Customer Reviews

The New High Intensity Training: The Best Muscle-Building System You've Never Tried

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

I think I've read every single book Ellington Darden has written, and there really isn't anything "new" in this book. I preface this review by saying that I credit Darden with helping me realize over 20 years ago that "less is more" and I do thank him for that. The general principles he has espoused - "train less, work harder" - have definitely helped me over the years.

However, I'm a little put off by the book description here where it states: "there still are no major HIT books in stores". Huh? That's a false statement. Other authors have written excellent HIT books. For example, "Maximize your Training", by Matt Brzycki, contains advice from the most prominent HIT advocates in the world including Dr. Ken Leistner, Dr. Ted Lambrinides and a plethora of other strength coaches and other strength training experts. Stuart McRobert's books have been around for quite awhile. Others have also written books on HIT. Yet Darden would have you think that there's nobody else out there in the HIT training world other than him (and Mike Mentzer). I'm also surprised that when he mentions internet resources he makes no mention of the most popular HIT site on the web - Cyberpump - which has been around for over 10 years.

But back to this book. I enjoyed the historical tidbits that I had never read before. In my opinion, however, the author goes into a bit too much detail about Arthur Jones' non-training endeavors. Perhaps this interests others, but not me. I have zero interest.

As far as the training advice goes, I couldn't find a single piece of advice - excluding the part on creatine which I'll get to in a bit - which hasn't been published in one of Darden's previous books. The "NTF" (Not-To-Failure) workouts are detailed in his Nautilus book back in the 1980s. This isn't anything "new". In my opinion, they are completely unnecessary. If you haven't recovered from your workouts, you don't need to go back to the gym for a "maintenance" workout. Just rest. You don't need to go back to the gym every 48 hours to prevent atrophy. Plenty of folks train intensely every 72-96 hours or so, and enjoy great gains.

I'm also taken aback by the advice on creatine. First, Darden has consistently maintained over the years that the bodybuilding supplements being peddled don't have any legit scientific support for their effectiveness. He's maintained the line that supplements are a waste of money. But NOW he condones creatine. Huh? The scientific evidence behind creatine isn't exactly compelling. There are several prominent strength training authorities who feel that creatine is a waste of money, and can have some dangerous side effects including muscle cramping and dehydration. For example, here's a quote from Mark Asanovich, coach of the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars discussing the use of studies that shed a positive light on the use of creatine by athletes:

"You have to take a look at the paper trail," he says. "It's skewed. Small numbers (of test subjects) were used ... and it tested football players, who were told that at the end of the study, they'd be given a free can of Creatine."

I'm also surprised at the dosages Darden recommends. They are quite high. In my opinion, this is not good advice at all and certainly not healthy. What happened to his old refrain that weight training should be about HEALTH first?

Back to the training routines. Every "advanced" specialization routine can be found in one of Darden's previous books. Absolutely nothing "new". I would also add that in my opinion some of these routines are far too much for the average trainee to handle. It's not so easy to go to "regular" concentric failure. I thought Darden points this out with his anecdote on how you're not working "hard" on a set of curls unless you end up on the floor afterwards and/or vomit. So then how likely is it that a trainee can work to failure on THREE exercises back-to-back with no rest? You'll have to lower the intensity if you know that you're doing three exercises back to back. Only very advanced and well-conditioned trainees can do three HARD sets back to back, and be able to tolerate (and recover from) that kind of intensity. And besides, even if you could recover, there's zippo evidence to support the notion that you need to utterly *destroy* your muscles as he suggests

Then there are the usual claims that Darden makes about gaining an unbelievable amount of muscle mass in a very short period of time. I will only say this: the ONLY circumstances you can gain extremely large amounts of muscle mass in a very short period of time (weeks) is any combination of:

1. you are regaining lost muscle mass (like Casey Viator in the "Colorado Experiment")
2. you take steroids
3. you have been following a training regime that is stupid and useless (muscle magazine nonsense), you are overtrained, and now you start doing proper training for the first time.
4. you've never trained before.

That's all I'm going to say about that.

I agree with the general principles that Darden espouses - I strongly believe in HIT - and these are very valuable. If I had never read any other book by Darden before, perhaps I'd up my rating by half a star. I hope his advice moves the trainee away from pursuing the useless high-volume routines that the muscle magazines peddle. However, most people do not gain from those "advanced" routines and quickly overtrain.

