HIT variables for building amazing muscle mass!
My previous articles have described many different training programs and techniques for building strength and muscle mass using HIT - High Intensity Training - protocols. This article continues that series with a focus on different HIT variables and techniques.
The following is a list of highly effective intensity techniques that can be perfectly combined with HIT training.
Fake repetitions
After completing a set to muscle failure using good exercise execution form, fudge the movement just enough to be able to perform a few more concentric reps. This will allow you to go beyond the point of momentary muscle failure. It is very important to use perfect form during the initial sets and then falsify to perform the additional repetitions.
This technique should only be used by experienced exercisers as too much faking defeats the purpose of training the muscle and can easily lead to serious injury. This is a very effective training variable that you can use if you are training without a training partner. Good exercises for this would be barbell or dumbbell curls.
Multi-layered sets
This method emphasizes the most difficult area of an exercise and additionally targets the easier areas to make the training of these areas more intense than it would normally be.
An example using bench presses would look like this:
- Slowly lower the bar to the lowest position and then perform three partial repetitions through the bottom third of the range of motion.
- After the third partial repetition, remain in the lowest position for two seconds with the bar touching your chest but not resting on your chest.
- Then move the bar upwards and pause halfway for 3 to 5 seconds. Then perform three partial repetitions through the middle third of the range of motion.
- Next, move the weight upwards without overstretching your elbows. At this point, perform three partial repetitions over the upper third of the range of motion.
- Then lower the weight to the middle of the range of motion and pause at this point for a further 3 to 5 seconds before lowering the weight completely and repeating the entire sequence.
The time under tension should be around 30 seconds, using fluid movements without momentum. The whole thing can be repeated one to three times. You can also perform a normal full repetition between the individual sequences if required.
This pattern is just one of many possibilities. Multi-layered sets can be modified for each training session to better suit your individual goals.
You will be most successful with this method if you change the pattern regularly. Use multi-layered sets only during short phases alternating with full range of motion training.
You should save the "light" zone in the upper range of motion for the end, when your muscles are already somewhat fatigued. The pre-fatigue in the lower range of motion serves to make training in the middle range of motion, where the leverage ratios are better, harder. This makes the upper range of motion, where the leverage ratios are best, heavier than usual.
Emphasized negative repetitions
In this technique, you perform a positive/concentric repetition followed by a slow negative repetition or a positive/concentric repetition with both arms/legs followed by a one-armed or one-legged negative repetition.
In the latter approach, after moving the weight up with both arms/legs, lower it alternately with the left and right arm/leg. Take a good 8 seconds to perform the negative repetitions for the downward movement. Using leg presses as an example, it could look like this:
Using both legs, push the plate of the leg press up until your legs are almost extended but not yet hyperextended. Then slowly lower the plate back down to the starting position using your left leg. Then push the plate up again with both legs and lower it using only your right leg. This method will allow you to effectively use the negative range of an exercise to make your muscles work harder than they normally could.
Pure negative repetitions
Perform the negative part of a movement without the positive part. Have a training partner lift the weight to the top position of the positive movement. Then lower the weight alone for a period of 8 seconds. The set ends when you are no longer able to lower the weight in a controlled manner. If this happens, end the set immediately for safety reasons. You will be able to use a weight that is 40% heavier than the weight you normally use for the exercise.
Science has shown that the negative part of an exercise is the most productive part of the exercise due to the large amount of microtrauma it causes. The reason for this is that you are able to use more weight during the negative phase of the exercise so that your muscles are able to resist the downward movement through friction of the muscle fibers against each other and not have to lift the weight, as is the case during the positive phase of an exercise.
Forced negative repetitions
Perform a negative repetition while your training partner increases the resistance with their hands to make the negative repetition harder. Your training partner must be very careful to increase the resistance evenly. Perform the positive part of the movement in the normal way.
