Like many, I read the hit pieces on Mike Mentzer in bodybuilding magazines. Rather than thinking for myself, I always dismissed H.I.T. “One set to failure? Give me a break!” I didn’t bother reading Mentzer’s work for myself. A decade later, my dogmatic, sheep-like “ideas” would be repudiated by observable results.

I’ve known Jay Campbell since 1996. We met in the days before blog – list-serves like misc.fitness.weights and lowcarb-l. We’ve trained together and exchanged training ideas for years.

When I hadn’t seen Jay for several months, I was blown away. I couldn’t believe the pictures that had been posted in the blog. How could someone  - who according to bodybuilding orthodoxy is over 35 and thus beyond his prime muscle building years – lay on so much muscle so quickly?

*****

In a hooded sweatshirt, I sat on the incline press machine, preparing to start my first warm-up. The first couple of reps were easy, and we added some weight for one more set. Easy. Add more weight.

“We’re only going to do one set to failure. Slow going up. Do not lift weights. Contract muscle fibers. Pause at the top, and come down slowly.”

After my single work set, I threw off my sweatshirt, as it felt like my body was in a sauna. My entire upper body was burning up. I was in a daze.

I sat down and stared into space, like a Zombie or still-in-shock mugging victim.

“Welcome to H.I.T,” Jay smirked.

*****

I’m Mike Cernovich, and like Jay, training is one smart part of my day. I’m beginning H.I.T. Unlike Jay, I need to add a substantial amount of muscle. If you read our series on Intermittent Fasting, you’ll see that I’m undersized. (I’ve gained a few pounds of muscle since that pic, and will upload some photos once WordPress is learned.)

The past several years were spent rehabilitating old injuries, training mixed martial arts, and losing fat (80 pounds in total).

I’m looking to gain muscle, and training H.I.T. under his tutelage.  I’ll be sharing my experiences in a journal format.

Thanks for following along.

UPDATE: Here’s a pic from 12.05.2010.