CHAPTER 1

Intensity: The Cornerstone

In mid-1968 Arthur Jones flew his family to Florida following a decadeof work in the large-animal/film-making business in Africa. He wasbroke. All of his possessions had been confiscated by the Rhodesiangovernment—but there was good news. He now had time to pursue apersonal hobby—bodybuilding—and continue development of better toolsfor the purpose. He had abandoned several prototype machines in thejungle and had the latest seized.

Jones' training style was legendary. He kept meticulous records—everyrepetition, set, bodyweight, measurements—and decided to write about hisprogress by submitting an article to Bob Hoffman's Strength and Healthmagazine. No reply. He then sent it to Joe Weider's Muscle Builder/Powermagazine. No reply. Frustrated, he reworked the piece into an attack onbodybuilding practices: "Quit emulating the workouts of the men whoare winning the titles," he wrote. "Most of them can't even spell the word'muscle.'" His formula was simple but radical:

"If you want to get bigger and stronger, you must make measurable,stair-step progress during each workout. Size always precedesstrength. If you're not making gains workout by workout, yourexercise intensity is too low. The key is to train harder, to continueeach exercise until no additional repetitions are possible. But ifyou train harder, you must train less."

Jones finally sent the article to Peary Rader's Ironman and was pleasantlysurprised. Rader found it interesting and asked Arthur to write monthlyarticles for the magazine, which he did from 1970-74.

In 1973 Ellington Darden began writing for Jones' new entity, Nautilus Sports/Medical Industries® and witnessed several of his workouts. Nearly a decadelater, after training hundreds of world-class athletes in nearly every sport, hewas asked, "Who trained the hardest?" His reply was swift, "Arthur Jones."

Due to his contributions to the field—and well after the fact—Jones becameknown as "The Father of High-Intensity Training." His hard-hitting system,"Proper Strength Training" (a fast-paced circuit of full-out exercise withlittle to no rest between efforts) evolved into "High-Intensity Training" orHIT, with advocates creating a global industry of literature, websites andtrainer-certification organizations—a fitting tribute, but one that did notchange perception.

To most, the phrases "High-Intensity Training" and "momentary musclefailure" evoke images of bodybuilders slamming massive weights in achaotic mix of sweat and injury.

Both are mistakenly perceived as difficult and dangerous.

Difficult It Is

In The Nautilus Bodybuilding Book (1982), Ellington Darden described aworkout he witnessed in Deland, Florida. The trainer was Arthur Jones;the trainees, Casey Viator (Mr. America, 1971) and the greatest threat toSchwarzenegger's dominance, Sergio Oliva:

"Casey began by performing 25 nonstop repetitions on a leg press machinewith 460 pounds. Immediately he was hustled from the leg press to the legextension where he did 22 repetitions with 200 pounds.

By now Viator's heart rate was in excess of 220 beats per minute, he wasbreathing like a steam engine, and sweat was pouring from his body. Butthere was no time to rest.

Instantly, Jones raced Casey to the squat rack where a barbell was loadedwith 400 pounds. Then, Viator ground out 17 continuous repetitions in thefull squat.

'Ok, Sergio, you're up,' said Jones, as Casey, unable to walk, slithered tothe nearest hiding place.

Oliva reached the squat rack after 17 repetitions with 460 pounds in theleg press and 16 repetitions in the leg extension with 200 pounds. WhenSergio broke the lock in his knees for the squat with 400 pounds, he wentto the floor as if he had been knocked in the head. After being helped tohis feet, he tried it again—with the same results. One hundred pounds wereremoved from the bar, during which delay Sergio was afforded some rest,and then he performed seven repetitions with 300 pounds.

Sergio was accustomed to training his legs for at least one hour almostnonstop in the traditional fashion. But during his leg workout under Jones'supervision, one cycle of three exercises performed until momentary muscularexhaustion within a period of five minutes was all he wanted. Furthermore,Sergio spent a considerably longer period of time stretched out in front ofthe gym.

When Sergio recovered sufficiently to continue his workout, the torso cycleand the arm cycle were completed in approximately 12 minutes. Previously,his torso and arm training had taken two hours or longer to complete.

But, obviously, Sergio Oliva had never trained with the intensity that heexperienced with Jones and Viator.

Arnold Schwarzenegger also went through a similar training session underJones' watchful eye and remarked, 'I've often experienced times during aworkout where I had difficulty walking. But this is the first time that I've everhad difficulty lying down.'"