This is an okay book. It's a pretty easy read, and the general principles are good, with the exception to his advice on nutrition and some of the "advanced" specialization routines.

However, if you compare this book to the other HIT books out there, it falls short. This book is a fun read, and no harm in getting it, especially for the stories about the old-timers. There isn't any training advice that's "new".

If you aren't a strength training book collector, then I think your money would be better spent on the following:

"Maximize Your Training", compilation by Matt Brzycki which includes chapters on application of HIT to Powerlifting (no other HIT book has this that I know of). This book is good for understanding the "why" and the "how" of HIT.

"Beyond Brawn", Stuart McRobert. This book is excellent because it's all practical advice - it's incredible the detail the author went into.

"The Insider's Tell-All Handbook on Weight-Training Technique", also by Stuart McRobert. There is NO better book on there on exercise description and performance.

The HIT FAQ on the hardtraining website which I authored (shameless plug)

This book presents information and training programs using high intensity training (HIT). This book follows Arthur Jones' HIT training principles, as opposed to Mike Menzer's way. This translates to 2-3 whole body training sessions each week, using slow rep cadence.

The book starts with history of HIT training. Although this information is interesting, it takes some 75 pages, before the stuff on actual training starts. The training information is presented as a complete training program that is intended for beginners on HIT training. It takes about one year to go through this training program, and after that you are considered as an advanced trainer. This approach is the book's major strength and weakness at the same time. For a beginner, it is very easy to start training, as you have a complete training program ready for use. For a more experienced trainer, however, it can be somewhat difficult to find all the information to construct your own training program. For example, all of the core principles of HIT training are collected in a box, that is for some reason hidden in the middle of section that covers the correct form of some key exercises.

The main question is, does HIT training work? Well, I have been training with weights for almost 15 years, and I have reached a long-lasting plateau in bench press. I trained using the workouts in this book (although I trained only two times each week instead of three) for less than 4 months. After that, I went back to my conventional training program. At the beginning of the renewed conventional training, I noticed that I had lost quite lot of explosive strength I had prior to HIT training. However, I continued the conventional program using lighter weights. Now, after two months of conventional training, my weights in every exercise have exceeded the weights I used before HIT training, including bench press. The conclusion is, HIT training increases your strength level, but at the same time you lose some of the explosiveness. But you regain the explosiveness by using explosive movements, and you'll see that your strength levels have markedly increased.

HIT training is both mentally and physically very demanding (much more so than conventional high volume training). It takes very much dedication to be able to push yourself from workout to workout to constantly improve. Therefore I feel HIT is best used as a way to boost your more conventional training. Use HIT principles for a few months before returning to your regular workout schedule, and you will see that the improvements are significant!

This latest book, by Ellington Darden, who has written more than three dozen books, including The Bowflex Body Plan, is perhaps one of his best. It is a unique treatment in that it provides a provacative background (with many surprising stories and insights) of high intensity training (HIT), a term that he coined about thirty years ago, together with training direction that is unparalleled in the philosophy and discipline of HIT. Dr. Darden begins by explaining the training methods that Arthur Jones established, to help revolutionize the exercise industry, his initial machine creations that led to the advent of Nautilus, his work with Casey Viator, The Colorado Experiment, the West Point Study, and Jone's experiences with Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Boyer Coe, Frank Zane, the Mentzer Brothers, and Sergio Oliva. Apparently some of these "hard core" bodybuilders were not so hard core (Mike Mentzer and Arnold fans may be surprised)!

Dr. Darden provided this entertaining and educational background to explain Jones' reasoning and the HIT philosophy (relative to the then current dogma) that then merges nicely into the fundamental principles and how they support HIT, including intensity, lifting form, progression, duration, frequency, and exercise order, as well as issues of recovery, layoffs, and sleep. As a side note, it may surprise the reader as to how many strength and conditioning coaches actually apply HIT training with their athletes, including Superbowl winners. As Dr. Darden explains through experience, explosive, ballistic training is unnecessary to develop a strong, muscular body in the average person or a star athlete, although it is ideal if you want to increase the risk of injury.

