I am in my 50s..started hit 1 set to fail routine and did a full body every other day. I went soft and didn't grow. I tried resting 2 to 3 days between workouts and stayed hydrated...man...I started growing like a weed. When he says REST. He isn't kidding
@@Medreg1983 I've thought the same for myself, but I figured if I am getting consistent slow progress, which it is for most, progress is the main factor. Changing it will not make my body genetically grow quicker. Most people are plateaued all their lives. I definitely was.
I've been applying your workout principals but focusing on long length partials and I have made better progress than I have in years. I am 50 yrs old, and have been lifting on and off for almost 40 yrs and have never made gains like this as par as straight hypertrophy. I pick a couple of exercises per bodypart, where I can focus on the stretch position and perform one set per exercise to near failure, using between 7-10 seconds for the concentric and eccentric pausing in the stretch position for about 2 secconds. No momemtum, and real focus on the mind muscle connection. The muscles get smoked, but I recover quicker and can workout more frequently without overtraining or burnout.
Mike Mentzer advocated for reps beyond failure. I basically follow your pattern with regards to failure, but then when I cannot complete my "failure" rep, I cheat a little to get the weight to the top position, and then have an even slower than normal negative rep, so I can reach the point beyond failure. If I have a partner, I will do two negatives. If I can do unilateral exercise, I will do the same with assistance fron the free hand. I've found that works wonders. 2-3 rest days between workouts, and I've seen greater strength gains in two months, than I saw in 1.5-2 years with volume training. Also my gains have been considerably faster. I really wish I had come across the teachings of Mike a lot earlier
He advocated going beyond failure "sporadically" - as a way to confuse the muscle/body. I made the mistake of going beyond failure every single time and burnt out in spite of only doing 1 workout/week. Now I only work out to positive failure and convert my sticking point into a max duration static hold, followed by a controlled negative.
Absolutely agree throw in rest pause drops or negatives to extend the one set. I have trained like this for years 3 days a week got to hammer it though and have the mindset. I see people going in 5 to 6 days a week and don't even train looks doing repetitive crap
Set extenders are my absolute favorite - well... I wouldn't say "favorite" thing to do. That feeling pushing past failure on especially the hammer incline (best chest machine around right now IMHO) is almost impossible to get with the nonsense fast jerky shit that most people you describe are doing! That's why they have to do five or six sets of a single exercise - they don't do the shit correctly so we might be getting anywhere from 60-90 seconds under load each set while their shit form and cadence gives them 10-15 seconds max. Couldn't agree with ya more, Craig - great comment! Since starting HIT using a scientific approach I do more exercises so I am on a much more similar routine to Mike Mentzer in his 1978 off-season and his routine laid out in his book when he dropped all his supersets to 1 "round" - so 1 set each exercise. That's just because I'm a bodybuilder, though... I have to engage certain muscles a bit more deeply - if someone wants to just look good? 5 exercises for upper body is more than enough - even just four would do the trick, but I do like adding a chest fly - incline generally, but again... Bodybuilding related. But, yeah - no need to directly hit triceps nor biceps for most people but may be a good idea to hit the forearms now and then just for grip and getting that pain threshold up.
Yes Kristjen been training for over 30 years can't lift anywhere near what used to. Both shoulders knackered so have to be inventive and efficient. It's common sense look about at majority of gym goers and what they do and results don't have. One main thing say to as well its how you set yourself up before engaging in an exercise along with the proper execution
@@craiglyall4632 Excellent points! I am amazed looking at guys taking literally over 1,000mg weekly of AAS, and I only on hormone replacement at 125mg testosterone, and the massive differences in physiques. I tried the terrible form they used back when I was much younger, about 17 (20 years ago now), and I tore my rotator cuff and had terrible impingement that has persisted in my other shoulder. I think we all get the pain in the shoulders a bit after a while, but at 17? That was because of the awful form and tempo... Jerking and using momentum to try to ego lift everything I could as my coach told me to since it is the "way to grow fast." What complete bollocks... I finally had a coach after placing well enough in my first show as a teen. That first coach showed me AAS for the first time and said it would help me prepare for my show, but my protocol was idiotic. When I did compete next I couldn't seem to pull all the water out and came across softer even if bigger, and then I felt the rotator cuff tear that I'd suffered sometime during prep. I can't say when as the nandrolone and boldenone somehow had blocked that pain out just like the soreness. I am so glad to hear you are still getting after it! May I ask how old you are, brother? 👍👍👍🏋♂🏋♂
@@mihaeltomasovic I am 54 and competed few times back in early 2000s. Taking nothing now didn't want to stay on the merry go round. Test levels still quite high no crazy diets apart from trimming down for holidays just believe in good sound training and effort
Hopefully, people watching this video pick up on how slowly you do your reps…absolutely critical! I’ve been out of the gym for some time now (Covid/injuries) but intend to get back at it in a couple of weeks. I’ll be doing a full body workout, twice a week (Sunday & Thursday) 1 set per muscle group to failure focusing mostly on major groups ( Chest, back, legs ). This, with daily walks, stretching and surfing will most definitely work for me. Remember kiddos, eat healthy and incorporate a intermittent fasting regiment👍
Yes but note this… this training is not true HIT training as in Dorian Yates or Mike Mentzer. This guy is using a combination of HIT like training (btw HIT focuss on the negative movements because your strong in that mode verses the positive. He is also incorporating and old yes I said old ( 10/10 Super-Slow ) method developed by Ken Hutchins back in the 60s & 70s 10 seconds up/10 second down. This is not new! Do not think he developed this he did not ! Also true HIT “DOES” involve pre-warm up sets 1-2 not to failure. You really don’t start with a cold joint no blood. Otherwise you looking for an injury or pain years later in the joint- fact. Then set 3 is max weight to true muscle failure and sometimes a few negatives with a partners help. That’s real HIT!!! Dorian n Mike both did pre warm ups first. PS drop sets as he talkings about do nothing after you have gone to “failure” but add added stress to your nervous system.
