**Marcus's HIT Dungeon**

[marcus300]

Are you're doing one warm up set, a moderate "feel set" and one final working set to failure with the minute rest between each of the 3 sets?

I only do warm up sets on the first exercise then move on to the working set, when i go to another exercise i do 2 feels then one working. I try my best to rest around 1 min in between all sets except on legs which i struggle in the lung department.

I'll repost some information for you to read it may help you better

[marcus300]

repost

With HIT training we are specifically trying to stimulate a certain type of muscle fiber. We have different muscle fibers in the body and once you know how to train certain ones and the importance of making these grow you can design the ideal training routine to suit your goals. We are all aiming to add muscle tissue and we have to put ourselves under stress by progressively overloading our bodies so they have no alternative but to grow. All muscle contraction starts by nerves being activated, the stronger the nerve signal the more forceful muscle contraction can be applied to the lift. The nerves first get activated by the brain and this is where the mind muscle connection comes into play. I am always saying that you must get yourself in the right mind set for the working set, there are many ways to do this and ive explained many ways in my thread how I go about doing it, but the stronger the mind before the working set the better contraction and force can be applied to the muscle fibers. We can all do 10 reps with a certain weight but you can also really think about those ten reps and really activate the contraction in the muscle and work that muscle to the max and those reps will feel completely different. This is what separates a lot of people so before I move on really think about how you do reps and work that particular muscle to its max. I've seen many members saying they are doing so many reps with a certain amount of weight but I can say I bet a lot aren't really activating that muscle group to the max. Remember everything starts from within your brain, your inner self and how you go about attacking that working set. You have seen how I describe the zone I get myself into just prior to my working set and this is the zone you need to be in to fully work those muscle fibers to the max.

We are after activating the motoneurons within the network of nerves which is the signal for the muscle to contact, we have many different sizes but we are only interested in the large motonerurons which activate the large muscle fibers. We have slow switch and fast twitch fibers within the body and we are all made up of different amounts, that's why some of us grow bigger and faster and others struggle growing big thick muscles. Usually the guys who struggle with adding slabs of tissue on their frame are the guys who have more slow twitch fibers than fast, and the guys who are more genetically gifted with bodybuilding are the one who have more fast twitch. But either way you need to activate the fast twitch fibers and give yourself the best chance of building bigger larger muscles.The slow twitch ones are the ones what are more suited for endurance and are very resistant to fatigue the aerobic type athletes have a higher amount of these fibers over fast twitch.

Fast twitch muscle fibers are the ones we are concerned with activating and working. There are two types 2a and 2b. The type 2a ones are fibers which get activated when doing higher reps ranges lets say more than 12-15 reps, they are also the fibers what come into action around the 6-12 rep range. Type 2a fibers when activated correctly can grow in size and this is what many people tend to activate and see growth from when they start training. The type 2b fast twitch fibers are the ones what I adore lol these babies are the foundations of building bigger thicker muscles, if you activate these correctly they can grow tremendously in size and grow about 4 times the size of the 2a fast twitch fibers can, so you can see these are the ones what make the difference, but stimulating both type 2a and 2b fast twitch is getting the best out of both worlds but my personal aim and priority is to stimulate the type 2b fast twitch fibers and seriously breakdown these to get me some serious size on my frame.

What's the best way to stimulate the 2b fast twitch muscle fibers I hear you asking, well ive described it all the way through my thread but let me go over it again so you understand how important it is to have the right mind set what I speak of all the time and what kind of stimulation is needed to activate these tough fibers. Usually during a set of about 6-12 reps the type 2a are activated, you know the sets were your repping away and start struggle a little bit and rack it and move on. In basic terms your not going to true positive failure (I can go on and on what true positive failure is but trust me it takes along time to push your body to this limit and a lot of mental dedication its an advance training protocol) now if you took your set to true positive failure and you cant do anymore this is the time when the type 2b fast twitch fibers are activated, once you activate these fibers this is the best potential to really make your muscle grow bigger and thicker.

