MIke Mentzer made it popular with the one-two set routine, resting one or two weeks, only four exercises, static-holds and so fourth, but I think it was all wrong. Mike Mentzer never training HIT himself, more like Arnold did, except Arnold did more sets as he worked out five hours a day and resting on sundays. I think 1-2 sets to failure, isn`t gonna give any results, as I myself tried it for 2-3 years without results. I think always going to failure, is another bad things, it only strains the nervous-system and not the muscles. You don`t need to rest a week or two ether, as a muscle can be trained everyday. My best gains was from working out the same muscles everyday actually. The only positive thing with HIT is the reps, I think, like 8-15 for upper body, I tend to lean towards more reps myself as it builds more endurance and makes the blood circulate to build muscles, I tend to do more reps on legs also as it hurts more; you have to be a little uncomfortable to build muscles. You can build muscles doing the same everyday mostly, but there`s no problem with varying the exercises, as it`s more fun, you`ll avoid being stiff more also when you vary the exercises. Another problem with HIT is static-holds and eccentrics, it doesn`t really build strength, only positive lifting does. Yes, I tried doing statics and eccentrics alot, but when you go back to lifting again, you have no strengt. It only works on paper. I think Mike Mentzer was going a little mad in the end, he argued with Arnold alot also, even though he never practised what he taught. In my opinion, avoid HIT at all costs, it simply doesn`t work. You have this slow rep-cadence also, 4 second down, 2 seconds hold and 4 seconds lift, but again, you build no explosive strenght, you don`t use your muscle-fibers explosively, hence you don`t use all of them
Totally get where you’re coming from! Rest and recovery are just as important as training – it’s where the real gains happen. Training smart, not just hard, is the key to staying consistent and injury-free. Sometimes hitting pause is the most powerful move you can make!
Totally agree that sometimes taking a step back is just as important as pushing forward. Early on, I overtrained a few times and learned the hard way. Recovery days now feel just as productive as lifting days – a good Netflix session or foam rolling has become part of the plan!