Just wanted to throw this out there, its a long post, but perhaps a few people can relate to my own story. And hopefully someone young guy out there wont make the same mistakes I did!
As a teenager in the late 80's when I first got into lifting, I took an immediate liking to Mike Mentzer's physique and his rational approach to lifting methodology. Sure everyone loved Arnold, but Mentzer just looked so damn rugged and bad-ass. The uber-mesomorph of his time. Reading about Arthur Jones, and the Colorado Experiment, and HIT, Darden etc. I guess I sort of got sucked into the whole "cult of personality" surrounding Mentzer. He just came across so logical and erudite. Everything he said made perfect sense. How could any rational person train any other way!? Mentzer and Jones said that all the successful champs who trained in the traditional style - split routines, high volume, not going to failure - became huge DESPITE their training, not because of it.
So I began to train in HIT fashion. Every workout was a grueling, morbid test of will. I would start having anxiety about training legs the day before, because I knew how miserable the experience would be. Torture was the name of the game. Then I would rest that body part for 7 or more days. When it came to diet, again Menzter dictated my choices - Lots of protein was a waste. So I kept my calories moderate and added just a can of tuna a day. Anything more would just be overkill, right?
So did I grow? yes? For a while. Hell, I was a young mesomorph who was not afraid of pain and misery and going to failure. Of course I saw results at first, but of course anyone would just starting out. But those initial results just clouded my judgement even more.
And as the years went on progress slowed down and my motivation waned. I chalked it up to hitting my natural limits. I played around with the sauce, again not eating very much and training HIT. I hardly changed at all. Since I was juiced and not growing that certainly meant I must have reached my genetic potential! Everyone always said I had such great genetics, so why wasn't I getting huge!? Sure I was big.. but that massive thickness and size I wanted always eluded me. Turning back to Mentzer and Jones for answers, I saw pictures of Mentzer's triceps and read that perhaps I didn't have sufficiently long and perfect muscle bellies for giant arms. I guess I would have to settle for 18 inch arms? Ugh.. man my mind was so trapped in all that crap I had talked myself out of the idea of ever accomplishing my goals right from the start!
Well.. after many years of on-again, off-again sporadic training, I happened to get back into serious lifting. (Once bit by the iron bug, it never leaves ya!) But this time everything was different. I started to re-examine and re-evaluate every bit of HIT dogma I had learned over the years.
To my great fortune, I happened across a post about HST in another forum and came here to check it out. I can truly say that coming here was the best thing that ever happened to my training! Right off the bat, HST made sense to me and seemed logical enough. But having been burned by all those years of HIT, more "logical" training made me wary nonetheless. But I decided to give it a try. And this time I added lots and lots of calories and about 300 grams of protein a day.
Lo and behold, my size and strength grew overnight. After such slow progress all those years HST literally seemed too good to be true. For the first time in years, I looked forward to training! Eventually I tinkered with HST a bit and have settled on my own system that works fantastically for me. I'm now 38. But I'm bigger and stronger than I ever was at 25 and juicing.
As for my less than perfect tricep bellies? My arms are now 2 inches larger. Perhaps they weren't so bad after all. Too bad I had convinced myself otherwise all those years ago.
Im 5'9 and 270lbs and my next goal is to diet down and truly get RIPPED for the first time in my life. After this next SD I'm going to start a 22 week diet. If I can get the strongest and largest ever at this age, then why cant I get the leanest? I wasted too much of my life rationalizing myself out of my bodybuilding goals and dreams. As much as I WANTED to believe in HIT, the reality is now I can look back and honesty say I wish I had never heard of it. I can only wonder how I'd look like by now.
- TJ
As a teenager in the late 80's when I first got into lifting, I took an immediate liking to Mike Mentzer's physique and his rational approach to lifting methodology. Sure everyone loved Arnold, but Mentzer just looked so damn rugged and bad-ass. The uber-mesomorph of his time. Reading about Arthur Jones, and the Colorado Experiment, and HIT, Darden etc. I guess I sort of got sucked into the whole "cult of personality" surrounding Mentzer. He just came across so logical and erudite. Everything he said made perfect sense. How could any rational person train any other way!? Mentzer and Jones said that all the successful champs who trained in the traditional style - split routines, high volume, not going to failure - became huge DESPITE their training, not because of it.
So I began to train in HIT fashion. Every workout was a grueling, morbid test of will. I would start having anxiety about training legs the day before, because I knew how miserable the experience would be. Torture was the name of the game. Then I would rest that body part for 7 or more days. When it came to diet, again Menzter dictated my choices - Lots of protein was a waste. So I kept my calories moderate and added just a can of tuna a day. Anything more would just be overkill, right?
So did I grow? yes? For a while. Hell, I was a young mesomorph who was not afraid of pain and misery and going to failure. Of course I saw results at first, but of course anyone would just starting out. But those initial results just clouded my judgement even more.
And as the years went on progress slowed down and my motivation waned. I chalked it up to hitting my natural limits. I played around with the sauce, again not eating very much and training HIT. I hardly changed at all. Since I was juiced and not growing that certainly meant I must have reached my genetic potential! Everyone always said I had such great genetics, so why wasn't I getting huge!? Sure I was big.. but that massive thickness and size I wanted always eluded me. Turning back to Mentzer and Jones for answers, I saw pictures of Mentzer's triceps and read that perhaps I didn't have sufficiently long and perfect muscle bellies for giant arms. I guess I would have to settle for 18 inch arms? Ugh.. man my mind was so trapped in all that crap I had talked myself out of the idea of ever accomplishing my goals right from the start!
Well.. after many years of on-again, off-again sporadic training, I happened to get back into serious lifting. (Once bit by the iron bug, it never leaves ya!) But this time everything was different. I started to re-examine and re-evaluate every bit of HIT dogma I had learned over the years.
To my great fortune, I happened across a post about HST in another forum and came here to check it out. I can truly say that coming here was the best thing that ever happened to my training! Right off the bat, HST made sense to me and seemed logical enough. But having been burned by all those years of HIT, more "logical" training made me wary nonetheless. But I decided to give it a try. And this time I added lots and lots of calories and about 300 grams of protein a day.
Lo and behold, my size and strength grew overnight. After such slow progress all those years HST literally seemed too good to be true. For the first time in years, I looked forward to training! Eventually I tinkered with HST a bit and have settled on my own system that works fantastically for me. I'm now 38. But I'm bigger and stronger than I ever was at 25 and juicing.
As for my less than perfect tricep bellies? My arms are now 2 inches larger. Perhaps they weren't so bad after all. Too bad I had convinced myself otherwise all those years ago.
Im 5'9 and 270lbs and my next goal is to diet down and truly get RIPPED for the first time in my life. After this next SD I'm going to start a 22 week diet. If I can get the strongest and largest ever at this age, then why cant I get the leanest? I wasted too much of my life rationalizing myself out of my bodybuilding goals and dreams. As much as I WANTED to believe in HIT, the reality is now I can look back and honesty say I wish I had never heard of it. I can only wonder how I'd look like by now.
- TJ
