One can gain very well strength and mass using lowish reps of 5 or 6 and one CAN ALSO gain very well in both areas using higher reps especially sets of 15-20 in the squat.
Both high and low rep work have their place and both should be done, although not at the same time. Sets of 6-10 can be good for the upper body and sets of 10- 20 for quads and low body.....at other times sets of 5 or 6 should be focused on.
The upper legs respond very well to high reps, although I can't say the same for the upper body. Incredible stimulation of the thighs, and entire body, can be accomplished with only one set of all out 20 rep squats.
Without a doubt one all out set of 20 in the squat, in which the sets takes a hell of a long time and a hell of a lot of effort with lots of deep breathing ,will produce MORE MUSCLE GAIN than sets of 5 for the average man. Sets of 5 will produce more strength over time but not by a great deal. When you can deep squat 400 pounds 20 times your 5 rep poundages is going to be big.
Tom Platz was a big believer in high rep deep squats and he had unreal legs. I went ot one of his seminars in 1980 and he strongly recommended them, and also low volume for the average man and especially while natural.
A great deal of the bro's on this board don't have a fucking clue how to train without roids and that is one reason they take them, because they cannot gain without them. WHY can they not gain without them ??.....because they train with too much volume, train too frequently and do not train hard enough.
A genetic freak will gain on any type of routine, especially on roids. An average man will gain well on almost any type of training with steroids BUT that same average man will go NOWHERE on volume training without roids!
Why do people bash HIT training...because they don't do it right and because it isn't really FUN to do. But if you want the fastest gains possible very brief high intensity training is the best way to go.
One NEVER needs more than a few sets per body part and often 1 set of squats is all that is needed for quads. The upper limit of logical training would be 3-8 work sets per body part and I don't care if you take 2 grams of test per week.
The tried an proven 5X5 sytem is also good. In this system one does two or three warm ups of 5 and then three work sets with the same weight, and when 3 sets of 5 can be done with this weight then more weight is added in small to tiny jumps. This system is especially good for the upper body. You can do 5X5 for the squat too but 1 set of 20 is unreal as well. Problem is mentally 20 rep squats are just too tough to do for a long time so low rep work is needed.
A good program is to train very hard on the big basic movement focusing on adding small to tiny amounts of weight to the bars weekly. You can do very low volume full body workouts once every 4-5 days or you can do a two way or three way split.
A good two way slpit is train one day and then rest two days. A good three way split is Mon-Wed and Fri or every other day at the most.
You MUST allow time off each week for recuperation reasons especially while off roids. Most guys train too frequently.
NOTE: you have to be careful with HIT as too much intensity will over train you...so be very careful with ultra intensity stuff. many men cannot train past failure at all unless on steroids. Also many men cannot do more than 2-3 hard work sets TOTAL PER BODY PART with the big compound movements while training naturally without over training.
My current routine. I am 40 years old and can still bench 450, Squat 750(high bar deep) and deadlift 800. After a training cycle with HIT I switch to the 5X5 system and use ALMOST ONLY COMPOUND movements. I also rest longer bewteen sets and really try to focus on poundage increases in good form.
For HIT training below I use 6-8 reps for pressing movements, 8-10 for pulling and higher for legs. rest between sets is minimal and NONE if super setting two exercises
I wil often use rest pause reps after going to failure.
ALWAYS TRY TO ADD SMALL TO TINY AMOUNTS TO THE BARS EACH WEEK...even a pound per week(or less) is good after the going gets tough in the bench and even 2-3 pounds per week in the squat is good once the going gets really tough. Get some tiny plates!
www.fractionalplates.com
When you can no longer get even tiny increases let the reps fall to 5's for upper body compound movements and 10's for lower and try to keep adding weight. When this isn't possible then STOP training and take at least a full week off. Then come back but start with about 90% of your previous best for reps...then slowly work up over the weeks and surpass the old bests.
Alternatively you can try the 5X5 method for a cycle after the HIT stuff. One benefit of the 5X5 system with the lower eps and longer rests between sets(3-5 minutes) is it does allow for better progression in poundages. 5X5 is still pretty darn HIT by the way.
MONDAY
30 degree inclines in the smith for 2 work sets
pec deck supersetting in pre exhaust fashion with hammer bench for 2 sets each. Each super set is more like doing 1 set as there is no rest between the two movements.
abbs
Lying tri extensions for 2 work sets and then 1 set of pushdowns and then a minute latter one set of dips with elbows in(hammer)
WEDNESDAY
Pullovers in nautilus machine super setted with palm up pulldowns for 2 work sets
Hammer row for 2 sets to work upper mid back
85 degree seated press to front for 1 work set.
lateral raises for 2 sets supersetted with nautilus press 2 sets each
nautilus rear shoulder for 1 set
Shrugs 3 sets
Barbell curls for 2 work sets
then a minute latter palm up chin for 1-2 sets
wrist curls 1 set
sometimes reverse curls for a set
FRIDAYS
If you want mass then try this leg workout!!! And nobody better say it doesn't work!
Warm up in the power rack with full squats. do a few sets of 5 with progressively bigger poundages. Then pile on as much weight as you normally do for your sets of ten in the squat and do 20 reps. Don't laugh...many of you guys don't even com,e close to failure with your 10 reps. The set will take a long time and it will be a killer but keep pushing. Also I am sick and tired of seeing 90% of men doing half squats...LEARN TO DO FULL DEEP HIGH BAR SQUATS! Get flexible in the ankle and hip and you can be a half decent squater. NEVER squat with heels elevated as this is very hard on the knee
If you do not want to do a set of 20 then do 2 all out sets of 10.
Sets of 10 can be alternated with a set of 20 from workout to workout with good results
Rest 2 minutes
Next do one slow set of very strict leg extensions. Hold at the top and do 10-15
The without any rest all jump into a leg press machine (hammer is great) and do 10-15 deep leg presses. Have the weight ready to go. PLEASE take off a few plates and do them DEEP! Pretend this is the last set of legs you will ever do! If thats not enough for you then do another set but you probably won't want to.
NOW sit against a wall for 5 minutes.
Next do two sets of stiff leg deads with straps for 10 reps each
Next 1 set of leg curls
Then do 3-4 sets of donkeys all out for 10-15 reps each...do some rest pause reps after going to failure.
Now you have to eat like a starving man, sleep 8-10 hours per day and do only three 30 minute cardio sessions per week.
Contact Casey Viator at
www.caseyviator.com. He has been doing HIT ever since the days he trained with Author Jones. He is 50 and still has a 500 bench and he doesn't do roids anymore!
HIT works, as does low volume very hard work training like 5X5 ...if you want to train 5 and 6 days a week with high volume and medium intensity then go ahead but the vast majority of you are going to need to use steroids to see gains.
AND I challage any high volume man to do my current leg workout...if you work very hard and do the exercises correctly you will see incredible gains, especially while on steroids.
And you guys that don't take roids.....STOP READING THE GLOSSY WEIDER MAGAZINES as they are full of shit for the most part. The routines in these mags are training suicide for you.
If you don't do roids you better check out
www.hardgainer.com and
www.weightrainer.com
RG
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