You will grow with normal sets and reps with modest intensity but if you want serious growth than you have to take your working set to true positive failure, this means using a weight what is heavy enough to make that working set very difficult and then going past true positive failure. Remember the type 2a fast twitch do all do all the work until you get to true positive failure then the type 2b come into play and these are the ones what produce the biggest gains in muscle size. You have to progressively overload your body each time you train, this means add more weight (or reps until you can add more weight) to stimulate growth, you also need to make sure your activating the type 2b fast twitch fibers which only get involved when you go to true positive failure. Your rep range needs to be between 6-12 reps at the failure point, I prefer around 6-8 reps range at failure. This is why its wise to have a partner when trying to activate the type 2b fast twitch fibers because you may think your going to positive failure but you wont be you need that reassurance of a partner who can just take that small amount of weight of the bar at true positive failure so you can mentally get past this sticking point. There are many advance protocols what you can use to get yourself to true positive failure which I've discussed in my thread.

HIT training will activate the tough type 2b muscle fibers and going to true positive will recruit all the muscle fibers which will give you the best chance of some serious tissue growth. Using advance training protocols like drop sets, rest pause, forced, negatives, supersets and even partials can be used to further your beyond failure training to help you activate the type 2b fast twitch fibers.

[DontTaseMeBro]

Thanks, Marcus. I had read that a few weeks back when I started reading the thread. I've actually made it all the way through - a tough task with a full-time job.

It seems feasible to get a 1 minute rest between most sets; BUT in an exercise like squats, deadlift, leg press, etc where endurance and fatigue become an issue would it be better to focus on keeping the rest to 1 minute between all sets or to focus on getting whatever minimum rest is necessary to allow for a true maximum effort to failure on the working set? In other words, if the failure comes from the cardiovascular system's inability to get oxygenated blood to the muscle as opposed to a true overload, should the lifter take additional rest time to insure a maximum effort on the working set?

[marcus300]

Thanks, Marcus. I had read that a few weeks back when I started reading the thread. I've actually made it all the way through - a tough task with a full-time job.

It seems feasible to get a 1 minute rest between most sets; BUT in an exercise like squats, deadlift, leg press, etc where endurance and fatigue become an issue would it be better to focus on keeping the rest to 1 minute between all sets or to focus on getting whatever minimum rest is necessary to allow for a true maximum effort to failure on the working set? In other words, if the failure comes from the cardiovascular system's inability to get oxygenated blood to the muscle as opposed to a true overload, should the lifter take additional rest time to insure a maximum effort on the working set?

Oh great you have read the whole thread no need to for me to repost then..

With legs your better taking what ever time it takes for you to recover between sets to fully stimulate that muscle to its maximum. Legs is very tasking and exhausting on the lungs so 1 min rest is a little hard to do when your doing the failure protocols.

[DontTaseMeBro]

It's always good to repost. WAYYYYY too much information to remember it all.

Thanks for the clarification. Can't wait to start monday.

[Hazard]

I almost walked outa my job today. I started at 10pm last nite...... Got back to the office at 10:30am. They wanted me to work till 4pm and then come back at 10pm to work another 12 hours. Mind you..... It's all life threatening situations.

They're fvckin crazy...... It's a liability to put us in that situation.

[RaginCajun]

I almost walked outa my job today. I started at 10pm last nite...... Got back to the office at 10:30am. They wanted me to work till 4pm and then come back at 10pm to work another 12 hours. Mind you..... It's all life threatening situations. They're fvckin crazy...... It's a liability to put us in that situation.

Damn Haz, that bites.

Hope it gets better

[biggjd69]

Marcus, I know you work out 5 days a week, a body part a day. But what re some of you guys workout routine? I know varies for everybody because everybody's body reacts differently. But for years I have used 5 on 2 off but I am finding that the older I get the more recoup time I need. Just curious discussion

[marcus300]

Marcus, I know you work out 5 days a week, a body part a day. But what re some of you guys workout routine? I know varies for everybody because everybody's body reacts differently. But for years I have used 5 on 2 off but I am finding that the older I get the more recoup time I need. Just curious discussion

Your right that's my main training schedule but over the last few weeks ive had to do various ones due to work, at the moment I am doing 2 on 2 off. I grow more when I have more time off

It all depends on how you react and what time you have spare, I know loads with different protocols 3 on 2 off, eod, 4on 2 off and so on it all depends what you can do and what fits into your schedule. If I had to pick one it would be the 5 on 2 off for me training one bodypart per weeks

[-KJ-]

So today I seen a guy do what I can only describe as "alternating DB shrugs"

Never seen Or heard of anyone doing them, looked awkward and funny at times...

