Mentzer HIT, 4-8 days rest per workout???

I have been reading a lot into Mike Mentzer's HIT training and he says that if you workout on a MONDAY, you should rest 4-8 days. Is this too much rest? I have come from the conventional school of lifting where 4x per week is good with 3 days of rest per WEEK.

If I truly am going to total failure, then my body will need the rest, but is that enough to build lean tissue. His split is like this:

Monday - chest and back
Friday - legs and abs
Tuesday - Shoulders and arms
Saturday, repead cycle...

What do you guys think???

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Originally posted by redrock
I have been reading a lot into Mike Mentzer's HIT training and he says that if you workout on a MONDAY, you should rest 4-8 days. Is this too much rest? I have come from the conventional school of lifting where 4x per week is good with 3 days of rest per WEEK.

If I truly am going to total failure, then my body will need the rest, but is that enough to build lean tissue. His split is like this:

Monday - chest and back
Friday - legs and abs
Tuesday - Shoulders and arms
Saturday, repead cycle...

What do you guys think???

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I think if you train with high intensity, you need more rest. I train with high intensity (not exactly HIT methods) and i give 6 days to hit again that muscle...

I only rest 3 days and I have pleanty of intensity proper nutrition can help aid in the recovery if you dont eat right I have noticed that it takes longer in the recovery time

The only body part I rest more in is legs

i find mentzers training very helpful in understanding what rest can do for you. we are not arnold, well atleast i'm not. i give four days of rest for eah body part. i try to only give three days of rest, but find that i need one more day.

I did not understand how important recovery really was until i thought about what mentzer was really saying. Even though i am not on a true HIT system, the ideals still make an impact on my workout and my split. I still don't understand how the hell arnold managed to grow on a 2 day split especially if u think about mentzer's ideas.

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Originally posted by saboudian
I did not understand how important recovery really was until i thought about what mentzer was really saying. Even though i am not on a true HIT system, the ideals still make an impact on my workout and my split. I still don't understand how the hell arnold managed to grow on a 2 day split especially if u think about mentzer's ideas.

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But Arnold never trainned HIT style ...

I don't think you guys understood Myobrain's post....it's not 4-8 days before you hit that particular muscle group again, it's 4-8 before you even train again as outlined in the split he provided mon/fri/tues/sat. Personally I think how much rest someone needs is instinctive, but IMO 4-8 days is overkill. I like a 2 on 1 off 2 on 2 off mon/tues/thurs/fri and reapeat. I would say if you feel that you have trouble recovering quickly use 1 on 1 off.

Whoops sorry Redrock....my bad!

This method works for those that are severly overtrained. They are allowing their body to finally recover. I have read little on Mentzer's HIT program simply because it has been bashed on by a few strength coaches I do respect - and they suggest that those who do benefit from the program where simply overtrained to begin with. And most bodybuilders do overtrain very frequently.