As a high-intensity training coach for strength athletes, I often, and sometimes on a daily basis, receive questions about how to create an exercise routine, how to move forward in an exercise routine, or what the next step is to reach individual potential. I always keep it simple and stupid using basic HIT theory.
I wish I could say it’s only experience that allows me to answer these questions, but it’s really a combination of critical thinking, experience, and an understanding of how the people around us, including athletes, differ… based on their makeup. genetics. What I’m saying is that while high intensity strength training is probably the most effective workout out there, due to its efficiency and the way our bodies are designed, we all have different genetic fingerprints and by applying strength training theory high intensity correctly, is the key to the puzzle.
It’s no secret that we are all genetically different, from our fingerprints to the individual differences that make us up. If you look at color, we have albinos at one end of the spectrum and blacks at the other. This difference is also directly related to sunlight tolerance where an albino can tolerate very little volume of sunlight while a black can tolerate much more. This is genetics! The same applies to muscles, height, IQ, and a list of others.
The same can be said for exercise tolerance, although physiologically we are the same we are genetically different. This is why when I build a workout routine I customize it for the person using it. There is no one size fits all!
Saying that there is no one size fits all, there are exercises that are very effective and activate the growth mechanism of the entire body. These exercises are what I call the great exercises like deadlifts, squats, rows, high pulls, dips, bench presses and their alternatives. When I build any workout, I use a cross plot of these exercises, based on the person’s goals, and augment them with other effective but less stressful exercises. When using the volume and frequency thermometer to meet short, infrequent workouts, I ask a series of questions to get a reading on what your genetic makeup might be. This could include:
o What do you think your weaknesses are?
o What has been your rate of progress over the last 3 months
o What are your energy levels right now
o What is your current training frequency
o What level of intensity are they applying?
o What is their diet like and what do they usually eat?
o What is your body fat percentage right now?
o How long have they been training?
o What training have they been starting; high volume or high intensity
o Do they include aerobic or cardiovascular exercises and why?
These are just a few. By asking these questions, I am painting a picture of who you are genetically and the path you have traveled to get to where you are today. If you are looking for an exercise routine and find me, in most cases, the way you have approached your goals has not been successful. What I find in many cases is that they are being flooded. Months and years have passed without significant progress due to two things.
1- Do not cooperate with your genetics
2- Not correctly applying the High Intensity Training Theory, which simply states that the exercise must be intense, brief and infrequent.
It’s no secret that you can train hard or long, but you can’t train hard and long. The HIT theory states simply this…
1- You must stimulate muscle growth with an intense contraction, that is, going to failure or beyond…
2- Your training should be brief in terms of
3- Allow the body to not only compensate but overcompensate or adapt to that stimulation.
Did you know that you can increase your strength beyond 300%, however your recovery ability can be increased by 50%?
The body only requires you to stimulate an adaptive response once, not over and over, and because more than is minimally required detracts from the growth and recovery process, and since the body recovers systemically, what is left overcompensates , losing muscle… then your training should be short and infrequent. And all this depends on one thing… genetics!
Meeting…
A properly designed program, including one for bodybuilders, is really a strength program because muscle and strength are relative.
This means that it is necessary to do only the minimum required to stimulate an increase. More than what is minimally required is overtraining! This means only one set per exercise…remember, you don’t have to stimulate a response over and over again. Your goal is not to do more work, leave it to the long-distance runners!
There’s also no reason to do a bunch of sets and alter your rep range, every rep down to the last near-impossible rep performed that turns on the body’s growth mechanism is nothing more than a warm-up.
The higher the rep range, the less stressful due to the weight used.
The big basic exercises, as mentioned above, should be the core of your workout routine, supplemented by smaller exercises like curls, lats, pull downs, tricep extensions, etc., if needed.
It is not necessary to do all the big core exercises in each workout, rather just one or sometimes two per workout is sufficient along with one or two smaller exercises.
In a split routine, you can have up to 4 or more split workouts with rest days in between while experiencing incredible progress. You will not lose size but you will gain!
Rest days generally vary most effectively between 4 days and 14 days, depending on the genetics and level of the trainee. A very advanced student who can generate very intense contractions, so strength may need more than 7 days off, as well as a less experienced student who has a low tolerance for intense exercise. Both will advance, although at different rates.
Advanced athletes require more intense contractions to progress, along with longer rest times. Higher stress intensity techniques are required and work very well in all exercises if handled properly.
Beginner and advanced athletes alike require great basic core exercises to activate the body’s systemic growth process.
Progress tracking means tracking your strength gains. You’ll gain reps or strength, or both, which will result in a future point like muscular bodyweight gain.
Diet plays an important role in performance, progress and recovery. There must be quality cement in place to build the house. Macronutrient manipulation is in many cases highly beneficial as it allows the body’s natural systems to be used more efficiently. Anything processed must be limited.
Remember, you grow outside the gym, not inside it! It is an end to a means. Use these factors when building your HIT workout routine and watch the speed of your progress toward reaching your genetic potential.