Natural Bodybuilding Site

Updated 7/23/09              

Quarter back twist with one calf flex single bicep pose.

 

What is HIT Compare to HVT?

HIT stands for High Intensity Training and HVT stands for High Volume Training.  The difference between the two is one workout is shorter but more intense than the other.  HVT consist of doing sets anywhere from 10 to 20 or even 25 total per bodypart and each exercise is done anywhere from 3 to 5 sets each.  Whereas HIT training is only 1 to 2 sets per bodypart and only 1 set per exercise taken to momentarily positive failure.

I don't believe that one is better than the other.  It really does depend on your fitness goal and what you are after.  If your goal is to stay tone and lean with better fitness level in both cardio and endurance then HVT is the one.  But if your goal is to achieve mass and strength development then HIT is the one.  But here's the catch.  It is very easy to overtrain with HVT and burn out, so one does have to be careful on it.  Reason for this is because the trainer does not pay much attention to recuperative abilities.  Too many sets can constitute overtraining.  HIT is shorter, intense, and requires you to rest longer in order to allow recuperation to take place.  Scientist have discovered that those who do HVT do tend to have better endurance and can tolerate longer physical activities such as mountain climbling, triathelon, and boot camp training.  At a cellular level they develop more capilaries, better slow twitch fiber, and better oxygen uptake.  HIT on the other hand can make you stronger all around and more dense in development.  Scientist have seen better fast twitch fiber development.  Since HIT short you don't have to spend much time in the gym.  That can be a good thing for those who have a busy schedule.  So yes, there are advantages and disadvantages to both of them. 

Can you perform positive failure on each of the 20 set or so of HVT training?  No.  It's just not possible, unless if you are on Anabolic Steriods.  You'll more than likely tear or injure your muscles and tendon.  Your body will definately not be able to recuperate enough.  You might  even find yourself sleeping up to 20 hours a day and no energy to do other things in your life. 

Can one get lean and rip with HIT?  Yes.  It's all in the matter of Kcal. reduction and supplementing it with low impact aerobics.  Be careful though not to cut off your carbs or else you will find yourself weakening and degressing.  Carb is HIT main energy source.

HIT may be short but it is harder to perform.  

Here I am doing 300lbs of Seated Row in perfect form.  

It takes a lot of discipline and hard work to go to the gym and push it hard.

 

Formula to HIT

In my book it is Author Jones who developed this formula and his protoge Dr. Darden followed it up.  Mike Mentzer made it more popular to the general public.  Even though Dr. Darden and Mike Mentzer derived their HIT theory from Author Jones they are different when it comes to application, just as I am different in mine compare to them.  But one thing is for sure, the Formula is the same for all of us HIT advocate. 

Intense - What makes HIT intense is because you have to achieve Momentary Positive Failure on each set and the each rep is done in a slow perfect fashion.

Brief - Since the workout is intense it has to be brief.  It is anatomically and physiologically impossible to do 20 sets with HIT.  The more intense the workout gets the more brief it has to be.

Infrequent - HIT takes a toll on ones body.  You have to allow time for your body to Recuperate from the intense workout before engaging on it again.  Progress also takes place during your recuperative period.  You can cause your progress to premature if you decide to workout again before Recuperation is completed.

 

Do's and Don't's

Do increase your weight whenever you hit your target rep.

Don't cheat your reps just so you can lift more weights or do an extra rep.

Do move to the next exercise when you feel like you've recuperated from the previous one.

Don't turn you workout into a cardio.  Meaning after you're done with one exercise don't be quick to jump to the next one or else your cardio will fail first before your muscle does.  Rest a little before engaging another workout, but do not rest too long or else your body will cool down.

Do use a partner if possible so that he or she can coach on your form and push you throughout your workout.

Don't attempt dangerous exercises if you don't have a partner.  Such exercises are Bench Press, Squats, and Leg Press.

Do warm up by stretching and lifting light weights before you go to a set where you take it to total failure.

Don't continue an exercise if you feel like you have injured something.  Stop immediately before it becomes a total tear or a severe injury.

Do change your workout routine every 6-12 weeks or so so that your body and your mind is stimulated and challenge.