Anyone do this? Because I wouldn't!

[marcus300]

So today I seen a guy do what I can only describe as "alternating DB shrugs"

Never seen Or heard of anyone doing them, looked awkward and funny at times...

Anyone do this? Because I wouldn't!

Never seen that and I would never do them, was he retarded?

[marcus300]

Legs tomorrow and I'm thinking how much I'm going to push myself

[kelkel]

Legs tomorrow and I'm thinking how much I'm going to push myself

Nice. I'm thrilled today as I still have almost no residual knee pain from squats the other day. That's a first in a while.

Back and Shoulders today. Several meals and two cups of pre-workout coffee in me:

Bent rows: Two heavy. Last with RP.
Close grip pull downs. Two strict sets to failure.
35 degree supported rows on smith: Two heavy, strict sets. Great finishing move here.
Feeling good so added in front pull downs for two strict sets.
Heavy barbell shrugs with RP then drop.

Delts:

Laterals raises. Two sets, 10-12 reps to failure. Shoulder's feeling better.
Front Presses: One straight heavy. One with drop. No pain = happy.
Rear laterals: Two strict sets around 15 reps each.

Very pumped, very happy with how things went today.

[-KJ-]

Never seen that and I would never do them, was he retarded?

Maybe so, it was one of those moments when you look at someone in disbelief and think your a moron!

[Sfla80]

Shoulders today

Couldn't pre exhaust them today, almost everyone there on DB lol.

Seated BB Press
2 warm ups, feel 145# x 8 working 185# x 5 drop x 2

Bent over Laterals
35x10 40x 8 (went less weight more reps watching my form making sure I wasn't swinging) Drop x 3 drop x 3

Seated Lateral raise
30x 8 35x6 drop x 4

BB up right rows
95x 8 110 x 6

Pec Dec
Forget weight here honestly, did a feel, a working and a drop.
( now how do u guys place your hands...palms in facing each other? Palms down towards ground?)

Finsihed with some smith machine shurgs

194 today. Heaviest I been in awhile. 200 here I come

[Doom44]

Legs/biceps

Full squat 1 working set 6 reps
Hack squat 1 working set 9 rp 3 rp 3
Legs extension 1 working set 10 reps
Dumbbell stiff legs Deadlift 1 working set 12 reps
Lying legs curl 1 working set 10 reps
Calf press on legs press machine 1 working set 12 reps rp 4 rp 4

Incline dumbbell curl 1 working set 8 rp 3 rp 2
Ez bar curls 1 working set 12
Reverse curls 1 working set 12

Short and intense. Love it.

[kelkel]

194 today. Heaviest I been in awhile. 200 here I come

Awesome!

[marcus300]

Legs was brutal

I was in the hack squat stirring about at the gym ceiling taking deep breaths on my working set just concentrating on what the next 30 seconds is going to be like and what I need to do to make this set so stimulating that my legs just explode. I had my hands on the unlock bars thinking and talking to my inner self " come on you cvnt lets do this" on the count of 3 I unlocked the weight and the pads started to dig deep into my traps and my shoulders went down around 2 inches due to the weight, I knew this was going to be brutal but all the time I was thinking it wasn't going to break me, it wasn't going to make me fail, I am going to kick fuk out of this weight. The next 10 seconds were for me to think of something what makes me angry from my past 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 and now I am feeling this urge to fuking kill someone, this is the time for me to go down on the first rep.

Slowly down and it felt easy, the weight was the heaviest ive done for years and it felt easy, 1 rep 2 reps 3 reps and I started to feel the acid burning in my quads, I said fuk that come on more 4th rep 5 reps and I was gasping heavy and on the exhale I could see spit flying up in the air above me from my breath , I had one spot of the ceiling I was focusing on and I could see the light pulsating through my eyes in time with my heart, the blood pressure in my eyes was high, my ears started to ring and go deaf, at this stage I thought I'm in the zone and the pain is really bad and I knew I wanted to get 10 reps at least. on the 6th rep I stalled at the top and took an extra 3 breaths and started to go down again, it didn't help one bit !!!!! I was nearly collapse and I couldn't get enough air into my lungs again which was limiting my ability to get to my desired rep range I had in mind for this set but I thought of something bad and I felt the adrenalin flow again.