He didn't do any isolated biceps work in this workout. Why's that? He's got a different upper body video that has almost double the amount of exercises in there. Curious why Edit: Ahhh... Full video on Patreon 😅
I have been gradually dropping the volume and upping the intensity in my training for the past six months, and guess what I was growing steadily and managing the overall fatigue. Before I was always tired and wanted to sleep all day. Currently moving onto just 2 sets and once I have mastered the exercises in my routine I'll probably experiment with just one set. I've only being training for about 1.5 years so I still have to achieve mastery of most of the exericises I learned
@@goranradonjic2369HIT is a bad joke on lifters. Mike Mentzer never used it while he was competing. Too many people are trying to reinvent the wheel. HIT is so wrong.
@TravisMcGee151 I use the one set to failure but in the Dorian Yates model . Multiple exercises per BP so 6 for Chest 4 for Triceps, I warm up 1 set to failure but with 4 seconds negative 2 on the positive, failure for me is the inability to do a full rep on the positive movement so maybe not true failure like the HIT purists but my intensity is good I feel
How about a “version” of HIT ? I’m trying a 3 day split - back/bi’s, chest/tri’s, legs/shoulders Been doing those workouts with no more than 45 seconds of rest in between sets. Totally shot and covered and sweat at the end and pumped. What do you think of something like that?
I have used HIT on and off for 30 years? I have been using the Super Slow approach more often now. Occasionally I get a wild hair and add a regular workout, 6 or 7 exercises, 3 sets, 8-12 reps. I just like to workout. I am realizing as I take the #60 exit in life next year, wearing myself out in a gym is counter productive. I lift every 7 days now. Well except when I get that wild hair. Sometimes it takes just shutting your eyes and jumping into HIT and just let things happen. Thanks for posting.
Thank you for this great technique! Do you have any guidance on bodyweight exercises using your slow, single-set-to-failure approach? It will be helpful to those people who would like a quick workout at home (without equipment). Can you recommend bodyweight exercises for optimizing such a bodyweight home workout? Thank you so much for your help.
Thank you for posting this. I drive truck and I'm toying with different approaches and thinking of doing this with resistance bands since weights are a no go in the rig...I imagine it's not optimal, but probably the best of a bunch of crappy options
@@josecavazos1869 it doesnt necessarily translate to more time to workout on local work, but I do pay attention to local jobs. I managed two full body workouts this week with bands, and a bar (think X3 but at a 1/4 of the cost), the only draw back is initial loading on say deadlifts, but I mitigate this by shortening the bands to increase the initial resistance... I like this protocol for time saving, and recovery, but that doesnt make it easy, actually going to failure on everything is quite taxing. I'll run it for at least 6 months and assess. Jay's approach makes the most sense to me so I'm pretty excited about this.
@@marcwatkins3996 X3 Bar is a good piece of equipment for those that need something portable or minimalist equipment at home. Best of luck on your HIT journey.
Started to experiment with higher frequency full body HIT workouts like Jay shows here. Within about a month I'm already seeing signs of over training doing it 3x per week, and that is only going till "soft failure" single set work outs. I do not currently push against the failure wall or do drop sets. Daily fatigue is definitely setting in with no additional muscle gain and sex drive is falling off, not to mention little aches and pains creeping in. I was getting NONE of those symptoms working each muscle group once per week with all out failure like Jay shows in the video. Dropping it back down to 2x a week frequency to test.