Don't perform the same routine year after year.  Boredom will certainly set in and you'll find out that your muscles will get used to doing the same thing and it may not need to adapt by growing and becoming stronger.  Variety is the key thing.

 

Freeweights or Machines?

You know everytime I train a client I get asked a lot about this: which is better Freeweights or Machines?  I've known both bodybuilders who swear that they've gotten superior result by just using freeweights only or Machines.  I remember my first week on the gym I met this guy who recommended that I workout only on freeweights.  "Don't even bother with the machines man.  They are not worth it.  Freeweights will make you stronger and help you pack on the mass," those were his words if I remember correctly.  Of course being a novice back then I followed.

So what did I say to my clients when they ask me which is better?  They are both good.  Neither one has an advantage over the other.  Both freeweights and machines will do its job.  One thing about freeweights is that you can do a variety of exercises with them whereas machines are more specific on the exercise you perform.  Other than the target muscle freeweights do involve more muscles in the exercise.  They are known as stablizer muscles whereas machine focuses more on the target muscle.  Freeweights do have its short fall when it comes to the law of gravity, which affects the muscles range of tension throughout its range of motion.  Machines on the other hand have cams that creates tension in a more uniform way.

So don't get caught up as to which one is better or which one you should solely use.  They are both good and they both can create a variety in your workout.

 

Understanding the Recovery Ability in Relation to Weight Training

Keep in mind as a beginner who have never trained or only been training for a couple of months you have more recuperative ability than a person who has been training for over 10 years.  I've mentioned this in my Recuperation Section.   I thought it would be a good idea on brush up on this again.  OK, as a beginner you do have a lot of potential for growth and strength development.  But that potential certainly reduces as your improvement increases.  As you keep on improving throughout the years of hard training it will feel like you are training harder and harder and the progress is getting lesser and lesser.  In other words, your increase in muscle mass and strength are now tapping more and more into your Recovery Ability.

Why is that?  It is because Recovery Ability does not increase the same way as your strength and muscle does.  You will find that Recovery Ability deminishes as you get older, but can remain stable if you consistently exercise.  This is why advance bodybuilders tend to burn out easily than beginners.  Now keep this in mind: Recovery Ability does not increase much compare to muscles and strength.

With that said, should you increase the number sets you are doing as you progress in mass and strength like how most muscle magazines recommend?  Unless if you plan on staying natural then the answer is NO.  The best way to keep progress going is to cut the number of sets you do in your workout or make it less frequent and continue to train hard. 

Muscles respond to stimulate, which mean high intensity.  It does not adhere to the number of sets or reps you do it only adheres to stimulation which comes from the proper amount of sets and the intensity of the reps.

So there is a proper amount of exercise a beginner should train by in order to achieve the best result and a proper amount exercise that an advance should do in order to to get the best result.  Keep in mind that you should never get caught up with the notion of beginning and advance.  If you are making excellent progress at the type of workout you are doing then by all means stick with it till progress comes to a holt.  Eventually you will reach your full potential, but you do have a long way to go before that happens.

 

A Couple Of Things You Must Follow During Your Workouts

Full Range of Motion   Bodybuilders today are hooked on doing partial reps.  I've seen trainers doing this more so than ever before.  Some of the top IFBB top pros are training this way and they've set a bad example for others to follow.  Why do they train this way?  Just so they could lift more weights.  If top pros are training this way then and progress then what's so bad about that?  One word: "Steriods."  If you have gotten into this bad habit I suggest you breakaway from it and do full range of motion.  Your muscles will get more out from it.

Perfect Form  Another bad habit bodybuilders today are hooked on are cheating there reps: they swing their bodies, bounce the weight off their chest, bounce on their knees, move their elbows around just so they could lift more weights.  In the long run this can lead to some serious injuries.  Injuries that can end your training career.  Once a bad habit is established, it becomes very difficult to break.  So I suggest you don't get into it and if you are already into it then drop the weights you use and try lifting it without cheating.  Perfect Form is far more beneficial than cheating, because for one major reason: You are working the target muscle more.  With cheating it is basically a hit and miss; with Perfect Form you are on target.

