What is High Intensity Training (HIT)?
High Intensity Training or HIT is a method of strength training performed with a high level of effort and relatively brief and infrequent workouts. Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones helped define and popularize HIT in the 1970’s, often summarizing the general philosophy as “…train harder, but train briefer” or “…train harder, but train less often”.
Train Harder…
The most fundamental principle of exercise is overload. To stimulate increases in muscular strength and size and improvements in the other, supporting factors of functional ability you must place a greater demand on your muscles than they are accustomed to. The harder an exercise is, the closer it is performed to the point of momentary muscular failure, the greater the degree of overload and stimulus for improvement.
In a HIT workout exercises are usually performed to momentary muscle failure, the point at which it is impossible to continue positive movement with good form. Training to momentary muscular failure ensures you have recruited all the fibers in the muscles targeted and stimulated them to grow bigger and stronger.
…But Train Briefer
The greater effort you put into a workout the shorter it must be to avoid overtraining. Most modern HIT workouts include one set of between five and ten exercises and require less than thirty minutes to complete. Some consolidation workouts may include as few as three or four exercises and take less than ten minutes.
The optimal volume of exercise varies between individuals depending on their genetics, goals, age, and other factors. Athletes in training and people with physically demanding jobs may need to perform less exercise to avoid overtraining.
Some people believe low volume HIT workouts are only effective for beginners and that advanced trainees need more volume. However, as people become more advanced and learn to exercise harder a reduction in training volume is often needed to avoid overtraining.
Train Less Often
After a hard workout your body needs time off to rest, recover, and produce the increases in muscular strength and size and the other adaptations stimulated by the workout. Exercising out too frequently and getting too little rest interferes with recovery and adaptation, leading to overtraining and a lack of progress or even regression.
Most only require one or two HIT workouts weekly for best results, and some who recover and adapt more slowly respond better to even less frequent workouts.
General Guidelines for High Intensity Training
The following are general guidelines for HIT. Keep in mind the specific workout volume and frequency and exercise selection should be modified to fit your body and goals.
- Training Frequency: Beginners should perform no more than three workouts per week on non-consecutive days and most will respond better to only one or two weekly workouts. Advanced trainees may need to work out less frequently, not more.
- Training Volume: Perform one set of one or two exercises for each major muscle group in a workout (fewer exercises for full-body workouts, more for body-part workouts in a split routine).
- Number of Repetitions/Time Under Load: A wide range of repetitions or time can be effective, but for a balance of muscular strength and size, cardiovascular and metabolic conditioning, and safety, a repetition range resulting in a time under load between 60 and 90 seconds is recommended as a starting point.
- Progression: Beginners should increase the weight used for an exercise by about five pounds or five percent (whichever is less) when the upper target repetition number can be completed in good form. Weight should be progressed by smaller increments as trainees become more advanced, and very advanced trainees should increase the weight by as little as one pound or one percent (whichever is less).
- Repetition Speed: Move slowly enough to maintain strict control over your body position and path of movement and to reverse direction smoothly between lifting and lowering. Avoid fast, jerky movements.
- Range of Motion: Full-range repetitions, partial (hard-range) repetitions, and even statics can all be highly effective when performed correctly.
Examples of workouts based on these guidelines:
Basic full-body workout with Nautilus machines:
- Leg Press
- Pulldown
- Chest Press
- Compound Row
- Overhead Press
- Hip/Back Extension
- Trunk Curl
- Heel Raise
- Neck Flexion
- Neck Extension
Basic full-body workout with free weight and body weight exercises:
- Squat
- Chin Up
- Bench Press or Parallel-Bar Dip
- Bent Over Row
- Standing Press
- Stiff-Legged Deadlift
- Weighted Crunch
- Heel Raise
- Neck Flexion
- Neck Extension
Full-Body or Split Routines?
Split routines include multiple workouts targeting different body parts or muscle groups. This is a better approach for people with certain muscle groups that take a longer time to recover. There are many different ways to organize split routines. Some the most common are:
- Upper and lower body
- Pushing and pulling
- Upper body pushing, upper body pulling, and lower body
For examples of both full-body workouts and split routines read High Intensity Workouts
Machines or Free Weights?
Although HIT is often associated with machines due to it’s promotion by Nautilus inventor Arthur Jones, it can be performed effectively and safely with any type of equipment or even just your own body weight. Your results will have far more to do with how you exercise than what equipment you use.
Bodybuilding or Strength Training?
HIT is not exclusively for bodybuilding, strength training, or any single factor of fitness. When properly performed HIT is effective for achieving a variety of fitness, health, and physique goals.
References:
Carpinelli RN, Otto RM, Winett RA. A Critical Analysis of the ACSM Position Stand on Resistance Training: Insufficient Evidence to Support Recommended Training Protocols. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online 2004;7(3):1-60
Smith D, Bruce-Low, S. Strength Training Methods and The Work of Arthur Jones. Journal of Exercise Physiology Online 2004;7(6): 52-68
Fisher J, Steele J, Bruce-Low S, Smith D. Evidence Based Resistance Training Recommendations. Medicine Sportiva Med Sport 01/2011; 15:147-162
Darden, Ellington. The Nautilus Book: An Illustrated Guide to Physical Fitness The Nautilus Way. Chicago: Contemporary Books, Inc., 1981