An example of this would be barbell curls performed in the following way: Move the bar to the highest position of the movement. As you lower the weight, your training partner pushes the bar down through the entire negative repetition, increasing the resistance just enough to make the controlled lowering difficult. When you then move the weight back up, your training partner lets go of the bar. Repeat for the desired number of repetitions.
Another variation of this is to use this technique with negative-only repetitions. Using barbell curls as an example, this means that your training partner moves the bar to the highest position and then increases the resistance in the manner described above while you lower the weight.
Descending sets
This is a great way to quickly exhaust your muscles by performing numerous small 'mini-sets' as part of a big set. To do this, perform a set to muscle failure, then reduce the weight as quickly as possible and then perform further repetitions to muscle failure without rest. Reduce the weight again and perform further repetitions until muscle failure. You perform a total of 5 mini sets in this way, which together count as one set.
An example of this would be bench presses on a machine, performed in the following way. Perform one set of 10 repetitions until muscle failure. Then reduce the weight by 25% by repositioning the pin. Perform another 5 to 8 repetitions with this weight until muscle failure, reduce the weight again by 25%, etc. Perform a total of 5 mini sets.
Triple, fiber-specific, descending sets
This type of triple set trains your muscles in three different ways.
In the first set of the descending set, you use a very heavy weight (around 85 to 90% of your 1RM weight) and perform 2 to 3 repetitions with this weight. This will train your muscle and tendon strength and will build the myofibrillar portion of the muscle, which is primarily responsible for the strength of a muscle.
On the second set of the descending set, use a weight that allows you to perform 8 to 10 repetitions to muscle failure. This will build muscle mass and strength.
On the third set of the descending set, use a light weight and perform 10 to 12 repetitions to muscle failure. This will increase the amount of sarcoplasm, which is the "energy fluid" within the muscle. Since the sarcoplasm is responsible for most of the muscle size, this is very effective for building muscle mass.
Breakdowns
- Use a resistance that allows you to perform 10 to 12 repetitions, but only perform half of these repetitions.
- Pause for 10 seconds.
- Repeat steps 1 and 2 until you reach the point of muscle failure (which often happens during the third or fourth mini set).
- Optional: Continue the process by performing sets of 6 to 8 repetitions until you are no longer able to do so and then continue with sets of 4 to 6 repetitions and 2 to 3 repetitions and finish the exercise with single repetitions.
This will condition your muscles for higher repetitions due to the cumulative high repetition count and is an excellent method if you find it difficult to feel a muscle working hard.
Burns
These are typically performed in a stretched or fully contracted position. These are small, quick movements at the end of a set to give the muscle the rest it needs.
After you reach the point of muscle failure in a set, you will move the weight with quick pulsing movements until you are no longer able to move the weight. These movements will be short and will only move the weight 5 to 10 centimeters.
Pre-fatigue
Train a muscle with an isolation exercise to muscle failure, followed immediately and without rest by a multi-joint exercise performed to muscle failure. An excellent example of this technique is to train the chest with butterflies or flying movements to muscle failure and then perform a set of bench presses to muscle failure.
The exercises must be performed one right after the other without rest, otherwise your muscles will have time to recover and you will lose most of the benefits of this technique. The reason this technique is so effective is because you exhaust your pecs with butterfly/flying movements and then use your triceps, which are fresh and rested, to push your pecs past the point of muscle failure during the bench press.
Double pre-fatigue
In this technique, you perform two isolation exercises followed by a multi-joint exercise. An example of this would be the following:
- Barbell curls - 1 set of 10 repetitions
- Dumbbell concentration curls - 1 set of 8 repetitions
- Lat pulldowns with palms facing the body - 1 set of 12 repetitions
Perform all exercises without resting between exercises, otherwise a large part of the benefits of this technique will be lost.
This form of pre-fatigue uses two isolation exercises to exhaust the muscle more than simple pre-fatigue, making this technique more effective.