Slow Reps   It prevents momentum from coming into play.  Momentum that comes from a cheating form as I said is basically a hit and miss.  Slow Reps allow your muscles to do all the work.  But what exactly is a slow rep?  There are some books that preach 10 sec. up and 15 sec. down, others 10 sec. up and 10 sec. down, and those who say 5 sec. up and 10 sec. down.   If you follow this you will need a sec. watch to time each rep then.  That's not really necessary.  Lift your reps in perfect form without any momentum, hold at peak contraction for 2 sec. and then slowly release down taking twice as long to release down than when you lift it.  Once down hold for 2 sec. and then begin the lift again instead of springing back up.  This way you avoid momentum or cheating and it is your muscles that does all the work.   

 

Start Off With A Total Body Workout

In the beginning I was very doubtful about doing Total Body Workout.  Dr. Darden holds firm to this type of HIT routine and he has had much success with the clients he trained in this fashion.  His mentor, Arthur Jones, trained Casey Viator this way and it helped him won a number of world titles.  The major reason why I didn't go for the Total Body Workout was because I was used to doing 20 sets per body part and training 4 to 6 days a week.  But later on when I came to my senses I did try it and I was very pleased with the result.  My weight shot up to 15 lbs in less than 3 months. 

Ofcourse like everything else progress do slow down and your body does overtrain as you gain muscle mass and strength.  The trick is to always keep the training brief, hard, and intense to keep the progress going. So this is where lesser training comes in to play by dong split routine.  But I do recommend you do Total Body Workout if you are a beginner or a bodybuilder who is coming down from training multiple sets.  I'm sure you will not regret it. 

The major reason why Total Body Workout is very effective is because the body recovers systematic.  When you are doing a set of Bench Press you are not only training your chest, but you are also training the other stablizer muscles. So you have stimulated these muscles.  On top of that you have also stimulated physiological level of your body.  That's why you not only feel tired on your upper, but all over as well.

 

Total Body Workout

Total Body Workout should start off at the bottom and then go up like calves, thigh, hamstring, abs, chest, back, shoulders, tricep, bicep.  With that in mind we can formulate a workout routine.  Below are examples, each are done 1 set only (warm ups must be done first ):

 

Mon.                                                Wed.                                              Fri.         

Standing Calf Raises                    Seated Calf Raises                      Donkey Calf Raises

Squat                                          Leg Extension                              Leg Press

Stiff Deadlift                                Leg Curls                                    Hyperextension

Crunches                                     Leg Raises                                  Sit Ups

Bench Press                                Natilus Flys                                 Machine Incline Press

Natilus Pullover                           Wide Pulldown                            Seated Rows

Upright Rows                              Military Press                              Dumbell Lateral Flys

Tricep Ext.                                  French Press                               Dips

Barbel Curls                                Natilus Curls                               Dumbell Curls

As you get stronger and bigger you will find that training 3 times a week will become too much.  Yes, progress will slow down or come to a halt, this is known as the plateau.  If this happens to you then there's a couple of things I would recommend you do first before you move to the next stage: add 300-500 kcal. to your diet and be sure you get sufficient sleep like around 8 hours a day.  If you have done this already and you have not made any progress then by all means-move to the next stage. 

Mon.                                                            Thurs.

Standing Calf Raises                                 Seated Calf Raises

Leg Press                                                 Squat 

Leg Curls                                                 Stiff Leg Deadlift

Crunches                                                  Leg Raises

Bench Press                                             Incline Press

Natilus Pullover                                        Wide Pulldown

Military Press                                           Upright Row

Dips                                                         Tricep Extension 

Barbell Curls                                            Dumbell Alternating Curls

 

Split Routine

As effective as the Total Body Training may be in time you'll find it to be too much.  As your body gets stronger and your size increase you will be making more in-roads into your Recovery System.  The trick again is to never let this happen in order to keep the progress going by cutting your workout down or making it more infrequent.  Of course the more you develop in strength and size progress will slow down any way.  It will feel like you are training even harder to achieve a small progress.  But it is important that the progress do come, even if it's tiny.

Split Routine is crucial in order to keep the progress going and to make your workout even more brief so that progress is sustainable.  I don't recommend you jump into a Split Routine before Total Body Workout.  I recommend you start off doing Total Body Workout and try getting as much progress from there first.

