Training at the gym six days per week with more reps while lifting moderate weights has been a traditional bodybuilding technique for many years. However, in the early 70s, another way of training was introduced for bodybuilders. The High-Intensity Resistance Training method offered a different approach to muscle building that emphasized intensity and rest. 

In simple terms, the HIT system requires bodybuilders to lift heavy for a minimum number of reps, pushing till failure. Adequate rest and recovery periods are mandatory for the muscles to grow. However, as this revolutionary training method reduces the workout regimen to 60%, many athletes are skeptical about its efficiency. However, history explains the rewarding benefits of this training method, including Mr. Olympia wins. Here are the proponents and followers of the HIT method. 

Arthur Jones: The proponent of the HIT method

The invention of the HIT method can be attributed to Arthur Jones, who started lifting weights in his forties. However, he was upset with the lack of detailed knowledge on building muscles. So, he started his research to understand the efficient ways to grow muscle. His experiments involved training with cam machines for over two decades and led to the invention of the Nautilus pullover machine. 

He started writing articles on his HIT method in bodybuilding magazines, propagating the principles and benefits of his new system. The key to growing great muscle, as per Jones, is to increase intensity and decrease volume. Jones went on to influence bodybuilders to follow his HIT routine. 

Casey Viator: The first disciple of Arthur Jones

When Jones was educating himself in bodybuilding science to introduce the HIT technique, Casey Viator started his competitive bodybuilding career. Viator met Jones at 18 during the 1970 Mr. America. The duo clicked instantly, and the teenager started training with Jones. In 1971, Viator won the Mr. America at 19 and became the youngest to do so. However, what stunned the bodybuilding world was his workout regime while preparing for the event. 

The 1971 Ironman October edition published the young bodybuilder’s routine that would turn heads in the community. Victor followed a high-intensity routine, with three full-body workouts per week. The reps were limited to 20 per set and sometimes a single set per workout. On the parallel side, Arnold Schwarzenegger was dominating the Mr. Olympia stage with his six days per week training regimen. So, such reduced workout hours and multiplied muscle gains did not make sense for athletes. However, a fiercer advocate of the method would soon appear in the 1980s bodybuilding scene. 

Mike Mentzer: The face of the HIT method in the 1980s

Viator introduced Jones’s technique to a 19-year-old fellow competitor, Mike Mentzer, at the Mr. America in 1971. Intrigued by the new training regimen, Mentzer contacted Jones and modified his workout routine. Mentzer’s passion for providing the sport with the best training method encouraged him to become a specimen for HIT experiments.

Adding to Arthur Jones’s publications, Mentzer wrote his insights about the HIT training regime for Joe Weider’s Muscle Builder & Power. His win at the Mr. America in 1976 served as an example of the efficiency of HIT. The third bodybuilder to win Mr. America following a HIT routine was Mentzer’s brother, Ray Mentzer. The Mr. Olympia stage also experienced the muscle miracle of Mentzer. However, the HIT method is now known as Mike Mentzer’s heavy duty. 

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Mentzer advocated heavy weights, negative and forced reps till failure and a low-volume workout plan. Rest and recovery were the key to muscle growth in Mentzer’s training rituals. However, his heavy-duty contrasted with 7x Mr. Olympia champion Arnold Schwarzenegger, who focused on double split high-volume routines. 

Remember, the bodybuilding arena is witnessing Mentzer and Arnie’s contrasting techniques. However, Mr. Heavy Duty later limited his contributions to publishing articles as he quit training after the 1980 Mr. Olympia controversy. However, the 1990s would see a HIT mass monster dominating Mr. Olympia’s stage. 

Dorian Yates: 6x Mr. Olympia champion 

The English bodybuilder’s quest to become a bodybuilding champion started in a prison. Soon, he assimilated knowledge of the HIT method preached by Jone and Mentzer. An important way to learn about bodybuilding techniques in the old days was to read magazines and books. Yates would find himself immersed in Mentzer’s and Jones’s articles on HIT. 

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At the Temple gym in Birmingham, Yates would push heavy weights till failure to build his physique in silence. Soon, he stunned the bodybuilding crowd and judges by bringing mass and conditioning to the Mr. Olympia stage. He kickstarted the mass monster era, and it was only possible because of HIT training. 

While more and more scientific studies are understanding the rationality of HIT training, often bodybuilders refrain from it because of the risk of injuries given the heavyweights involved. However, elite neuroscientist and fitness enthusiast Andrew Huberman’s fitness regime involves HIT training. 

With an increasing understanding of bodybuilding science, HIT training is now impossible to look over. It is time efficient and offers great muscle gains, but the bodybuilding community has to overcome their love for the traditional high-volume training method. If you want to switch to HIT training, then knowledge assimilation is the first step forward.