Everybody’s ability to adapt and recover is different. Some people can handle 2-3x per week and will see results from it. That does NOT mean “all” people will experience the same results. Just like 10 minutes in a tanning booth will yield different results and responses for different people, the same applies to training.
I’m training HIT from years usually with a 2 days a week upper/lower body split routine. I will give a try to full body workout 2 times a week but I will limit to positive failure. If I push myself to the max each time I’m pretty sure I will over train very soon.
@@jhdrummer4815 Agree. I felt like I was leaving gains on the table going till absolute failure 1x per week split routine. I felt like I could for sure get another work out in around the 4-5 mark on the same muscles. I need all the gains I can get the clock is ticking.
I would add, maintain a face that is relaxed; exerting your face as contracting muscles, takes away from your overall workout. This is stated in “The Nautilus Bodybuilding” book
Good advice. I find a lowered eyebrow- slight aggressive facial expression can help with giving it your all. Look like you are a little pissed off! Lol
would be interesting to see a calisthenics version of this type of training. maybe with a weight vest? with free weights you have to worry about safety more, but with body weight exercises you can't drop the weight on yourself. could also easily do drop sets by throwing weights off the vest and continuing
Lower body video was posted this week for my Patreon members. Join to see that plus other exclusive content and exercise demonstration. HTTPS://www.patreon.com/jayvincent
Used to do high volume 100 reps with low weight, With very slow movement and pauses at top middle, bottom of movement and pulse pushes not because knew what HIT was but because was poor and didn't have a lot of weights.
Exercise 1: chest press… you strongly advocate not to do drop sets as they are not necessary?? Then you start the routine with a drop set! I’m confused 😐
Is this a viable way to train with free weights? My gym doesn't have as many machines/plate loaded equipment and can be difficult to consistently get on the ones it does have
@@imhopelesslyaddictedtofent4266 I don’t agree with that but you will need a “ second set “. You can truly fail on your own with free weights so rack it and drop the weight a bit and then do it again. I will say squats are hands down the toughest to do free weights.
@@imhopelesslyaddictedtofent4266 for squats I won’t go that far, I just do another set. I’ve actually switched to doing a hip belt squat that way if I fail the only thing hurt would be mu nuts haha
b/c you're maximizing time-under-tension, minimizing the usage of momentum to move the weight. Moving explosively does not translate to anything useful in life, and is more likely to lead to torn muscle or strained tendons. If you get good at slow reps with 200lb, in every day life you'll be able to lift 100lbs explosively (if the situation arrises).
Hey Jay Vincent. how do I know that I have trained to muscle fatique, and not just in pain from lactic acid build up, during one set? I would argue doing more sets to failure with a pause in between might solve that issue, but I would like your thoughts on this greetings from Denmark :)
You're going to always reach failure on the 'positive' part of the exercise. Go until you stick and can't move the weight, don't hold your breath just hyper ventilate like a panting dog. Even though you arn't moving you will still be working very hard. Continue to contract against the immovable weight for a whole 5 to 7 seconds. If the weight still doesn't move you have achevied positive failure. At this point lower the weight SLOWLY under control as this is still part of the exercise and un-load.
When you literally cannot perform the movement. The pain will happen. For instance, on a lateral raise, you cannot lift your arms no matter how hard to try. Not just stopping because you’re uncomfortable
Hey Jay ,....great video,....where is this gym your working out at???....they have some unique machines Id really like to try....especially the nautilus power plus pullover, and that seated rowing machine
So I'm a bit confused when using one set to failure. Are these routines suppose to be just one exercise per body part or is it okay to do multiple exercises on one body part to failure? Or is that too much. Also I've seen several of these videos from different people and they say yes warm sets should be done but like just one warm up and then one set to failure?
Only one exercise per body part till failure, you need to do 1 or 2 warm up sets with 50 percent of your main working weight. Then one set to failure, if you don't have a training partner then use drop sets or rest pause sets to squeeze those last reps. Rest for 3 to 4 days, eat a balanced diet, sleep, then repeat.
Why did Jones/Mentzer advocate for single joint movement like leg extensions prior to leg press and pec fly prior to incline press, but you think large/compound to small/single joint works best?
Jones/Mentzer believed in pre exhaustion, which puts even more emphasis on the body part you are working, so they did an isolation movement first. The second set is the compound movement. The reason they advocated for this is to make sure the body part being worked on gets fatigued before other body parts when doing the compound movements. Jay is advocating for training smaller body parts like deltoids and arms after chest and back, which makes sense. Jones advocated for the same thing. Mentzer was more into splits than Jones and Jay. Dorian also likes splits.
Is it OK to do this type of training full body twice a week.?.....Sunday and Wed or Thursday would be my weight lifting. Mixed in with incline walking on the treadmill 2 or 3 times a week
Great video buddy. Wish there was a pullover machine near me. I just do a cable pullover with a pulldown machine with straight arm. Is that comparable?