This is an example of a Split Routine base on a 3 week cycle:

1st Week Cycle

Mon.                                                        Wed.                                                     Fri.

Bench Press                                          Standing Calf Raises                          Incline Press

Pullover                                                 Squat                                                Wide Pulldown

Upright Rows                                        Stiff Leg Deadlift                               Military Press

Tricep Ext.                                            Crunches                                           Dips

Barbell Curls                                                                                                  Dumbell Curls

2nd Week Cycle

Mon.                                                        Wed.                                                      Fri.                                          

Donkey Calf Raises                              Dumbell Press                                     Seated Calf Raises                           

Leg Press                                             Seated Rows                                       Leg Extension

Leg Curls                                             Lateral Raises                                      Hyperextension  

Leg Raises                                           Dumbell Tricep Ext.                             Sit Ups 

                                                            Bench Curls

3rd Week Cycle

Mon.                                                        Wed.                                                       Fri.

Machine Press                                      Standing Calf Raise                             Pec Deck

Hammer Pull down                               Hack Squat                                         Machine Row

Military Press                                       Stiff Leg Deadlift                                  Upright Row

Tricep Ext.                                           Machine Crunches                               Barbell French Press

Machine Curls                                                                                                 Dumbell Bench Curls         

 

 

Undergrip Back Pull down

 

Split Routine part II

When recovering from your Split Workout Routine workout is becoming more delayed and you are not making anymore progress then the Split Workout Routine needs to be cut even more.  The workouts are getting shorter and more intense.  We will be adding an isolation movement to the workout for most of the major muscle groups.

Mon.                                                        Wed.                                                      Fri.

Chest                                                       Shoulder                                                 Quads

Bench Press                                         Upright Rows                                             Squat

Machine Flys                                        Dumbell Posterior Flys                               Leg Extension

Back                                                    Dumbell Anterior Flys                                  Hamstring 

Wide Pulldown                                         Tricep                                                    Leg Curls     

Natilus Pullover                                    Tricep Extension                                          Calves 

Abs                                                           Bicep                                                    Standing Calf Raises   

Slow Crunches                                     Barbel Curls            

 

Split Routine part III

Mon.                                                        Wed.                                                       Fri.

Chest                                                       Back                                                        Tricep

Incline Press                                           Rows                                                      French Press

Dumbell Flys                                          Front Pulldown                                         Bicep

Shoulder                                                  Shoulder                                                Machine Curls

Dumbell Anterior Flys                            Dumbell Lateral Flys                                  Abs

                                                             Machine Posterior Flys                             Machine Crunches

 

Mon.                                                        Wed.                                                        Fri.

Quads                                                      Repeat Cycle                                            Repeat Cycle

Leg Press

Leg Extension

Hamstring

Leg Curls

Calves

Standing Calf Raises                       

"Pumpin' ain't easy!"  

As you progress by gaining strength and muscles you will find that

the intensity of your workout also progresses.  I would like to Thank Steve Spreyer for the Tank Top.

 

Split Routine part IV

This is the last part of the Routine.  If you made it to this part then that means that you are a super advance trainer.  You are heavily muscled, strong, and you have a full understanding of how your recuperation works for you to keep progress going.  It took me nearly 20 years to come to this stage of my Workout Routine.  Yes, my workouts are short and getting any significant progress from it is also very difficult..  But nevertheless I still do make significant progress at a very small scale. 

 

Mon.                                                          Thurs.

Chest                                                         Back

Bench Press                                          Natilus Pullover

Incline Dumbell Flys                              Wide Pulldown

Shoulder                                                    Shoulder

Cable Anterior Flys                               Upright Rows

                                                             Dumbell Posterior Flys

 

Mon.                                                          Thurs.

Tricep                                                        Quads

Tricep Extension                                        Squat

Bicep                                                         Leg Extension

Dumbell Alternate Curl                               Hamstring

Abs                                                           Leg Curls

Machine Ab Crunches                                Calves

                                                                 Standing Calf Raises

A very strict form of Barbell Upright Rows

It may look like I'm giving birth, but I go all the way down on Leg Press where my

knees are right next to my chest.  I call this "Frog Leg Press."  Very different from conventional Leg Press

where your knees are in front.  This is much harder and also the best way to develop mass on your thighs.