Thereafter, Dr. Darden provides the "usual" exercise photos and descriptions for purposes of education and cohesion, then breaks from tradition (insofar as books go). He provides beginner and intermediate routines, followed by advanced techniques and specialized routines (for the focus of select muscle groups). These may sound "typical" for a bodybuilding/strength training book as well, but what he has done next is completely original and much needed. He has provided a six-month, four phase plan that can be applied from beginner to advanced trainee, in a step-by-step process. Whether a person is new to HIT, new to the methods provided, or even an advanced HIT disciple looking to re-establish him or her self with structure and direction, the routines provided are the ticket!

Eight basic free weight exercises, one set each to failure, twice a week. Its about as effective as working out more. Why? Because overload, whether on the first set or the tenth set, is sufficient to stimulate muscle growth. Also the body takes a longer time to fully recover than people give it.

That paragraph covers the content of this book. The rest is a poorly written mix of fact and fiction filled with the following;

Useless anecodes of the sociopathic Arthur Jones insulting various people and making bizzare threats of violence. A quote from one of his lectures... "How would you feel if your were trapped on an island, and all of the inhabitants, apart from yourself, were retarded, malicious, chimpanzees? Don't laugh, because you are one of those retarded, malicious, chimpanzees."

Nostalgic musings about how the author and pals hung out on some ranch in speedo's and compared the roundness and firmness of their gluts... but in a man way.

Some instructions on how to do obscure exercises like... bench presses and barbell curls.

A ridiculous story about how a former marine, recruited to transform his body in just 66 days, loses 50 lbs of fat, and gains like 40 lbs of muscle. In nine weeks. Photos of him in his underwear too... one where he pushes his stomach out, and another where he sucks it in. These are called before and after photos of 50 lbs of weight loss. Then he apparently hits the roid's and injects his muscles with posing oil so that he can look real buff. This is called 30 lbs of muscle. It didn't look like it.

The author comments that this is more muscle than he has ever seen or heard of anyone building in such a short time. Ah.. but he cautions that this was a former marine, so that makes sense why he could gain so much. The author comments earlier that Arthur Jones, his mentor, said most body builders are so stupid they couldn't even spell the word 'muscle'.

He must think we are all retarded, malicious, chimpanzees to buy that story.

Pick another book on High Intensity Training. Any other book.

After 4 weeks of a 1500 calorie diet and super slow lifting 3 times a week, I am down to 179 from 189 and definitely have more muscle and strength. So I probably lost more than 10 lbs of fat because I certainly gained some muscle mass. If you have the guts to eat 1500 calories a day and have the stamina to do 15 second reps, you will see success. The book is not written by Shakespear, but there are valuable pages of exact programs to follow and detailed exercises.

There is some good body building information in this book. Unfortunately the good is buried within bizarre tales about the psychological quirks of some of the characters, and by some blatantly false stories of what HIT supposedly did.

An example of a false story is someone supposedly losing 52 pounds of fat in 66 days. This was with a 1500 calorie diet and three short weight-lifting sessions per week as the only exercise! Mathematically a pound is 3500 calories, so it would take at least 30 miles of day of running to even theoretically lose weight that fast. The reality is that no one could physically or psychologically tolerate a 2750 calorie per day deficit for long.

The author clearly worships Arthur Jones, and he approvingly tells tales of how Jones would threaten to beat up anyone who dared speak in his presence (including Arnold Schwarzenegger) or disagree with him, because Jones felt he was due that "respect". Jones is also quoted telling stories about animals in Africa, which supposedly prove the body building system in the book is true.

Another bizarre anecdote is a rumor that body builder Mike Mentzer sometimes believe that Jones was God, and that Mentzer was the Son of God. Those Jones and Darden disagree with are trashed by the anecdotes in the book, while we hear only impossibly good things about those they like.

The diet material, as mentioned above, is unbelievable.

The weight lifting information is good, and covers half the book, which is why I have given the stars. There are detailed workout plans, along with pictures and comments explaining each exercise. There is also a discussion of the principles of high intensity training.