My partner started to shout at me come on don't fail, lets do it so I looked up and burst into another rep on the 10th reps I was fuked and jst about to rack it and my partner shouted oh no you don't 2 more forced lets do this - I screamed and grunted and went down and I could hardly push it up but my partner took a little of the weight from me and he spotted me just right, yeh one more rep to go. I said this is easy and down I went and forced one more rep out which felt like a 5min of pushing that fuker up, slow and very controlled but with my spotter I manage to rack it at the top while I was grasping my air. I fell off and lay on the floor and my hear was pounding, my eyes I could see the light go darker and lighter due to the pressure, my legs had that much lactic acid flowing it was impossible to stand. I crawled on my knees and got hold of the machine and got up.

I smiled and walked like my legs were jelly over to the next exercise and I was still thinking to myself that was cool and I cause some serious muscle break down. Sorry if half of this doenst make sense but I cant be arsed re-reading it because I need food now. I hope it come across like I wanted it to.

Guys if you want to be bigger than anyone else, you have to go beyond what is normal for you and increase the intensity. This pain zone is my home, I like pain and love attacking my body to its limit. You want it? you want to turn heads and people think your carved out of stone then its this zone you have to visit! its not easy playing with the devil and it what it takes. Mind control and motivation to be the best will drive you to this zone.

Wont go into the rest of the leg workout but it was all, the same as hacks, brutal and very productive

[almostgone]

Daaaaaanngggg! That workout should really kick in some growth. Thanks for posting it. I think I'm starting to progress somewhat with the mental part, I just have to keep the "I WILL" concept foremost in my thoughts..... posts like this really help!!!

[almostgone]

Stopped by Academy to see if by chance they had any 100# Olympic plates.
Don't see them often but they are handy to use on my hip/leg sled. I bought some years ago@ the second hand sports store we used to have...it has since shut down. Academy didn't have any, but they did have a 300# set that was scratched up. Offered to buy it if they would throw in a plate tree......so I got a semi-decent price. Still miss the old second hand store though.
Just have received some of the spin lock collars I ordered. Can't stand the stupid spring collars. The weights don't sit square to the bar and look all....dilapidated.
Between what I already had and what I picked up I believe I'm set for awhile.
Looking forward to tonights lift!!

[kelkel]

Great read Marcus! Man I haven't done a hack in at least 10 years.
No clue what they would even feel like anymore!

ps: It made sense.

[-KJ-]

So started my 3 day split and incorporating HIT.

Nice warmup for chest and shoulders.

Incline bench 3sets with one drop.
DB flys 3 sets with one RP and one drop
30 degree DB press 2 sets one RP
Hammer strength press one set with double drop

Cable laterals 3 sets one drop
Bent over laterals 3 sets one drop
Upright row 2 sets with RP

Skull crushers 2 sets straight
Rope pulldown two sets with one double drop

Maybe too much... Any input?

[kelkel]

So started my 3 day split and incorporating HIT.

Nice warmup for chest and shoulders.

Incline bench 3sets with one drop.
DB flys 3 sets with one RP and one drop
30 degree DB press 2 sets one RP
Hammer strength press one set with double drop

Cable laterals 3 sets one drop
Bent over laterals 3 sets one drop
Upright row 2 sets with RP

Skull crushers 2 sets straight
Rope pulldown two sets with one double drop

Maybe too much... Any input?

Just work toward ever increasing intensity and dropping your sets down. It takes time to be comfortable with this style and learning to give everything to just one set or so.

No pressing movement for shoulders?

[-KJ-]

Just work toward ever increasing intensity and dropping your sets down. It takes time to be comfortable with this style and learning to give everything to just one set or so. No pressing movement for shoulders?

It was pretty intense but I think I need to drop the sets on each exercise maybe one set less and still have the intensity where it was.

I though it might be too much on the front delts. I could drop upright row or like u said kel drop the sets on other exercises.

[kelkel]

Simply rotate exercises in and out if you like but a pressing movement is needed for delts.

[-KJ-]

Simply rotate exercises in and out if you like but a pressing movement is needed for delts.

Cool! Cheers kel will change it up think I hit them Tuesday again. That workout was from start of week. Will post for you to see again. Thanks.

[kelkel]

Good. It's what this thread is here for! Be sure to read some of Marcus's recent re-posts on intensity.

