[apurplehaze08]

Does anyone have an opinion on high intensity training? I've come to a plateau on all my upper body lifts, legs are still growing like crazy. My bench press is the biggest problem, I haven't busted past 225 in about year. I'm doing a basic split;

Chest/Tri's; Bench, Incline(Barbell and dumbell), Flys, Skull Crushers, Cable Pushdowns

Back/Bi's; Lat Pulldowns, bent over rows, good mornings, shrugs, t-bar rows, ez-curl bar curls, DB curls, preacher, ect.
Rest
Legs;Squats, Stifflegged Deadlifts, Calf raises, leg press
Rest

All workouts with about 10-15 min. of cardio at the end.

I'm just getting a little bored with my workouts. As I understand it, HIT programs do one exercise (usually compound) per muscle group and take it to failure, and do full body every workout. Has anyone tried this? How were the results? All I want to do is gain size and strength (surprise) so I was thinking of giving HIT a go around.
STATS
160lbs
12%bf
5'10''

[ZiR RED]

I've used it. I saw results. I think its OK for hard gainers who are just starting out. I didn't do a full body workout however, but more along the lines of a dorian yates modified routine, training 3-4 days a week using low volume and taking sets to eccentric failure.

Personally, I've seen better results using an advanced hypertrophy/strength periodized program. What is your main concern, strength or size?

[apurplehaze08]

is it strange to want both? I definately want to keep getting bigger but would also like to see some of my lifts progress b/c theres nothing more de-motivating than seeing no progress. But if I had to choose right now I would go with size.

[projekt0]

i dont think you need to do HIT to get over your plateau. if you want strength go with 4-6 reps with very heavy weight. and if you want size go with 6-10 reps with moderate to heavy weight

[miggitymags]

i would say one of your biggest problems is your boredom with your workouts.. of course it is going to be tough to push past a plateau if you aren't pumped about your workout..

i ran into a frustration period a while back where nothing was working so i completely revamped my workout.. i actually read an article on it in M&F, thought it was interesting, read more on it, and did a modification of DC (doggcrapp) Training.. i say 'modification' because i put my own twists on it that i thought would work for me since DC is allegedly geared for experienced lifters.. i basically took the idea of DC's splits AND the idea of trying to beat my previous lift for that exercise by weight or by reps - if you can't, switch it up.. its tough giving up some of your favorite lifts..

Like I said, i'm not performing DC, but I used theories and pieces from it that intensified my workouts and helped me bust through plateaus.. I'd suggest reading up on it and seeing if you can apply it to your personal style.. This is obviously only a suggestion but maybe it will work..

[apurplehaze08]

I decided i'm going to start keeping a log of what i do for my workouts. Its something I never got around to and that made it hard to see progress b/c it seemed like I was always doing something different or in a different order or just didn't remember what I did last time. So, hopefully this will help me out of my rut.

[miggitymags]

^^ this is a must do.. its too hard to remember weight and reps you did the previous workout with every exercise.. you are definitely taking a step in the right direction -- training logs are essential..

i still wonder however, as you mentioned, about your boredom with your workout.. i still think a mix-up would suit you well - combined with your log - you should be pumped for your workouts...

[mr_bhana]

I think you should train you Bis and Tris on a different day from your chest and back, i usually find those bodyparts exauhsted if i train em with chest or back. If you wanna bust your bench, you really gotta hit all the assisting muscles hard!

[apurplehaze08]

i tried that and didn't really like it because say if I did chest and bi's, my sore bi's would screw up my back workout. I like the split I have, however I am starting to play around with doing bi's on leg day to take advantage of the higher gh levels.