HIT vs Volume Training

   

 

 

First of all, let me preface this by saying that this essay is based on the following assumptions

1. HIT: brief and infrequent workouts, usually 1 set per exercise.  Few total sets <10

2. Volume training: multiple sets per exercise and many total sets, up to 20 and more.

Im not getting into rep speed here.

     It amazes me to this day how truth can be plain as day in someones face and yet they continue down the dark path of the masses. It is a sad common occurence in America today. Bodybuilding is of course no exception. Lucky for me as personal trainer, makes the results I achieve seem miraculous by comparison. Mike Mentzers physique was ridiculous for his time, Dorian Yates owned the O and he said if he got to do it all over again he would do even less. Fortunately for me, I got seriously into bodybuilding in '93. I read every muscle magazine every month cover to cover than do it again backwards. Dorian was just beginning his mighty reign, The golden days for me, his logic and approach to training is undeniable, and the results speak for themselves. Then when those black and whites came out with the striped spandex shorts......life changing! I feel like crushing a set of underhand rows just thinking about it! . Actually it changed bodybuilding, we had a new image of mans potential. Who in their right mind could deny this mans program? Well seems like 99% of bodybuilders today. Now with almost two decades under my belt as a trainer I know the reasons why. 

    Bodybuilding is underrated as craft.  Adding muscle is not for the weak minded, it requires an ability to deal with severe, prolonged self afflicted pain and the knowledge of anatomy and kinesiology. HIT requires the intense application of both. I realized that most people dont have the knowledge and will to get a bodypart(s) sore with three sets total. Its brutal, you look at the discipline and hunger for knowledge dorian had and you can see hes one of the few who can pull it off. So of all you volume advocates who badmouth a program thats so logically sound and obviously works, realize that you dont have the special combination of knowledge and controlled insanity necessary to make HIT work. I dont know what it is in a person that enables them to go to true muscular failure, it could be anger, love, vanity, religion, rough childhood or some mental predisposition. When you see it, its a sight to behold. Anyone can get sore doing 30 sets of anything, but do you have the mental and physical capacity to do it in 3? If not stick to your marathon workouts, i'll be home at home with a full belly, growing.

The New Community Gathering Place

    I love the travel channel! Being unable to come up with the funds to travel myself I instead live Vicariously through the likes of Andrew Zimmer and my favorite Anthony Bourdain. Recently Anthony was lamenting the loss of local dive bars. Really the loss of that location where you could sit with your neighbors, be depressed and complain about the state of your life or the state of society in general.  You will also see many a show or interview on the travel channel are located in a bar to get a "real feel" of location, neighborhood  or region. You hear over and over that the best way to learn about a place is to go to the local market and restaurants and learn about the food.  I agree that these places are good to gain  a more accurate view of a location than a tourist guidebook. Yet interviews, travel shows, magazines, writers, anthropologists, sociologists and the like are missing out on the best location to get a microcosm of the area: the local gym.
     A few decades ago this was not the case, back in the 50s and 60s maybe it was the local church, maybe later it was the PTA, gyms were the territory of men back then.  Neither the church or the school could approach the wider demographic and encourage the social interactions that occur at the modern gym.  The bar scene is not an accurate representation of the community as it leaves out a large segment of society, (youth, non-drinkers, mothers etc.) . Yes local food can tell you something about the area but in the end its just food. In the 21st century you can find pretty much every demographic in a GYM, including the people who frequent the bars and restaurants. The movers and shakers, politicians, church goers, teens, in shape, out of shape, skinny, heavy, musicians, lawyers, law enforcement, criminals all working toward a common cause and indistinguishable from each other in their workout gear. The result of this "even social playing field" is that the gym becomes a unique microcosm of the community as it brings people together in ways no other place does. I have seen former felons and criminals run to spot a police officer on the bench, then agreeing to work out together, in the name of chest day. I have seen ultra conservatives start working out in the same group with self proclaimed  communists and getting along along beautifully. I see fathers bonding with their sons and mothers bonding with daughters, pastors working out with atheists, bloods working out with crips and many more relationships develop that would not have happened in any other venue. Where else can you find this wide demographic of people (besides the DMV), much less find them getting along, interacting and enjoying it!
It is a place that does not get its proper respect for the service it provides for the community. If you currently are working out at home or not at all I strongly suggest spending a few dollars a month and joining the local gym, meet your neighbors and actually interact with them! The current political and social climate in America need more interactions like those that occur at the gym.. most importantly it gives me this hope for America- That we can set aside our differences and work together supporting and motivating each other for a common cause.