The Truth About High Intensity Training (HIT)

High Intensity Training (HIT – High Intensity Training). You have probably read many articles in magazines, on the Internet or on forums, and I guarantee you have noticed how much people talk about this high intensity training. What I’ve noticed is that no one has an exact definition of what a HIT is. Many simply have a general understanding that consists of hard work and the influence of Jones/Mentzer, which trains with fewer sets than other training systems, but there is no indicator to determine whether one or the other workout is exactly HIT and which is not.

Let’s take a look at strength training over the past decade. Never mind all the popular and famous people who have their own training systems.

What is an essential element for building muscles? Heavy weights. You have to train hard or lift heavy weights to grow!

Why high intensity training?

Your body is designed to adapt to stress. Enter a hot room and you will start to sweat, so sweating will cool you down. Go out into the bright day sun and your skin will tan. Bright light will cause the pupil to constrict to accommodate the change. And the main point: make your muscles work hard, and they will adapt to the load as they grow.

How do you make your muscles do extra work? The answer is simple: train with weights that you wouldn’t normally touch in your life. Another way is to work much harder. Nothing new… All this happened many years before all the “magic” systems like HIT. Muscle growth is an adaptation to a greater load placed on them. Your brain will only signal your muscles to grow if there is a reason to do so. The main reason is that your body needs more muscles to “survive” the load it receives. Normally, your body doesn’t have to lift heavy weights, but when you do, your muscles grow.

All training programs are high intensity workouts

So where does it all end? If you want to “do” science in bodybuilding and weightlifting, you must first define your concept of all the terms. What is intensity?

In optics it is lumens, in electricity – amperes, in acoustics – decibels. Each of these phenomena has its own objective definition. They have their own units of measurement. Have you ever read advertisements for training systems? They claim “inhumanely” intense and better training systems. Now ask yourself: how do they determine this? How do the intensity of Workout A and Workout Z compare? Although there are systems compared without applying real weights, they are all high intensity. This is why every system can be considered successful, because by training even with modest weights you can achieve results. But it will only be for a short period of time.

There is a simple definition in bodybuilding regarding intensity. It came about thanks to Arthur Jones and Mike Mentzer, who contributed a lot to the science of bodybuilding. Basically, it’s a 100% instant effort. This is the beginning. But when you try so hard when you feel bad, when you are overtrained or are worried about your problems at work, you are stressed, your 100% dedication will not stimulate muscle growth, because the load will be less than in the previous training. So this definition is more subjective than objective. Science needs precise definitions, numbers, not sensations.

To make consistent progress, you’ll need to learn to measure the intensity of each exercise. You need to find a way to ensure progressive loading of the muscle. You need to learn to understand yourself to avoid overtraining.