It’s comparable but not the same. The pullover machine is the best. Are you still in Brooklyn? The Dolphin fitness on 86th Street in Bensonhurst has a pullover machine
Jay, I've been trying your 1 set to failure method 3 days a week (tues,thurs,Sat) on a push/pull/legs split for the last two weeks. Ive also been doing between 30-60 minutes of cardio on my rest days. I'm 36 and also overweight by about 50lbs. Before trying this method I was doing 5 sets of everything doing the average chest/triceps, back/biceps, legs, shoulders/arms days. I became decently strong with this method. With your method, I've noticed that I am starting to gain weight. I'm actually doing more cardio than I was before and I haven't changed my diet. Am I missing something here?
1 set to failure is a hypertrophy protocol. For weight loss you want to use the muscles that you build to burn energy so traditional method might be better.
Don't complicate everything! Do what gives results and you can stick to. If your are gaining weight and your don't want to, then eat less. It's that simple.
Why are you trying the system like that? No one gains weight by eating the same amount or less as you are suggesting that you are doing.. Come on Man. Really!!!
Do you still do cardio? Jay isn't a big advocate on Cardio because its inefficient at weight loss. it's better to cut calories by 300-500 until your losing a pound a week. Vs spending hours in the gym a week doing cardio desperately trying to burn calories that you could lose in less than 10 seconds a week by just not eating them. What he says about doing hit also makes sense that HIT training IS CARDIO if you change exercises immediately with only enough rest to adjust pins. Some days I leave the gym wheezing I am so out of breath. Edit: also what's your protein look like? Are you making sure your eating 1.5-2 grams of protein a day so you won't lose lean mass?
Hi Jay I've been training HIT for 10 years. Im 46 now, arthritis in my knees and neck so training to failure is off the cards for me. I usually train full body once every 4-5 days, but I'm finding I'm not gaining any strength. Ive decided to train once a week using an A B routine looking like this. A Leg press leg curl pull down Dumbell press grip pull aparts beck B abduction adduction heel raise row dumbell press curl press down neck. I was wondering if I perform rows pull downs and presses in the same workout but honestly 6 exercises feels like its enough and address all major body parts. Just wondering what your thoughts are?
Why are you not able to train to failure with arthritis? If you use the correct weight and form, and you van dot the exercises to start with, you should be able to train to failure. Remember, the last reps are actually "easier" than the first. Less force is being produced.
X3 and bands provide linearly increasing resistance towards a muscle torque curve that is a bell curve. That’s why it’s trash. How on earth don’t you people know this.
@@JayVincentFitness It doesn’t even sound like you know what you’re talking about. Linear variable resistance != linear constant resistance, the latter is what your machines and dumbbells are delivering. The torque curve you’re referring to isn’t A) the same for all movements or muscle groups, and B) relevant when achieving momentary fatigue in a range of motion between your starting weakest point and your ending strongest point (not beyond). How do you not know this?
That Deload set makes no sense? You’ve worked at hitting your max strength and stimulation of a heavy work load to lighten the weight and continue. ?? What you should of done is used a rest pause approach for 2-3 more reps. Or had a spotter and worked the negative. I think you better read Mentzers theories and watch his videos
[forgive me if you've been told this before (or are offended) but...] You are the spit of Chris Weidman😅Anyway, for some reason, your videos started coming up on my feed and I have to say, I like them...I'm a convert
No. Absolutely not. They’re unnecessary if you reach adequate fatigue on the first set. Doing set extenders with every exercise will lead to over training and adverse results.
Only if you’re lifting heavy and just throwing the weight around. Jay always advises dropping the weight so that you can move the weight 5 seconds up 5 seconds down and reach failure at 8-12 reps
A weightee crunch if you really want to hit the abs but 'core' work isn't necessary as the muscles of the trunk will get sufficient stimulation via the other big compound exercises.
Ah so it kind of requires machines? You can't be doing both free weights and body weight exercises only + "one set to failure" paradigm" I've basically been doing the one set to failure paradigm but without any machines.
I trained my wife with this method once a week. She had never touched a weight previous and after a couple months she had noticeable definition in her quads shoulders and traps. Family members even commented she was looking too muscular and sadly she stopped.
Yes cuz this is body building. It wouldn’t build explosiveness but growing stronger and bigger muscles sure as hell does increase your potential to exert more force hence more power. Smaller muscles will never have the same power potential as bigger muscles, all other factors kept constant.
you don't build 'explosiveness'. That is a skill gained by doing the sport. This builds strength and size, which does translate to explosiveness. Eg. Nordic curls is a very slow type of movement, but leads to explosive ability to drive the legs behind you (to pull the ground behind you with your feet).
