HIT is IT? So far, very good...

HIT Beginner regimen 
Week 1 - from 5 January 2015 

As one reviewer puts it:

Though I am firmly committed to the HIT program, it should be recognized that this is not the only lifting program that works. Empirically, it is hard to completely discard other programs. It should also be noted that HIT is not a magic formula. In order to get great results, you will have to be diligent in your focus and effort every workout. The intensity required to exercise your muscles to failure takes a healthy dose of commitment and hard work. ... While other lifting programs do work, I feel strongly that the HIT program is the most effective technique for lifting with regards to the time you have to put in. You may be able to get comparable results with another lifting program - but it may take 2-3 times the amount of time required for the HIT program. Anyone who wants to get the most out of his or her workout in the least amount of time ... should strongly consider the HIT program. 

After only a week, I heartily agree. Then again, I think my own instinctive meanderings in the gym have brought me closer and closer to a HIT-style mentality. Tow it: Go heavy or go home, rest is the missing ingredient in most programs, and cheating on form is just cheating on yourself. IOW: Patience, humility, confidence, consistency.  

As such, here is what I have done in my first week on "Ell Dardon's" HIT program. (Let the record state that, aside from good results and less time in the gym, one other nice thing about HIT, is that the notes for three workouts -- which is the most you'll ever do in a week according to HIT principles -- fits on one sheet of smallish notepad paper, in three columns.) Please note that the third workout (9 Jan 2015) was the first time that I seriously tried to go to real "momentary muscular failure". After more research this week I not only learned--thanks in no small part to Daye -- that staying in the anaerobic range entails differing rep ranges for different muscle groups (viz. 15-20 for hip exercises, 10-15 for leg exercises, and 6-12 for upper body), but also that the "momentary" idea in this regimen is physically precise: it means not a temporal pause but a tangential change in power at any given point on one's workout. That is to say, I was being too strict by assuming that all "cheating" is verboten in HIT. Actually, body English is necessary to work past MMF if a spotter is not present (i.e. to cheat with a shorter, sloppier concentric motion so as to perform one last tight eccentric effort). Basically, MMF means that you lost tight concentric form, and intensity means that you go past that "canary in the mine" to reach true muscular fatigue. One brutal set is enough, but making a single set truly brutal entails "cheating" or spotting once you detect MMF. 

Does that make any sense? 

Wever. It works. I'm sure of it. 

For now, though, the numbers, for posterity: 

1/5/15 

leg curl: 80 lbs x 10 

leg extension: 80 x 9 

leg press: 180 x 10 

db pullover: 50 x 11

db BP: 45 x 12

db bent row: 50 x 9

db MP: 35 x 7

bb curl: 50 x 9

db tricep press: 40 x 10

bb wrist curl: 20 x 12

--------

1/7/15 

leg curl: 80 x 11 

leg extension: 80 x 10 

leg press: 180 x 11 

db pullover: 55 x 11

db BP: 55 x 11

db bent row: 50 x 9

db MP: 35 x 8

bb curl: 50 x 10

db tricep press: 40 x 10

bb wrist curl: 40 x 9

-------------

1/9/15 

1 leg curl: 90 x 12 

2 leg extension: 90 x 11 

3 leg press: 90 x 13 

4 db pullover: 60 x 13 (failure? could have done one more!)

5 db BP: 60 x 11

6 db bent row: 50 x 10

7 db MP: 35 x 9

8 bb curl: 60 x 9

9 db tricep press: 45 x 11

10 unilateral farmer carry: 80 x 60 steps (left hand) / 53 steps (right hand)

+ + + 

On Monday, God willing, I will up the reps on exercises 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, and 10, while raising the weight on exercises 4, 5, 6, and 9.