After I go to Positive Failure on Leg Press I quickly do Dumbell Sissy Squats I try to do

as many reps as I can.  After this leg workout I find it very difficult to walk normal for days.

 

Cardio Training

You must in keep in mind that weight training for the most part burns carbohydrate and not fat. You do increase your strength and size with weight training alright but it does very little to burn off the fat, unless you diet and do Cardio. One important thing about weight training and the progress you make is that it improves your basal metabolism (metabolism measured at rest).  Which means you burn fat more efficiently (incorporating diet and Cardio) even when you are sleeping. Doing carbio training does help burn fat and improve your metabolism much better than just doing weight training alone.  Combining the two makes it even better.  Cardio is a very important part of your physical activity.  It helps to keep your fitness level up.

It has been proven that after 10-12 minutes of a steady pace of cardiovascular workout the body starts using fat as its main source of energy instead of carbohydrates. I recommend as a Bodybuilder that you do some form of cardio 3 times a week for 30 minutes or 20 minutes 4-5 times a week. It does not matter which cardio exercise you choose as long as you can elevate your heart rate to a steady pace. I prefer doing stationary bicycle for 20 minutes, 4 -5 times a week while watching TV or reading an article. Some people I know like to go out for a brisk walk.

Be very careful though when it comes to cardio. Doing too much cardio can tax your recuperative ability and prematurely lead you to a state of overtraining. This can also happen if you are performing your cardio too intensely. If you ever wake up feeling tired from doing cardio then cut back on the intensity. The same thing goes if you wake up feeling sore on your legs from brisk walking or cycling, you need to cut back. Remember the key thing to carbio is not to disturb your recovery ability. Also remember to follow a balance diet with a good amount of Kcal. so that you have raw materials for your muscles to develop and not too much where the fat can develop.

This is my low impact Aerobic I do 20-30 min. Stationary Cycling 5-6 times a week

 

Warm Up

It is very important that you always warm up before doing an intense workout. You lessen the possibility of an injury by warming up first. I like to warm up by first stretching the muscles that I am going to work on. Once I have done my sufficient stretching, I start lifting light weights and do 15 to 20 reps. I try and feel my muscles to see if they are ready for the high intense workout. For example, if today was Chest day, I would go and do 15 to 20 reps with 135 lbs of Incline barbell bench press. I would see if I developed a slight pump on my Chest, meaning that the blood has localized in my chest. I will also see if my heart rate has elevated a little and my body temperature has gone up. If I am getting all these feedback then my body is ready for that high intensity training. If not, I may do another warm up with a little bit more weight and do it for 10 reps.  As you get more advance in your training, you will know when your body has been sufficiently warmed up.  Keep in mind though that a warm up is a warm up and not a workout.  So you better not be training to Positive Failure on your warm ups.

Stretching is an important part of Warming Up.

 Injuries

Eventhough Injury is not part of Workout Frequency, I feel the need to discuss this here.  On just about anything a person takes upon that requires physical exsertion may it be weight training, wrestling, football, baseball or even golf the likeliness and possibility of getting injured has increased.  No matter how much caution you take, you can still get injured.  Now some injuries can be minor and it usually heals up within a week and some can be serious and requires a doctor's attention.  Once you have seriously injured an area, it can never be 100 % again, even if you get therapy or surgery for it.  Avoid any exercises or physical activity that can cause that injury to happen again. 

I'm no stranger when it comes to injuries.  For almost 20 years of weight training, I have herniated my lower back's disk more often than I want to admit, torn my right foot's achilles tendon, torn some ligaments on my left shoulder and minor damage to my rotor cuff and many others I've experienced.  There are certain exercises that I avoid now such as Deadlifts, Heavy Barbell Bench Press, Calf Raises on my right foot and even my favorite, Squats.

When injury does occur, contact your doctor immediately.  If you are at home or at a gym you can perform something on that injured area, it's called RICE:

R = Rest

I = Ice

C = Compress

E = Elevate