Great piece and I fully agree with it's assertion.

D

Chris,

I agree with this. I made the best gains of my life on an HIT program by Dr. Darden, but I HATED every second of it in the gym.

Now that I've moved back to a 5x5 scheme, I find myself really missing that brief, intense, explosion that I did during my HIT phase. So much so, that starting tonight, I'm going back to it, and starting the routine over with higher weights, more intensity, more pain.

P.S. This is important, I never thanked you for the t-shirt - thank you.

I'd have to say when ideal structure, periodization and proper nutrition are missing, intensity will help you make the best out of a bad situation [read; poor programming].

I can't say which style is better. I know it's pain in the ass sometimes regulating volume, intensity (%1RM) and frequency compared to just winging it and busting your ass with whatever strikes you that day.

I do feel that the body reacts best to simple, yet planned periodization. When you learn the athlete's (or your own) recovery ability, I feel delaod/intensification works best. And for athletes playing a sport it works especially well. (think Bill Starr)

With a "plan", you can identify and fix weak links instead of creating more of them. It sure would be nice to have identical twins using both methods and see what happens over the course of years.

I used to see (at Gold's Gym) the same guys doing the same Chest-shoulders-triceps, Back-biceps, Leg press-leg extensions for years with no apparent change in weight or size. The only guys I saw with any size were the guys I knew (because I discussed it with them) that were using Sustanon, D-bol and Winstrol on a regular basis.


There are people, I think Professor X is one, that just go in the gym and lift thier asses off without drugs and get quite large and strong but they are the exception I think.

I know I prefer to be able to look back and see where I was, see what I was lifting and plan where I need to go than to make it up as I go along.

The ability to "bring it" in the gym is not synonymous with muscle failure. Make the reps count but dont cause undo fatigue.

Thank you Mr. Waterbury

While I have never had the opportunity to see any professional athletes train, from what I have observed, it appears to be that the skinniest guys in the gym train with what I would call intensity.

I have thought more than once that they could probably get big if they just ate more, but I think that they are the ones that are afraid of losing their abs.

Nice one Chris. I like to lift heavy and fewer sets but I'd like to add keeping good records from work-out to work-out fuels the fire to keep pushing more and more. It's gratifing to see yourself improving every week.

Totally agree. If you aint sweating buckets and spent after your workout, you didn't do it right.

I do find the best results when I can put together a couple of months of going absolutely fucking ballistic.

It's a lot of fun too. Almost like acting out a role or something. Definitly contrary to my usualy quiet demeanor.

I think the difference is those guys who get huge really don't over analyze things. They know to lift hard, lift heavy, and lift often. They also probably don't care as much about their diets as many of the people here on T-Nation do. So they end up with more calories as fuel because they do lift so intensely.

People usually only see what those guys do wrong. But in reality, the things they do right are the most important things.

They don't need the best programs, diet or periodization. Because they train intensely, eat a lot of food and do this consistently.

People just don't understand priorities. It's easier to flop around all obsessed about sets and reps and every single aspect of a workout then it is to eat an oil barge every day and train like a madman.

Meanwhile, at the training forum, just about every question I see is completely irrelevant. Chris, you should get all the contributors and come up with a single manifesto that they will all agree on and sign under(they shouldn't be given separate words). It will state the truly important things for what they are. We can place it in the beginners forum and then always have a point of reference for the novice with the silly questions.

Yes.

Great article. I completely agree. All the big I've ever met busted their ass in gyms. They lived it. They used different programs/exercises but they always took it to the limit. That was always the common thread that ran through them.

Nicely put.

I believe this also applies in more places than just in the gym - work, play, life...

Good discussion. But keep in mind that intensity doesn't always mean training to failure and beyond. Although most very muscular people do tend to train that way, even though it's "wrong."

More to ponder...

I'm in total agreement witht this. I feel like the biggest reason I've made the progress I've made thus far is because I've always busted my ass.

Over the 5 or so years I've been lifting, I continually try different parameters with sets and reps, rest times, different exercises, HIT, etc. This is the continual experiment I put myself through to find out where I make the most progresss and sometimes it just switching up those parameters that causes the progress BUT the defining characteristic that I believe is most responsible for my success thus far is intensity. No question about it.

I simply work harder than anyone else in my gym and I've been told by others that I have made the most visible progress.

You mention READING while lifting... I'm now seeing people TALKING WITH BLUETOOTH HEADSETS while lifting. No that's not a joke...

Anywho, there is a PILE of in-the-trenchs evidence supporting this intensity/focus idea... visit any gym and you'll find it... big, strong dudes with no rhyme or reason to their training besides "push yourself and the results will follow."

Maybe we should start incorporating this principle too? Periodically?

Heres my answer and opinion, I could be right or wrong, but none the less, this is my theory:


Yes. Doesn't matter if your super setting with heavy low reps or lighter high reps. As long as you keep the intensity high and hit each muscle & each type of muscle fiber to a certain degree of stimulation with the proper intensity....... you will grow. Bad diet, little sleep, infrequent eating, lots of stress...etc. doesn't have shit on what proper stimulation and high intensity can do to turn heads everywhere you go.

You could be 250lb huge or 150lb ripped, but if your frame is built from high intensity either one will prove head turning results, its all in the way you carry yourself that can present an effect of 'carved in stone' and even a illusion of 'tank like' with smaller guys.


[Note: 'Iron Life', It's a way of life for the 'Brotherhood of Iron' or 'Underground Elite'....were everywhere watching. Every corner of the world.]

its a point that many overlook. I guess I would say if you work hard, you will get some sort of result, maybe not the one you want though. I knew a lot of guys who lifted "really hard" for football and didn't get strong at all. They improved parts of their physical ability, but strength wise they weren't very good.