Papercut's Log of HIT

[Papercut]

Stats: 5'11", ~190lbs, 24 yrs old, somewhat inconsistent lifting history
Goals: Gain muscle w/o the fat. If it takes longer than bulking/cutting, so be it. Looking towards a lean 205-210 for the time being.

How I'm Training:
So as the title implies, I'm training with Darden-style HIT and my workouts are usually ~40min. I realize that 95% of the huge dudes out there, including the behemoths on this forum, train with multiple sets and somewhat redundant exercises per workout. Know this: I don't disagree with your methods. I'm just a very analytical and logic-based guy and HIT makes the most sense to me. I believe that one real-deal set per exercise can place adequate stress on your muscles to get them growing. I don't have volumes of data to support that and I don't believe some of the fantastical claims out of the HIT camp, but after all I don't think anyone has come up with anything definitive for best # of sets or the true best method. Besides, why not get a new perspective in here? Believe me... I'm not slacking with HIT. Slow reps and absolute wheezing failure every exercise. Another thing: due to my friends' availability/willingness to dominate/financial situations, I do not have a workout partner. Therefore when I talk about doing, say, Smith machine squats, I realize that they are inferior to free weight, but I'm looking to go to absolute failure. Not really possible with no workout partner.

Thus far:
I've been working out with tenuous consistency since early December, and since then my quads, hams, and glutes have really ballooned. I have trouble jean-shopping now haha. Shoulders and pecs have had some noticeable size gains, lats a little less, and bi's/tri's a little less than that. I'm thinking of splitting my routines to help focus more on upper body. The HIT program I'm basing my training off of is all full-body workouts with a legs-first approach. I love the gains I've made in my legs, but by the time I'm deep into the workout I'm pretty sapped, so splitting may help me nail the upper body more thoroughly.

So here was my last workout:
5 minute warmup on elliptical - 17 hill setting
Leg Curl - 130 x 10 + 3 negative
Smith Squat - 220 x ~15 + 4 partials
(superset) Leg Xt - 100 x 4
Dumbell Bench - 60 x 11 + 2 slow pushups
Pulldown (palms in) - 130 x ~15 (going heavier next time)
Lateral Raise (machine) - 90 x 11 <drop> 60 x 3
Bicep Curl (on cable machine) - 70 x ~10 <drop> 40 x 3
Abs

Typically I do a tricep exercise but my right was feeling strained so I laid off. I rotate this with another workout that looks like this:

Warmup
Leg Extension
Dead Lift supersetted w/ Leg Press
Dumbell bench (sometimes incline) supersetted w/ Pushups
Rows (machine)
Upright Rows supersetted w/ Standing Military
Bicep Curl
Tricep Extension/Skull crusher
Abs

I usually leave 2 days in between these workouts. I'm sure you guys have plenty to suggest. Believe me, I'm an open book. Not totally set in the training method, but I do want to stay with HIT until I'm convinced it's not cutting it. As far as suggested splits, I'd love to hear them.

 

[PrinceVegeta]

Welcome to the logs man!

Interesting! HIT to the max! cant wait to see the sessions!

 

[Papa G]

Hey man one thing I have never stopped believing in exercise is that people's body react different to different exercises. Hopefully this one will hit you just right.. It's nice to have something different to follow here. Good luck! Maybe doing a more compound heavy lift for your back would help it catch up. Pull downs are good but maybe some Bent over rows, or T-bar rows instead.. you can go heavy and really get some big fiber activation. HIT it HARD!

 

[Samoan-Z]

Dude it seem pretty logical to me, try it out and see how it works for you my routines won't work well with other guys just as thier would do nothing for me. Only suggestion is careful on those leg curls.

And dude I hear ya on the jeans I honestly have to stop buying them within a month cause the thighs are all too small for my waist size.

 

[Papercut]

Just got over a sickness and finally made it back to the gym. I expected to have a disappointing day, but holy hannah I was wrong.

Weight before workout: 192
5 minute warmup on elliptical
Leg Extension - 135 x 15 <drop> 100 x 1.5
(10 pounds more than my last PB and 2 more reps. Held the top of
each rep for a second b/c it was too light)
Deadlift (Smith) - 230 x 10 <drop> 140 x 1.5
(Ow)
Dumbbell Bench - 65 x 9 <drop> 40 x 2
(My first time above 60. Felt awesome)
Row (Machine) - 120 x 10 <drop> 90 x 2
Upright row - 75 x 7 <superset> Standing Military - 75 x 6
(Never punished my shoulders harder. Very tough after the
bench set.)
Curl (Cable Machine) - 7 x 7 <drop> 4 x 3
(Biceps already fried at this point. Had to get angry for this one.)
Abs


No tricep exercise. After bench and military they were on fire. Even so, what a workout. I basically crawled out of the gym. One observation I made: When did bicep curls become my second most painful exercise?? Is it where I have it in my routine? They are absolutely excruciating to me.

Responses to y'all:
It's awesome to hear support for HIT. If I came off as defensive in the first post it's only because I've seen so much "training wars" garbage in other opinion media on the internet and it's kind of infuriating. Good to see that sense and decency prevail here. Papa G - I LOVE T-bars. Used to be my favorite exercise, but I stopped it when I started this new routine. It places my back exercise after either deads or squats. By the time I get around to the T-bars, my legs are jelly. I can't hold myself up. This is a big reason why I'm trying to draft a 3-wo split. I want T-bars back and I want to have energy to hit areas I neglect (upper back, tris, forearms). Samoan - Looks like we're doomed to sweatpants hahaha. Any specific reason you warn against leg curls? The machine at my gym places you in an upright sit and you curl the arm under you. Never goes past my fully-extended plane at the top. It's actually given me decent size gains on my hams (I have a little leg bicep goin) and it's a great exercise to get my heart rate up for squats.

Keep the opinions coming guys, I really appreciate it. Having one of these logs really forces you into the gym, doesn't it?

 

[Samoan-Z]

I not entire aginst leg curls just heavy leg curls injury is very prone in the lying leg curls, I would do DB SLDL or BB SLDL to build glute and hammy compound growth.

 

[PrinceVegeta]

Good session man!