Jones described his approach to training as "outright hard work." When allwas said and done, few were left standing for the photo shoot. "Cheese:" hesaid, "You can slice it as thin as you can, or pile it as high as you like—butyou still end up with cheese. You can kid yourself any way you like—but youcan't change facts; hard exercise—and ONLY HARD EXERCISE—producesworthwhile results in the way of muscular strength and size increases. If youare not willing to work hard, then FORGET IT—there simply isn't any otherway to do it."

No explanation required.

I once asked a bodybuilder who entered my facility in Caracas, Venezuelafor the first time what weight he could press overhead for ten repetitions. Hereplied, "Ciento veinte," (120 pounds). I needed to select a resistance forhis effort on a Nautilus Double Shoulder machine which he had never used.The machine featured a lateral raise and overhead press exercise froma single seat. I cleaned the poor guy out on the lateral raise and quicklychanged the weight for the press. He barely made the first repetition andstruggled until he could lift no more. After a Spanish expletive, he asked,"Quanto?" (How much?). "Thirty pounds," I replied and escorted him to therear of the machine to verify what he could not believe. He had nothing leftafter the first exercise. His effort was high but his output was low, as Jonesexplains:

"It should now be obvious that intensity is a relative situation dependingupon momentary ability, varying moment by moment, and not directlyrelated to output. If the trainee could have done more, but did not, thenthe intensity was low. But the intensity is maximum if he is doing all hecan at the moment regardless of how much or how little output is actuallyinvolved."

This guy did well to make five.

Dangerous It Is Not

Jones often called high-intensity exercise, "the safest way to train." Somefound it hard to swallow.

Danger exists—and injury occurs—when the force a muscle produces (oris exposed to) exceeds its structural integrity. Injury prevention requiresstrengthening muscles and/or exposing them to low force. Both are possibleduring high-intensity exercise, but let's first define terms.

Intensity is a percentage of momentary ability. Maximum intensityof contraction occurs when a muscle pulls with as much force as it canmomentarily produce.

Intensity and resistance are independent. Resistance is the weight usedduring exercise; intensity, the effort required to lift the weight. It is possibleand desirable to create a high level of intensity (effort) during exercise andkeep forces produced by the effort low. In fact, it happens automaticallyduring the performance of a set of repetitions, as described:

"Regardless of the number of repetitions involved in a set, the first repetitionis ALWAYS the most dangerous repetition—and the last repetition is ALWAYSthe safest repetition; and the harder it feels, the easier it is—and the moredangerous it appears, the safer it is.

The last repetition of a set of ten repetitions, for example, 'feels' harder onlybecause you are becoming exhausted by that point in the set—you do not'feel' actual output, instead you 'feel' the percentile of momentarily-possibleoutput; if a man can press 200 pounds, then 100 pounds will 'feel light' tohim during a first repetition, and will 'feel' heavier during each followingrepetition—and by the time he reaches a point where he is barely capableof performing one more repetition, then the 100 pounds will 'feel' veryheavy. Because—to him, AT THAT MOMENT—100 pounds actually will bevery heavy, since it will momentarily require 100 percent of his strength tomove it.

Everything is relative insofar as 'feelings' are concerned—a puma looks bigto a man that has never seen a lion; but the danger of injury is not basedon relative factors in that sense—instead, the connective tissues have anactual level of resistance to pull, and since they are not performing workthis resistance is not reduced during the performance of a set of severalrepetitions. If a particular tendon's connective tissues have an existing levelof resistance capable of withstanding 'one hundred units of pull,' then thatlevel of resistance remains constant throughout the set—it will be one hundredunits during the first repetition and 100 units during the tenth repetition; butthe 'danger factor' certainly does NOT remain constant—because duringa first repetition you might be momentarily capable of exerting 200 unitsof pull, and if you do then an injury literally MUST result, but by the timeyou reach the tenth repetition your momentary ability may be reduced to amaximum of only 10 units of pull, and you couldn't hurt yourself then if youtried, you simply are not strong enough to hurt yourself at that point."

Fatigue is the key to safety and is built into every set of exercise ... but onlyif you behave. Select a weight you can perform for (barely) ten repetitionsin good form. During the first repetition, move more slowly than you arecapable. At that juncture you can produce a force two-to-three times that ofthe resistance selected if you jerk the weight—not smart when the breakingstrength of the involved tissues is unknown. During the second, third andfourth repetitions, the possibilities remain the same, but the danger hasdiminished repetition by repetition. At ten repetitions the involved musclewill have lost, on average, approximately 20% of its strength. A full effortat that point—involving a muscle that is capable of producing only 80%of its capacity—is much safer than the dynamics of the initial repetitions.Nonetheless, perform all repetitions (especially the first few) using a smooth,slow, controlled speed to reduce the chance of injury. Resist the temptationto jerk the weight.