Reverse pre-fatigue
Perform a multi-joint exercise followed by an isolation exercise. The sets can be performed in the typical "to muscle failure" style or in the following manner with no rest between exercises:
For biceps:
- Extremely slow pull-up - one repetition only with a 30/30 cadence (30 seconds for the positive phase and 30 seconds for the negative phase of the movement)
- Bicep curls - standard set to muscle failure with 8 repetitions and a positive and negative 2/4 cadence
For triceps:
- Extremely slow dip - 30/30 cadence, performed in the same manner as the pull-up described above
- Seated tricep press - standard set to muscle failure with 10 repetitions Note: The pull-up and dip set can also be performed in the following manner:
- Dip - Start with a 30 second negative repetition, followed by a 30 second positive movement, followed by another 30 second negative repetition.
- Pull-up - Start with a 30-second negative repetition, followed by a 30-second positive movement, followed by another 30-second negative repetition.
These exercises should be performed for one and a half repetitions and are very difficult to perform. They will work the muscles very hard.
Double reverse pre-fatigue
Perform a multi-joint exercise followed by two isolation exercises. This will allow you to use maximum weight on the multi-joint exercise for strength and mass gains, followed by two isolation exercises to increase the effort on the main muscle and exhaust it completely. A great example of this would be the following:
- Bench press - 1 set, 8 reps
- Crossover cable pulls - 1 set, 12 reps
- Butterflys - 1 set, 12 repetitions
Progress from one exercise to the next with minimal rest between sets.
Alternating pre-fatigue
Perform a multi-joint exercise followed by an isolation exercise and multi-joint exercises. A great example for the arms would be the following:
- Extreme slow pull-up - 1 repetition with a 30/30 cadence
- Bicep curls - standard set to muscle failure of 10 repetitions
- Pull-ups - negative reps only, 8 reps of 8 seconds each
- Extreme slow dip - 1 repetition with a 30/30 cadence
- Seated tricep press - standard set to muscle failure of 10 repetitions
- Dips - negative reps only, 8 reps of 8 seconds each
Triple descending sets and rebound sets
The triple descending set begins with a set with a heavy weight, which is performed to muscle failure, after which the weight is reduced and another set is performed to muscle failure. The weight is then reduced again and another set is performed until muscle failure.
To perform a rebound set, you first perform a regular triple descending set and then quickly go back to your starting (heaviest) weight and perform a few more reps with it. You will usually be able to perform one or two repetitions with this weight. The reason for this is that a lighter weight is used on the last descending set, which recruits different muscle fibers than when using a heavier weight.
By training to muscle failure with one weight and immediately reducing the weight, as well as performing more repetitions, you completely exhaust a muscle. Machines with weight stacks are the best tool for this method as they allow you to quickly change the weight used.
It is ideal if you have a training partner who quickly reduces the weight as soon as you have performed the last repetition, as this minimizes the breaks between mini-sets. Remember that a muscle can recover 50% of its strength after just 3 seconds of rest.
Isolation exercise/multi-joint exercise rebound sets
Perform a triple descending set of an isolation exercise, such as flying movements, and then immediately perform a set of a multi-joint exercise for that exercise, such as barbell bench press with a heavy weight.
This is a type of advanced pre-fatigue training. The basic idea of pre-fatigue training is to exhaust the target muscle group (in this case the chest) by first training it directly with an isolation exercise and then performing another exercise that uses the other muscles for support (multi-joint exercise).
This will increase the intensity of the work done by the chest, as the supporting muscles used during the multi-joint exercise will allow you to train the chest muscles beyond the point of muscle failure.
By using a triple descending set for the isolation exercise, you will increase the fatigue of the target muscle, which will allow you to increase the effectiveness of the multi-joint exercise.
The techniques presented in this article are just a selection of the possibilities to introduce the reader to some useful techniques to use when training according to the High Intensity Protocol (HIT). There are many more intensity techniques that are beyond the scope of this article.
Source: http://muscleandbrawn.com/hit-variables-build-muscle-size/
By Mick Madden