What is your Style of High Intensity Training when you are in the gym?

I am a “people watcher” or some might say an “human observer” and one of my favorite places to observe people is definitely in the local gym. Now if you like to watch people like I do, just go to a gym at peak hours which can be much more entertaining than watching the grand finale of American Idol or Dancing with the Stars.

When I am in the gym, I observe their High Intensity Training style of performance as well as their behavioral characteristics.  I have been in hundreds of gyms all over the World and from my vast experience as an expert in fitness and High Intensity Training.  I have devised several categories based on their style of performance and behavior. I am writing this article with a little humor mixed with a lot of respect for Arthur Jones and High Intensity Training principles in general. I hope you read a little humor into my examples of types of gym members. I am sure most of you reading this article will fall into the last category.

Gym Member “A” thinks they are the future Mr. or Ms. America (and may well be). They literally live in the gym for several hours most every day starring in the mirror while doing multiple sets of random exercises with poor form and very little weight.  They have low High Intensity Training goals or none at all. They may do hours of cardio at the gym because they are obsessed with their amount of body fat percentage and can tell you exactly what their body fat measures this week.

Gym Member “B” is the gym rat. He or she is in the gym everyday for at least 1 to 2 hours per day. The gym rat will be doing multiple sets of “split routines” such as: lats & shoulders; bi’s & tri’s; glutes & hams; chest & back; abs & calves. They are more interested in socializing and being able to say they went to the gym 7 days this week and “what body part they exercised” than achieving High Intensity Training goals. They may have little noticeable improvement in their muscle development or strength, but that is obviously not on top of their list of High Intensity Strength Training goals.

Gym Member “C” thinks they are a future Olympic Lifter. He or she is in the gym for hours punishing his or her body with explosive and ballistic lifts and quite often, with too much weight or resistance. This member may have the physical signs that they are “on the juice” and they are definitely “pumped” or seeking the pumped look. This person is an accident waiting to happen in the gym because they are doing explosive lifts with no supervision or regard for proper High Intensity Training principles.

Gym Member “D” is a student of Arthur Jones’ High Intensity Training who knows you do not have to be at the gym everyday. Quite the contrary- he or she knows that humans need a recovery period between High Intensity Training workouts in order to grow lean muscle tissue and make gains in strength. This member knows that two or three High Intensity Training workouts per week lasting less than 30 minutes each is the right formula for success if you are following my Proper Strength Training Guidelines. This member’s High Intensity Training style of performance is focused on strict form with safe slow movements for one and only one set of reps to “momentary muscular failure”.  He or she is a High Intensity Training scholar, knows the principles of High Intensity Strength Training, and is achieving measureable increases in both strength and muscle size.

Ok, which type of gym member are you? I hope you fit into the last category and most of you will… Understand, I did not learn the principles of High Intensity Training until I met Arthur Jones.  I remember that day in the fall of 1971 (like it was yesterday) when Arthur Jones took me through my first “real” High Intensity Training workout, introducing me to the correct style of performance for High Intensity Training.  I only completed 5 High Intensity Training exercises and was soon face down on the floor, but I was hooked and I never looked back. Keep moving forward and get on track with the correct HIT style of performance, set reasonable High Intensity Training goals and measureable strength gains and muscle growth will happen over time.

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Tags: High Intensity Stregth Training, high intensity strength training, High Intensity Workouts