Neurological Safety

Besides fatigue, the body has another built-in safety mechanism. During a100% effort, only a small percentage of a muscle's available fibers becomeinvolved. An average muscle allows approximately 30% of its fibers toactivate in an all-out, one-time lift. Some individuals, by birth, can recruit asmuch as 50% of their available fibers; others, only 10%. The 50-percentersare strong and powerful individuals; the 10-percenters, weaker by design.The fibers that are not activated lie in wait for future use or emergencies. Thebody MUST keep a reserve.

If a 50-percenter is forced to repeat a task, his 50% reserve will notlast long—a few repetitions and out. In contrast, the 90% reserve of a10-percenter comes in handy during repetitive tasks.

The maximum effort involved during high-intensity training does not changethese values. The body will not allow a greater activation of fibers ... forsafety reasons. If and when ALL of a muscle is allowed to contract (such asduring an electrocution or emergency—a loved one pinned under a car),bones break—something the body can do without.

Overload and Muscle Recruitment

The individual muscle fibers that are recruited during physical effort performon an all-or-none basis—are either fully involved or not involved at all. Thedifficulty of the task dictates which fibers and how many are involved. Whenthe task is easy, as it "feels" during the first repetitions of a set, only a fewfibers are involved and are working as hard as they can. As the workingfibers fatigue, the body judiciously taps the reserves to continue. The numberof involved fibers changes from repetition to repetition. Terminating a set ofexercise after only a few repetitions does nothing to stimulate change becauseof the large number of untapped muscle fibers. Stimulation most likely occurswhen exercise is continued to a point where as many fibers as possible areinvolved, and where some of the fibers are worked to exhaustion.

A set of repetitions terminated prior to momentary muscle failure will notinvolve the maximum number of available fibers. Nor will it activate thepowerful "fast-twitch" fibers which are recruited only when intensity is high.Both factors are crucial to stimulating growth, as Jones suggests: "A slightdecrease in the intensity of effort in exercise will result in a disproportionatelygreat reduction in the production of results." He made the same clear tome one day with his finger in my face, "Young man, if you perform tenrepetitions of an exercise when you could have done twelve, you may aswell stay in the parking lot. You'll get the same result—nothing."

The body loves to do nothing beyond its daily routine. To trigger a signalfor change, muscles require: ONE, an overload—a resistance or challengethat exceeds the norm; and TWO, intensity—the involvement of a highpercentage of momentary ability.

Practical Application

There are two ways to increase intensity during a workout: Work harder oneach exercise performed and spend less time between efforts. Both comewith a warning.

The 100% effort required at the moment your ability has been significantlyreduced by fatigue is not something the body looks forward to. It doesn't likeintrusion, much less an intense one—and there's proof. Trainees, left to theirown, revert to "easier" habits that fail to satisfy the requirements for change.Effort must be all-out and learned. You can't show up one day determinedto fail on every exercise because someone told you it was a good thing.Trainees must gradually increase effort until a complete repetition becomesimpossible, which may take a while. Jones claimed that a highly motivatedathlete armed with clear instructions concerning the necessary requirementsmight fail on one or two exercises (of twelve) when left to his own. In thatregard and when possible, have your workouts supervised and pushed bya buddy or professional trainer.

In the initial stages of training rest after each exercise or you may findyourself staring at the lights. I'd rather see new trainees learn to work ashard as they can and rest for five minutes between efforts than do a little hereand there. Gradually and with discretion, move quickly from one exerciseto another, but be warned—the cost is high. Rapid movement betweenexercises demands chemical changes that initially can't be met. The resultingsymptoms—lightheadedness, nausea, cold sweat and fainting—are signsthat the pace is too quick. Don't be eager to get there. Time your totalworkout and gradually reduce it to a more efficient level. And don't befooled: A twelve-exercise workout performed in seventeen minutes is muchmore intense than the same performed in twenty-five.

Arthur Jones likened muscle stimulation to tapping a stick of dynamiterepeatedly with a hammer. Nothing happens. Now, take the hammer andSMASH it once—something happens. Intensity is the cornerstone of ProperStrength Training: It turns the switch "ON."

CHAPTER 2

Proper Strength Training

"Steady-state (aerobic) training is necessary forcardiovascular benefits and non steady-state exercise(progressive resistance) is required for meaningfulstrength increases. Both results can be produced fromthe same training program."

Arthur Jones