms but its really not needed, especially for a recomp.

A sample would look like this:

Day 1
Squat
DB Floor Press
Glute Ham Raises
Seated Rows

Day 2
Barbell Complex:
Row
Clean
Frontsquat
Military Press
Back Squat
Good Mornings
10 reps each, start light. 30-60 rest, repeat 3-5x

Day 3
Deadlift
Push Press
Step Ups
Pull ups

Day 4
DB Complex:
Reverse Lunge 6/leg
RDL 12
Snatch 6/arm
Front Squat 6
Military Press 6
Bentover Row 6
Floor Press 12
60sec rest repeat up to 5x

Day 5:
Bench
RDL
Standing 1 arm Row
Split Squat

Day 6:
Sprints
400m x 3
Complete the total workout in under 15 min

You can take out a day of complexes and replace it with the sprints if you only have 5 days.

 

[fidget324]

Personally I have had great success with HIT, and now it is the only program I use. For it to work, however, you really have to do EVERYTHING correctly. This entails:
-Doing warmup sets for every exercise
-Perfect form on every exercise
-Constant motion during an exercise (no stopping and starting)
-Taking every exercise to absolute failure. The best way I have heard this put is that if Britney Spears promised to date you if you did just one more rep, you would not be able to do that rep.

These are just some general things though. If you're really serious about trying HIT, I would recommend prowling around the HIT training articles on BB.com

 

[jeffh3c]

I am wondering about how high HIT should be really. I buy into the recovery concept and I ave heard from many about the strength gains, but what about the fat loss. I have heard from those who do HIIT (Hight Intensity Interval Training) and from some who dont seem to do HIT in it's true sense, but what level of cardio are the HIT people using with their HIT program? Fidget 324 - Do you do 1 set or 2 (I know there are some HIT followers that do more than 1). I am just concerned about being able to keep the intensity high enough for 1 set, at least right away. I know thats what Mentzger said was best, but he started with more as well and eased back to that over the years.