[Dpyle]

Holy crap! Took my daughter to the trampoline park this morning, and that's turned out to be a bad idea after yesterday's leg session.

[almostgone]

Decent lift today. When I dropped into low gear for the work sets, my reps were much smoother. Felt good!

Standing E-Z curl
w/u-2
Work- 4-rp-1-rp-1

Incline d'bell curl
w/u-2
Work-5-rp-3.5-rp-1.5

Concentration curl
w/u-1
Work-4-rp-2-2 slow negative

D'bell wrist curl
Work w/ palms up-1
Drop weight
Work w/ palms down-1

Hammer curl- Seated @ bench w/ back in upright position
w/u-1
Work-5-rp-3.5

Triceps press down w/ rope
w/u-2
Work-5-rp-2-drop-failure

Close grip bench
w/u-1
Work-8-rp-2

Incline skullcrushers
w/u-1
work-4-rp-2-rp-1

[marcus300]

Great read Marcus! Man I haven't done a hack in at least 10 years.
No clue what they would even feel like anymore!

ps: It made sense.

I was still on one when I wrote it lol.

Hacks are favorite legs exercise at the moment.


Legs glutes and calves are in bits. I had to take muscle relaxer last night they were that bad

[marcus300]

Decent lift today. When I dropped into low gear for the work sets, my reps were much smoother. Felt good!

Standing E-Z curl
w/u-2
Work- 4-rp-1-rp-1

Incline d'bell curl
w/u-2
Work-5-rp-3.5-rp-1.5

Concentration curl
w/u-1
Work-4-rp-2-2 slow negative

D'bell wrist curl
Work w/ palms up-1
Drop weight
Work w/ palms down-1

Hammer curl- Seated @ bench w/ back in upright position
w/u-1
Work-5-rp-3.5

Triceps press down w/ rope
w/u-2
Work-5-rp-2-drop-failure

Close grip bench
w/u-1
Work-8-rp-2

Incline skullcrushers
w/u-1
work-4-rp-2-rp-1

Like it very much. Similar to my work out

[almostgone]

Like it very much. Similar to my work out

Thank you sir! All of the credit goes to you.

[marcus300]

Going doing delts now. Feeling on fire

[almostgone]

Hope you have a productive lift, Marcus!!!

[Sfla80]

Arms today

Preacher bar pull downs
2 warms, 140 x 10 180 x 5 drop x 2 drop x 2

Rope pull down
120 x 10 140 x 6 drop x 2 drop x 2

DB incline skulls
25 x 10 35 x 8

Reverse Grip pull downs
40x 8 60 x 6

Bent over iso curls
1 warm 35 x9 40 x 6 drop x 2 dop x 2

Incline Curls
25x10 35 x 8 drp x 2

Hammer strength machine...one hand iso
45x8 45 x 8

Feeling great, arms feel full. Just measured first time in awhile...just under 16" ( couple hours after workout) Not bad considering . Try to post couple pics soon. Cant get good ones....im really white lol

[kelkel]

Post up. Color doesn't matter! It's winter.

[marcus300]

Hope you have a productive lift, Marcus!!!

Its was great

pre exhausted and my strength is still increasing and so are the scales.

Had a eye ball shake on the pressing which is good for me and the side laterals I took them right down to halves and quarters until I couldn't lift my arms.

[marcus300]

Arms today

Preacher bar pull downs
2 warms, 140 x 10 180 x 5 drop x 2 drop x 2

Rope pull down
120 x 10 140 x 6 drop x 2 drop x 2

DB incline skulls
25 x 10 35 x 8

Reverse Grip pull downs
40x 8 60 x 6

Bent over iso curls
1 warm 35 x9 40 x 6 drop x 2 dop x 2

Incline Curls
25x10 35 x 8 drp x 2

Hammer strength machine...one hand iso
45x8 45 x 8

Feeling great, arms feel full. Just measured first time in awhile...just under 16" ( couple hours after workout) Not bad considering . Try to post couple pics soon. Cant get good ones....im really white lol

sounds good and do post your pic

[Cuz]

Have to upload on the computer phone won't cooperate

Couple gym pics tonight. Started the cycle the 6th of last month. Makin some gains despit not so good training and not so good of a diet. Gonna concentrate more this month

[kelkel]

Looking good Chad. Look forward to progress pics along the way.