Table of Contents
HIT a Workout Method Every Woman Should Try
Skinny fit is a thing of the past, fitness models and toned female bodybuilders seem to be the eye candy nowadays, after all, who does not like to look at a toned and firm body. I spent the better part of the day trying to find information about HIT training for women. I was disappointed to find out that all the information available focuses on male bodybuilders.
This is unfortunate, HIT (High-Intensity Training) is a powerful training method that can benefit women just as much as it does men. Some of the best male bodybuilders have implemented this training technique and it is easy to recognize.
Bodybuilders who have used this method to train include Dorian Yates, Mike Mentzer, Mark Dugdale, and Casey Viator.
Why are there no women doing HIT training?
It seems that some women are content with the skinny-fat body, however, you can only get so much toned muscle from doing cardio or light strength training.
What if women were to train with HIT, it is nothing elaborate and women can implement this training style and reap many benefits.
The History of HIT training
HIT stands for (High-Intensity Training) it was introduced by the founder of Nautilus equipment Arthur Jones. The principle behind HIT training focuses on slow controlled movements for a certain amount of reps until you achieve muscular failure.
The goal of HIT training is to maximize muscle fiber stimulation. The fundamentals of HIT training are that the exercise should be brief, intense, and infrequent. For men, this method helps increase strength and more muscle mass. For women, this training method will make you stronger and give you a more toned and defined muscle.
HIT training focuses on slow controlled movements, no jerking no bouncing. You should use a weight you can control perfectly on each movement and contraction. Each rep should be slow and controlled.
You should start with a moderate weight so that you can not perform more than 6-8 reps you should keep increasing the weight. Keep the sets between 3-5 and on the last set you should be able to perform 2-4 reps with difficulty.
Many advocates believe that contractions should be held for a certain period of time, performing one single rep could take up to 30 seconds, in fact, every movement should be slow and controlled.
Forced reps and static holds near exhaustion
On your last two reps of the exercise, you should try to get negative reps (when lowering the weight) This will further stimulate the muscle fibers and help increase strength. This is because the muscles are at their weakest point during positive/contracting movements.
HIT training methods
HIT can target a single muscle group with one or two exercises. Reps can be performed (upper body) within the 6-10 rep range when training the (lower body) reps can be between 8-12 or until you reach momentary muscle failure, meaning you should feel like your muscles have completely given out.
HIT Training examples
Bench press using barbell or dumbbells, it should take about 4 seconds to lower the weight (negative movement) followed by a 1-second pause (at the bottom) followed by 3 seconds raising the weight (followed by a 1-second pause). The same goes for any exercise, including squats, deadlifts, rows, shoulder press, bicep curls etc.
Some say that HIT training stresses the central nervous system and will burn you out, this is controversial. This is why long rest intervals between training and infrequent training are important. This gives your body plenty of time to recuperate.
Dorian Yates implemented his own version of HIT training warming up with 2-3 sets with 2 heavy working sets.
HIT training for women
I have posted a video below of Mike Mentzer explaining HIT training. I would like to point out that this training method is not going to give you a bulky physique.
HIT training will make you stronger, leaner, and give you incredibly toned muscle. I would suggest trying this method for 30 days, this will give you plenty of time to see if the results from this training method are right for you.
Conclusion
It is truly unfortunate that there is not more information on HIT training for women. These training methods can benefit women in more ways than you can imagine. HIT training will help you burn fat, increase lean muscle, and improve your strength.
