This mainly because of my other commitments in life, which periodically can get very demanding. Over time I have noticed much longer recovery times post workout as a result.
To plan around these circumstances/demands, I have on such a week, for example, either added significantly more volume on a SINGLE workout that week - or - done 1 to 3 musclegroups/sets on a DAILY basis. My personal preference tend to be the latter, but I do wonder if the effort is enough to produce positive effects?
My question to you is - If you had to choose, which is the preferred HIT strategy in your opinion? More volume with less frequency or less volume with high frequency?
This question is particularly interesting, as you earlier proved one day a week is enough for quality results re 30-10-30 (featured in an article by you on here), though later programs feature (a return to) 3 training days a week. As far as I’m concerned, a proper daily HIT strategy has not been presented before. Yours, or any other experienced HIT trainees, thoughts on how to develop such a program/schedule (a HIT WOD) would be much appreciated.
Thanks Dave,
I have that book, and will rediscover it for ideas on short daily HIT workouts. The biggest problem when exhausted, is that too much volume and/or intensity may ruin your results, well-being and recovery - which is why I tend to go for a very short daily burst in free form.
On a side note: Hats off to you Dave for continued success in Meadowsland. I still follow your log from a distance.
Thank you! It’s a lot like Fortitude Training but with the work for individual muscle groups more concentrated in a single session rather than being spread out throughout the week in a high frequency fashion!
I think muscle rounds might be a nice approach for you during times like you described. Just do 1-3 muscle rounds for whatever body part you’re working and do a different body part every day! Your workouts would seriously only take like 10-15 minutes tops, even with warm ups!
For me it boils down to what you like to do and what your own experience points towards. Personally I don’t want to be in the gym too many days a week or for too long. I have other things to do. Consequently my preferred strategy is one workout per week for about 8 - 9 movements whether I have super busy, stressful weeks or not. I rarely change. On extremely rare occasions I may train twice a week - but that’s usually only when I’m on vacation.
Thanks for replying - and for the book recommendation, which sounds interesting! “It depends…” is also something I once learned from a lecturer (also mentioned by coach Thibaudeau).
John Heart has a program on his YouTube channel, forget what he called it though. Maybe search “Lazy HIT”.
Anyways, he rotated 6 workouts on an 8 day cycle:
Day 1: barbell row & lateral fly
Day 2: rest
Day 3: calf raise
Day 4: bench press
Day 5: leg press for 2 cycles, then a glute/hamstring movement for 1 cycle
Day 6: rest
Day 7: preacher curl
Day 8: tricep movement
One warm up set and one work set. One movement per day (except back and delt day). Always resting the day after large body pats IE: back, legs.
I may have with a few individual exercises, but I’m not sure. I do a few band exercises currently, but it seems like it should work since it’s so easy to change the resistance. I find mechanical drop sets, where you just move to an easier part of the band after hitting failure, to be the easiest method of loading with bands.
I think I’m kind of jaded when it comes to written in stone routines, but I understand the appeal of some authority telling you to do exactly these 4 (or 8, or 12) exercises on precisely these days for these reps. Also eat exactly these foods in these amounts.
In the end they are just guidelines and we are all very different. It ain’t that complicated, IMO. As someone said, find what works, then it is a matter of punching the clock.
I’m retired and have plenty of time to train and recover, so I have little interest in doing the absolute bare minimum as HIT sometimes seems to steer you towards. Most of my recovery is needed for the 7-8 hrs of tennis I play a week, not the gym exercises I do.
I have a list of reminders (broken into home or gym) on my phone/computer of the exercises (including strength and flexibility work) that I do. They get checked off as I cycle through them, and once they are all checked off at the end of the week or whenever, I uncheck them and start over.
In practice, of course there are “routines” or groups of exercises that tend to be done together out of habit or convenience, but all in all, it’s pretty freestyle.
Anyway, that’s what I do, and I’m always interested in what other people do.
Just noticed the notes on some of the exercises. These are to jar my memory if needed for the weight currently used. Pay no attention to that 100# deadlift lol. That is a careful RDL on a Hammer DL machine I recently started playing with.
