High intensity training

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The high intensity training (short- HIT , German high-intensity training or high intensity training ) is a training concept in bodybuilding and weight training . It is characterized by short and very hard training units, which are followed by a regeneration period of several days to weeks. The entrepreneur and sports equipment manufacturer Arthur Jones and the bodybuilder Mike Mentzer with his book Heavy Duty were decisive for the spread of HIT .

background

In his original developments of the HIT, Jones referred to observations from the animal kingdom that the hobby big game hunter had collected during his travels in Africa in the 1970s. When observing the lions in particular , he noticed the connection between the intensity of the physical exertion of an animal and the development of its muscles . While the female animals were busy collecting food and looking after the young all day, the males rested and slept most of the day. When the males went hunting, however, they showed a tremendously strong intensity in short and very fast sprints, in jumps and in killing even larger prey. From this, Jones concluded that the much larger muscle mass of the male animals was not due to hormonal requirements alone, but to the short but strong exercise intensity followed by a longer rest phase, which served to regenerate the muscles. His demand was that exercises should be short, intense and infrequent , i.e. H. short, intense and less frequent.

Basics

The basic idea behind HIT is to stimulate the muscle to grow with a high-intensity but short load. Training is carried out with high stress intensities up to local exhaustion of the muscles, whereby the extent of stress (number of sets and repetitions) is comparatively low. According to Mentzer, a seven-second rule has been established which states that the time of contraction should last three seconds, the weight should be held for one second and finally be lowered for three more seconds. With a clean execution, a maximum of six to ten repetitions may be possible, so that the so-called "point of momentary muscle failure" is reached in the last execution. A maximum of two sets of each exercise can be performed.

The best-known forms of application of the HIT are called Heavy Duty and Superslow . The counter model to HIT is the volume training often practiced in classic bodybuilding , which is characterized by long training units with high levels of stress.

Selected techniques

Intense reps
In the case of so-called “forced repetitions”, after the muscle failure has been reached, the user receives just enough help from a training partner that a few additional repetitions are possible. It is important that the training partner only intervenes when the user really needs this support. The trainee should still cope with the main load. With dumbbell training it is easily possible to support yourself with the other hand. A great advantage of this technique is that the correct execution of the exercise does not have to be falsified.
Negative repetitions
The sequence of every single repetition of an exercise consists of a positive (concentric) and a negative (eccentric) phase. If the point of muscle failure is reached in the positive phase of the movement, only the eccentric sequence of the movement is carried out with the same weight. The concentric movement, on the other hand, is largely taken over by a training partner. Since the body has much higher energy reserves in the eccentric phase, new training stimuli can be set very well. This technique requires a lot of physical exertion and should not be used in every training session.
Partial reps
After reaching failure, there are a few more partial repetitions. The range of motion is reduced as the muscles become exhausted. You can easily do up to ten more (partial) repetitions. Whether this technique is used at the beginning or the end of the movement depends on the exercise. For example, with the bench press, partial repetitions should be performed in the upper range of the motion sequence and with barbell curls when contracting the biceps .
Reduction or drop rates
A very effective way to increase the intensity of workload are reduction rates. After reaching the muscle failure, the weight is reduced to such an extent that a few additional repetitions are possible. For this purpose, a lower resistance is set when training on machines. When training with the barbell, some weight plates are removed from both sides of the barbell. When the point of muscle failure is reached in dumbbell training, a lighter pair of dumbbells is required. The process can be repeated two to three times or more. The breaks to reduce the weights must be kept as short as possible. The advantage of this technique is that no training partner is required for a clean execution of the exercise.
Supersets
If two exercises are performed one after the other without pausing, this is called a superset . The break should not exceed switching from one exercise to another. Supersets are a combination of two exercises for muscles that work against each other (e.g. biceps and triceps ). Here a set of arm curls should directly follow a set of arm extensions. There is only a pause when both sets have been completed. A combination for the same muscle is also possible.
Pre-exhaustion
It is likely that the large muscles, such as the pectoralis major muscle (larger chest muscle), the latissimus dorsi muscle (large back muscle) and the quadriceps femoris muscle (four-headed thigh muscle), can not be fully utilized with the basic exercises such as bench press, lat pulldowns and squats . The smaller muscles involved in the basic exercises (weak links) tire in advance. It is necessary to load the so-called large muscles beforehand. One of the best-known examples of pre-exhaustion is a combination of butterfly followed by a bench press. When bench presses without pre-exhaustion, it is not the chest muscles but the triceps muscles that limit the maximum number of repetitions. However, it has been proven that pre-exhaustion tends to have the opposite effect. Instead of increasing the intensity of exercise, it is reduced as the activity in the tired muscle decreases.
Post-exhaustion
Post-exhaustion is better than pre-exhaustion. The isolation exercise is carried out after completing the basic exercise. It has been proven in relevant studies that the workload is significantly increased compared to pre-exhaustion.
High intensity interval training
In high-intensity interval training (also rest-break training), the maximum possible weight is trained up to the maximum repetition (also with the help of a training partner). Then put the weight down for a few seconds. After resuming the weight, a few additional repetitions are performed. This process can also be repeated several times. The advantage of this method is that it can be practiced without a partner and not every training set has to be completed with the maximum possible number of repetitions. It is possible to exceed it several times.
21 sets
An old, but still quite unknown and little used intensity technique are the "21er sentences". To do this, the sequence of movements is divided into two halves. The first seven movements are carried out in the lower area and then another seven in the upper area of ​​the movement sequence. Immediately afterwards, without a break, the last repetitions (up to muscle failure) are carried out over the entire sequence of movements. This exercise is ideal for isolated training of the biceps on the Scottbank . Back exercises, on the other hand, are relatively unsuitable, as there is no “dead point” to overcome. It should be noted that the "21s" have to be entered with a lower weight. This prevents excessive falsification at the end of the exercise. The weight is chosen so that the energy reserves are not completely used up after ten repetitions. If the specified number of repetitions cannot be kept, one or two repetitions are more or less perfectly fine.

Falsified repetitions , in which as many repetitions as possible are completed correctly and the exercises are then modified for a few more repetitions with the help of momentum and the use of other muscles, should not be used in HIT, since a clean exercise is absolutely crucial. Since a repetition of high intensity training lasts about seven seconds, “gaining momentum” has a counterproductive effect.

Successful bodybuilders

The most successful professional bodybuilders who trained using HIT include in particular Dorian Yates (six-time Mr. Olympia winner), Mike Mentzer ( Mr. Universum winner 1978, 2nd place in the 1979 Mr. Olympia competition) and Casey Viator (3rd place in the 1982 Mr. Olympia competition).

See also

literature

  • Jürgen Gießing : High-intensity training: HIT. The optimized system for rapid muscle building . Novagenics, Arnsberg 2006, ISBN 3-929002-41-8 .
  • Mike Mentzer : Heavy Duty. (Original title: Heavy Duty ). Sport-Verlag Ingenohl, Heilbronn 1995.
  • Doug McGuff: Body by Science: A Research Based Program to Get the Results You Want in 12 Minutes a Week , ISBN 0-07-159717-4 .
  • Mario Adelt: High-intensity training: How you can achieve the best training result in a short time with HIT, HIIT and intermittent fasting. Riva, Munich 2017, ISBN 978-3-7423-0262-5

Web links