If you want to reshape your body, weight training is a must. But it takes more than lifting light weights if you really want to make a significant change. It requires high-intensity training, or HIT as it’s often called, and it’s effective. The technique has been widely promoted and publicized by many people over the past two decades, including “Mr. America” winner Mike Mentzer, Bill Phillips (author of “Body for Life”), Art Jones (builder of the Nautilus team) and Ellington Darden who (some say) wrote the “Bible” on HIT.
HIT is based on intensity (extreme intensity) and definitely brings results. The magic of HIT according to Phillips is the “highlight”. Mentzer calls it the “breaking point.” Regardless of what you call it, it’s the point in the set (usually the last rep) where muscle growth is stimulated. Below it, nothing happens, so it is, in fact, a “magic point”. The idea is to continue your reps to the point where you can no longer lift the weight, or even move it an inch. It is the point of “full”. failure,” and it’s also the magic point you’re looking for. It’s only when you completely exhaust your muscles that they grow. It’s that incredible all-or-nothing effort that does it. Mentzer gives a metaphor that I think is quite apt. He says, “Exercise and muscle growth are like a stick of dynamite and a hammer. Hit the dynamite softly and nothing happens (even if you hit it ten times), but hit it hard enough and… boom! The same situation occurs with muscle growth and weight training. Lifting “easy” weights won’t help much, but hit the “high point” and… boom! Muscles appear suddenly. Phillips describes the situation as: “The stimulus to trigger muscle growth occurs quickly or not at all.”
How hard do you have to train to stimulate this growth? According to Phillips, you have to train with “heart and soul.” According to Art Jones, you have to train so hard that you “throw up.” (That’s a bit much for me, but I think he gets the message). You not only have to work hard, but you have to go beyond that. It may surprise you, but when you think you’re completely exhausted, you usually aren’t. You can usually squeeze out one more rep. Basically, this is what you want: push your reps to the limit, then do one more.
You are no doubt wondering, with a program like this, how long does it take to see results? With high intensity training (and I’m assuming it really is HIT) they’ll come fast, in just a few weeks. What you will see first is an increase in strength. Where you could only do three pull-ups last week, now you can do eight, and so on. In short, an increase in strength comes first, then an increase in muscle size.
Let me finish by saying that the key is quality, not quantity. Intensive weight training will give you much more than easy, long-lasting workouts. In fact, you may not make any gains at all with light, long-lasting weights. But of course any exercise is better than none.