Dr Darden's book might not deliver on it's promise but still it's a good read.it has many discussions of core hit principles plus never before seen pictures of professional bodybuilders from the 70s and early 80s, like mentzer jr and sr,viator,coe,wilson,arnold,sergio,columbu etc.It gives a detailed exercise regimen along with dietary advice.
However when compared to other books, like the late mentzer's, it falls short.Mentzer's writings are far, far better than this book. I am also repulsed by Ell darden's attempted character assaination of the late Mentzer.He pokes fun at Mike's mental illness. Since when can a man be judged by his mental problems?He also tries to show that Mike was not as hardcore as many have been lead to believe.As proof, he cites Mike's disincilination to exercise in 83.Well, Mike had lost all motivation after the 80 olympia fiasco,so blaming him for not putting forth the effort demanded to be a Mr O is simply to drop the context.
All in all, I would say the book does have value, particularly for the neophyte.shahnawaz khan,peshawar

There is a common more-is-better philosophy that permeates American thought. It spills over from everything including money to bodybuilding. The common popular training approach in bodybuilding is more sets+more reps=bigger muscles. Well anyone who is familiar with High Intensity Training realizes the idea that a muscle only has to be stimulated to maximal effort during one set and allowed to rest in order to grow. As you read the book you'll come into contact with the writing and thoughts of Arthur Jones who was perhaps the first person to start expounding on H.I.T. concepts. This philosophy just makes rational sense and is fascinating to read about. I don't know you'll find anything "new" in this book but Darden certainly does a nice job of tying everything together and comparing this shorter but harder more intense type of training with the usual longer lower-intensity high volume training.

One area I got annoyed with was Darden's implication that very few people can develop BIG muscular growth. He seems to think most all of us are limited by lack of genetic potential to get a really big physique. One of his methods of determining this is to have a subject measure the gap between his flexed bicep and his elbow joint. If you have a 2-inch gap for instance you have very poor genetic potential. This is a bogus method of assessing muscular potential. Obviously the already big guys are going to have less of a gap since their arms are already filled out. If you were to look at Dorian Yates or Markus Ruhl before each of them started training you may have assumed they had little potential as well. However, we know the kind of mass both of these men eventually added to their frames.

Anyhow, the rest of the book reads nicely with some bodybuilding history, illustrations of exercises and sample HIT routines to try for the beginner, intermediate or advanced athlete. There's a little discussion on nutrition but not much. At the very end there is a little question and answer section, which is helpful to gaining a better understanding of some of the book's ideas. I recommend it to people who think they know it all...to expand their minds a bit and open up to achieving more of their muscle-building potential.

The New High Intensity Training gets one thing right. It espouses high intensity training principles as the one true way to build muscle strength and size. I have been working out since I was 18 and I am now 35. I worked out inconsistently from the age of 18 to 31. Since I turned 32 I have been working out consistently. As of now, I have about 3 1/2 years of consistent training under my belt. For the first two years that I worked out consistently I used the usual volume approach. This worked for two full years and I experienced gains. However, my gains stopped so I was forced to reevaluate my training and I opted to try the high intensity approach. For the last 1 1/2 years, since switching to the high intensity method, I have made solid gains.

My main problem with The New High Intensity Training is how it presents high intensity training. The author states that sets must be performed one after the other in a quick fashion and with little rest in between sets. The author also says things like using forced reps is necessary. This type of training is actually way to hard and will probably lead most people to overtrain and burn out. Why the author keeps saying these things is unknown to me, but I suspect the author has not worked out himself using high intensity training in many years and he is simply going on what someone else told him (perhaps Author Jones).

The author also spends much of the book talking about Author Jones and famous bodybuilders from the 70's. This is largely irrelevant to the subject of high intensity training and leads me to beleive the author did this simply to cultivate interest in the book. He also states that Casey Viator never used steroids. I find this hard to believe and I have read where Mike Mentzer ( a famous bodybuilder from the 70's who is mentioned in this book) says that he knew for a fact that Casey Viator used steroids.

The books lacks subject matter as far as general bodybuilding information goes, such as exercise descriptions.

While I would recommend high intensity training as the best (and perhaps only) way for the serious bodybuilder to build strength and muscle size, I would recommend books by Mike Mentzer and Dorian Yates rather than this one. Dorian Yates wrote an excellent book which can be purchased thru his website or thru Clarence Bass's web site. Mike Mentzer's books can be purchased thru his web site.

I have known Dr. Ellington Darden for 20 years, and have read almost every one of his books. I consider Dr. Darden my mentor, and realize that most of what I know in the area of strength training I learned from him. Without question, his latest book, The New High Intensity Training, is the best he has ever written. It is not only highly informative, but incredibly interesting to read. Dr. Darden's history of high-intensity strength training is as motivational as his exercise protocols are educational. And the best part is the practical application...this book is clear and concise with easy-to-follow instructions for implementing Dr. Darden's HIT programs. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading The New High Intensity Training book.