HIT vs. VOLUME...will it ever end!

[doitright]

Today I was reading a few articles written by former Mr. O's which brought up a few questions. On one hand you have Arnold and his clan then you have Mentzer and his theories and followers. Still today many pro's have very different theories as to what works. Many on PM support HIT while Ronnie Coleman follows the volume style according to a training article he wrote. I was looking at Ronnie's routine while training for the Mr. O and I was overtraining my eyes just reading it. Both styles make sense to me to a certain degree but how can one say that the other is wrong when you have the best of both styles at the top of this sport. How could anyone say that Ronnie is overtraining or not growing when he was the best and is one big sob if you ask me. Then you have pro's like Phil, Big A and all the rest of them that say train harder and train less to get the best.

 

[ALLEX]

I prefer HIT because I'm lazy...
Here's the thing, recovery ability varies from person to person. Pros adjust things accordingly to what they feel, and the results they get.
I'm pretty sure Ronnie's routine wouldn't work for Dorian as good as his low volume training and Phil's approach could be less than optimal for Lee Priest.
Listen to your body, that's how you'll know which system works best for you.

 

[ferd]

Train harder and train less, but not on the level of HIT. The huge volumnes recommended by some are overkill by many degrees. The truth is somewhere in the middle. The problem is, the middle is very wide. Everyone is different and the variables many. Diet, rest, activity outside the gym, one's metabolism and recoverability. It's simply a matter of trial and error.

 

[Ashop]

I prefer HIT because I'm lazy...
Here's the thing, recovery ability varies from person to person. Pros adjust things accordingly to what they feel, and the results they get.
I'm pretty sure Ronnie's routine wouldn't work for Dorian as good as his low volume training and Phil's approach could be less than optimal for Lee Priest.
Listen to your body, that's how you'll know which system works best for you.

I think they both have merit. Ive made gains with both systems. sometimes when pressed for time I use HIT.

 

[loganb_football]

Cant we just say progression is the key... Either in weight or amount of volume in a certain amount of time, Im sure there are others too.

Please guys lets not use the theory of sprinters to support the HIT theory... When is the last time we saw a sprinter, sprint till he couldnt move another step... However he does strive to get better in the distance he is sprinting(aka progression).

There lies the answer.... Progression

Im by no means a huge guy, but I have realized that we have to make our muscles work harder to keep progression.

 

[Dusty Hanshaw]

Cant we just say progression is the key... Either in weight or amount of volume in a certain amount of time, Im sure there are others too.

Please guys lets not use the theory of sprinters to support the HIT theory... When is the last time we saw a sprinter, sprint till he couldnt move another step... However he does strive to get better in the distance he is sprinting(aka progression).

There lies the answer.... Progression

Im by no means a huge guy, but I have realized that we have to make our muscles work harder to keep progression.

Great post. I have nothing to add.

 

[bigheinz]

I fallowed Mike Metzer's raw Heavy Duty and HIT training from Ken Leistner and Super Slow from Ken Hutchins for 11 years in a row, great gains in size and strenght and i became 5 times national championn in my country and 3th and 2nd places different times at the caribeans and iberoamericans winning an interantional show, also qualified for the USA nationals 2 times.

I had also train lots of clietnts for those 11 years with incredible succes and no accidents or complains and i had helped most of my athletes to win their show with HIT or any of the Hit variations.

Know i am training Volume training by Victor Munoz witch helps me to reshape my body and keep growing at the same time.

Bouth methods works!!!! but just when you do it write.!!!!

If you fallow a training techinque just imitating without any knowledge or someone that teaches you the real way to do it, you will never get anything good or any improvements from that, maybe you can get injured or as you see or hear some people saying "yes i tryed but it doesnt work"

IT WONT WORK IF YOU DONT KNOW HOW TO MAKE IT WORK!!!!

Mike Mentzer told me once " They say the Heavy Duty doest work becouse they are "Maricas" (pussys) that can not do it".

Know after i started with Victor Munoz his High Volume High intensity training, i can tell you that it is very tough and hard to fallow and keep yourself safe and growing and improving at the same time with his method . As Heavy Duty, there is a lot of differents things to take care of to avoid injures and grow and also reshape, and if you dont hear or pay attention to every detail Victor teaches you you will fail.

Also Milos with his giant sets....it is almost the same, do it write and you will get all the benefits from it, do it wrong without the proper knowledge of supervision and you will say "yes i did try it but it didnt work"

THE ONLY THING THAT NEVER WORKS IS BELEAVE THAT YOU KNOW EVERYTHING AND YOU CAN'T LEARN FROM OTHERS.

For example i am starting training one of my guys for 3 months with raw Heavy Duty to increase his size and help him to get to a higher level, he already is full of great lines and details, and 3 months before the show we will go back to volume basics, but never overtrain.

One of the most important things where HIT beats Volume training is that the training i calculated to avoid overtraining and injures, so if you keep Hit principles in mind using what ever technique you use you will grow safe and without stop.

So as you can see - just if you can see or want to see- most of the bodybuilders or trainers are incorported Hit principles to their rutines to keep the improvements, like periodization and rest periods to name some.

Hope this helps some of you guys, and this debate will never end, but it is nice to hear and learn.

All the best

 

[doitright]

great comments by everyone. One common ground that everyone stands on is that what works for one might not work for the other. Maybe we should look at the success of pro bodybuilders in a different way. Think about this. Yes, they look great, they have this or don't have that...but do we sometimes forget that what they have done above all is solved the puzzle within themeselves as to what they needed to do to reach the top. Again going back to the statement "what works for one might not work for the other". If one can ultimately find their own solution then that alone is the key to ones success.

 

[tflexxin]

I've been training for nearly 20 years, starting in my mid teens. What I can say, which I think most serious long time trainers will agree with, is that just about every training method works. The real key to everything is consistancy. I keep it simple, and it always works. I see people doing strange training methods and techniques, switching constantly, taking huge amounts of time off, etc. Mentzer, HIT, DOGGRAPP or whatever. Just TRAIN and TRAIN hard. You will grow, you will get stronger. No doubt.