Some Basics and Foundation of Rogue HIT

[John A. Casler]

Some Basics and Foundation of Rogue HIT

In the act of training the body we learn that applying a stimulus, if great enough, will cause a "response".

That response is in proportion to the degree and amount of the stimulus, and the availability of the response mechanism.

There are significant variations in the response, and if the stimulus it too small, the response may be a negative one (de-conditioning) or if it is too great it can cause injury or eventually lead to over training.

Due to this fact one has a "stimulus window" . That window begins at the "trigger point", which is the smallest stimulus that will cause a positive response, and the "over stimulus" which is the level or amount of stimulus that will eventually lead to over training or injury.

A stimulus in the case of weight training is usually an external load/force created by the act of moving a weight.

The force "seen" by the body is based on the combination of active elements that make up the act of moving or lifting the weight/load.

The muscles act on the skeleton and create forces to either lift, move, accelerate, or decelerate the load.

The amount of force experienced then, is the is the sum of the elements of the load itself, and the acts of acceleration or deceleration through the ROM of the action.

This then creates a "load" that the muscle(s) apply force to, and interact with, in a cyclic active (moving) and passive (braking) force to force relationship.

This force relationship causes and creates peak and average muscle tensions, when it is applied through the ROM's of an exercise action.

Another component to stimulus, is the amount of time, it takes for the application of muscular force applied to the external load. There are two time components:

1) The amount of time it takes to accelerate or decelerate the load/force per repetition creating rep speed

2) The total amount of time it takes to complete several repetitions or the duration of the set.

Both of these are significant to the stimulus and both can be viewed as important to the stimulus.

#1 can affect the muscular tension levels during acceleration or deceleration, which also dictates what fiber recruitment patterns are to be called upon.

#2 can affect the level of fatigue, the fiber recruitment and retirement patterns, and the metabolic systems that may be called upon to complete the set.

And the last component to stimulus is that of the Motor Impulse. This is the electrical signal that tells the muscle how to respond and act in producing active force or passive braking, against an external load.

So in effect, the three most important elements creating muscular force against an external load are:

1) Muscular Tensions and actions

2) Metabolic Pathways. and Systems utilized.

3) Fiber Recruitment

4) Motor Impulses

As simple as this sounds, it is a highly complex and interactive concert of external force against musculoskeletal force, to create a stimulus that will give us the response and adaptation we are looking for.

What are we looking for?

That is coming soon.

The amount of stimulus required to cause a response is not a "fixed" number or formula.

It is a dynamic condition, that adjusts according to many factors.

In general those factors may be:

1) Current Conditioning Level and Previous Levels
2) Age and Hormonal Profile
3) Diet, Dietary habits, and Digestive efficiency
4) Genetic Potential
5) Rest, Sleep and Recovery habits
6) Other

In General a stimulus that is progressively increased will eventually reach the level of the "trigger point", and a positive adaptation will result.

Since the body has an adaptive mechanism, that responds to stimulus, the body will respond with the appropriate adaptive response. This adaptation is in "direct" response to the stimulus, but can be amplified by various conditions.

For example if you work with large hand tools, you may develop calluses in response to the protection needs of the skin of the hands. If you move to a higher altitude, you body will adjust the to the lower oxygen availability and increase the red blood cell count to keep the needed oxygen levels.

The same is true of weight training stimuli.

When we first begin training many body systems are taxed, and they all contribute to the adaptation to the stimulus.

Each and everyone of us have many factors as listed above that will affect the response we receive. Most find some of their "inital" results to be the greatest, and the fastest occurring. This is generally because in addition to the stimulus/response mechanism taking place, we are also in a growth cycle (12-25 years of age) where we would have grown to a large degree in both strength and size without training at all.

Adding the training stimulus during this normal growth spurt causes a larger increase within the limits of our genetic potential, an has been interpreted as an over or "super" compensation or adaptation to the training.

But, there seems to be a "law of diminishing returns" at work here, where there is an "inverse" relationship to an advanced conditioning leading to "slower and lower" gains.

Now, as mentioned earlier, the result or adaptation is linked to the stimulus, and the stimulus must be at least to or beyond the trigger point, and not beyond to injury or overtraining for long term results.

This takes us to the question of Single Set To Failure as a Stimulus.

I have many times said and repeat now, that I am a strong believer in Intensity as a key training element.

High Intensity Training is (as defined by the terms) necessary for the most effective result.

There are some who feel that a SSTF can produce the maximum stimulus necessary to not only produce the maximum development of Strength, but also the maximum in Hypertrophy too. For this to be true, we need to look at what limitations that single set to failure might have.

Most SSTF advocates perform 10 - 12 reps per set and upon reaching 12 reps, advance the load and attempt to perform 10-12 again with the higher load. Since there is no "preparation" or "warm-up" set this in itself has significant limitations, since at very advanced levels it is not wise, nor safe, nor even efficient to perform a set when the body is not prepared to create its best and most intense effort.

This then, becomes an "imposed" limitation to the SSTF training scheme.

There are also other limitations, when training at a rather advanced level. That limit is one of a "single stimulus".

It is very evident that in any training system using a single set as the primary stimulus, that set has to be applied with significant intensity. If not the stimulus is not sufficient to "trigger" a response. Most weight training programs that use multiple set applications of sets that consist of NTF (Not To Failure) program, are created to rely on an "accumulated stimulus" over the use of those multiple sets.

This brings up an interesting observation. It seems that the difference between the results between a SSTF system, and a Multiple Set NTF system are not significantly far apart, under general training conditions.

This might show us that the First Set, can create a higher proportion of the stimulus if it is performed with a high degree of intensity, and that 2nd and 3rd sets are slightly less effective "proportionality", and only "add" additional stimulus through, and accumulation of the elements that make up the stimulus for that training session.

This then begins to show us that, once we reach certain levels of strength, it is difficult to continue on with a SSTF simply because it has imposed restrictions that are difficult, and limit progress.

Most find that this creates a plateau, and some sort of additional stimulation is needed, for even small amounts of progress.

It is at this plateau, or level that I suggest many can continue on, by using an extension of the HIT mindset, and tool of intensity, to create a training engine, that adds and implements elements that can provide substantial and surprising results. In many cases, far beyond any expectations.