What is High Intensity Training and does it really provide the benefits that some claim it does?
First, some background. High Intensity Training, or HIT, is a form of strength training popularized in the 1970s by Arthur Jones, the founder of Nautilus. It wasn't referred to as HIT until the mid 1980s, popularized by no less than six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates and bodybuilding legend Mike Mentzer. The training focuses on performing quality weightlifting repetitions to the point of momentary muscular failure. The training takes into account the number of repetitions, the amount of weight, and the amount of time the muscle is exposed to tension in order to maximize the amount of muscle fiber recruitment.
Despite the undeniable fact that HIT is both logical in its practice and works wonders for muscle growth, while cutting workout time by up to 60 percent, many people look upon it with scepticism. The less is more principle doesn't necessarily sit well with old school gym rats and followers of classic lifting practices. But there is always room for debate.
Mike Mentzer himself has been quoted as saying: "Remember, the idea is not to go into the gym to discover how many sets you can do or how long you can mindlessly endure. Instead, the idea is to go into the gym as an informed, rational individual and do only the precise amount of exercise required to stimulate growth and no more; then get the hell out of the gym, go home and GROW!"
So let's look at the principles of high intensity training. The fundamental principles of High Intensity Training (HIT) are that exercise should be brief, infrequent, and intense. Exercises are performed with a high level of effort, or intensity, where it will stimulate the body to produce an increase in muscular strength and size. As strength increases, HIT techniques will have the weight/resistance increased progressively where it is thought that it will provide the muscles with adequate overload to stimulate further improvements. HIT's basic principles are drawn from classic weightraining guidelines wherein you work the muscle to fatigue and introduce resistance as progress begins to develop.
So let's answer the question: does HIT really work? Why shouldn't it? HIT is a form of muscular endurance just as pyramid techniques or drop sets. You're fatiguing your body and working to extreme levels of exhaustion with explosive movements to get the job done, not so much faster, but perhaps more intense.
My own practice of HIT principles comes from experimenting with a cardio HIT program. A good example would be sprinting on the treadmill at a pace that you can only keep up for about 2 minutes then running for 2 minutes then sprinting for 2 more minutes, running 2 minutes, etc. It's simple and it is effective, particularly if you're not a fan of machine-style cardio like I am.
Should HIT be used in every workout? Probably not. Like anything you throw at your body it learns to adapt, training principles are no exception. Continue to vary your routines. Add HIT in and see how you like it. Perhaps it becomes a staple of your routine or it merely falls to the wayside. Everyone's body reacts differently to different training techniques. What works for one person may not be as effective to someone else. That's where the debate comes in for high intensity training. At the moment the jury is still out.
Cynthia Vespia is a personal trainer out of Gold's Gym in Las Vegas. She is also active in many fitness competitions and various disciplines of martial arts. email at:
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