Dr. Squat never did get his facts completely straight. What follows is the article that was written in response to Dr. Squat's article many years ago. Hopefully, with both articles you will get a chuckle and then go lift some iron
I had to laugh when I saw the very old article by Dr. Squat once again posted on Bodybuilding.com. I went to the message board and sure enough the bickering was once again in full motion. In this old article, Dr. Squat never did get his facts completely straight.

These training wars were over as far as I am concerned a LONG time ago. Back years ago, I couldn't help but think that Dr. Squat somehow felt threatened by HIT. At the time, in my opinion he could not match the pen (who said the pen is mightier than the sword!?) of Matt Brzycki. Maybe that was it? Who knows. One thing I have learned in the last 10 years is that one MUST keep an open mind about training. Pretty much any progressive resistance "works" with progressive being the key word. If you can continue to add weight to the bar, use good form, recover from your workouts, and remain injury free, you'll get stronger -- and bigger.

Too many people spend too much time arguing about what training protocol is "best" rather than actually training! This is not doubt due to the global communication network we all know and love called the Internet. The training wars are over. Or, they should be! We are all brothers and sisters in the Iron Game. The love of pumping iron, regardless of training protocol, is what it's all about about! What follows is the article that was written in response to Dr. Squat's article many years ago. Hopefully, with both articles you will get a chuckle and afterwards go to the gym and PUMP SOME IRON!

NOTE: Dr. Squat's article is printed in gray. response is in normal font color.

To avoid being HIT with a HAMMER, I feel compelled to make these two important disclaimers before I begin writing:
As long as whatever form of training you're using doesn't hurt you, it's "good." Even if it keeps you from achieving your maximum potential, it's better than no training at all. So, on a scale of good, better, best, training according to the tenets of HIT theory is "good."

Response: Problem. Explosive lifting has a massive possibility of hurting you. Higher than HIT. Beyond that, define "hurt." Could overtraining yourself to sickness be considered "hurt?"

As long as whatever type of training equipment you're using doesn't hurt you, it's "good." Even if it keeps you from achieving your maximum potential, it's better than no training equipment at all. So, on a scale of good, better, best, training with Hammer equipment is "good."
Response: Last time I was training on Hammer equipment, my biceps went "hey mister hammer!" Last time I trained with a lat pulldown bar, my triceps went "Is this Universal, or what?" A leg press is most likely a leg press. Your muscles can't tell one machine from another. Yes, free weights are different [three dimensions] but no, no equipment that offers your muscles the same movement is different from another one.

Now, my tongue-in-cheek inclusion of the good folks at the Hammer equipment welding facility is merely that: Tongue-in-cheek. Actually, Hammer's inventor was none other than Arthur Jones. His son now runs the company. The point is that Hammer, like Nautilus (Arthur's first foray into the wonderful world of weights), is frequently touted as the equipment of choice for the Hit Men. Me? I like BOTH companies' equipment no less than I like the rest of them. In fact, each has some unique merits, as do many others.
Response: Oh really? Brzycki's book A Practical Approach to Strength Training only shows free weights, nautilus, universal, and manual resistance. Where's the Hammer?

Rather than elaborate on what I regard as "better" and "best" for each of you, I'd rather that you made up your own minds. All you must do to decide whether a program is appropriate, judge it against the seven laws of weight training from most sport scientists' perspectives. If you are to understand my critique of HIT theory (below), you will have to be familiar with the seven laws. Here they are in no particular order of importance:
The Seven Laws Of Weight Training From Most Sport Scientists' Perspectives.

The Law of Individual Differences: We all have different abilities and weaknesses, and we all respond differently (to a degree) to any given system of training. These differences should be taken into consideration when designing your training program.
The Overcompensation Principle: Mother Nature overcompensates for training stress by giving you bigger and stronger muscles.
The Overload Principle: To make Mother Nature overcompensate, you must stress your muscles beyond what they're already used to.

Response: AHEM! Does "reaching failure" come to mind for anyone?


The SAID Principle: The acronym for "Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands."
The Use/Disuse Principle: "Use it or lose it" means that your muscles hypertrophy with use and atrophy with disuse.
The GAS Principle: The acronym for General Adaptation Syndrome, this law states that there must be a period of low intensity training or complete rest following periods of high intensity training.
Response: Yep.. and that "low intensity or complete rest" can be just sitting around on off days.


The Specificity Principle: You'll get stronger at squats by doing squats as opposed to leg presses, and you'll get greater endurance for the marathon by running long distances than you will by (say) cycling long distances.
Response: HIT has no problems with this. Every one of these is followed by HIT principles.

HIT History


It all started back in the early seventies with Arthur Jones of Nautilus fame. Arthur's chief mission, of course, was to sell equipment. His marketing plan was brilliant. My interpretation of his plan was that in order to sell his equipment (which for the day was quite expensive) he had to create a religion for the masses. To create a religion he needed 1) churches, 2) disciples, 3) a bible, and 4) clergy.
A scientist (Ellington Darden) wrote his bible, and (much later) a strength coach named Matt Brzycki put the Ten Commandments from that bible into lay language. The Ten Commandments are presented below. Then he paid a bunch of guys to follow the gospel (their test results were later incorporated into the bible). Later, a chosen few of them became his disciples.

The churches came next (Nautilus gyms sprang up all over the place... most are dead now, their respective flocks having flown the coop upon realizing that they were not making it to the promised land quickly enough -- in my humble opinion).

His clergymen (gym owners) LOVED Arthur because he had really neat looking equipment and a way for them to rustle their clients in the front door and out the back real fast by convincing them that one set to failure was "the way."

To support the notion that HIT is a Pagan religion, let me quote the word as it is written in the HIT page of the internet by one of his high priests, Matt Brzycki: "To some--including me--Jones was years ahead of his time and full of brilliant, revolutionary ideas about exercise; to others, he was the devil incarnate. One thing that everyone seems to agree upon was that he was abrasive, outspoken and brutally candid."

Old timers like me recall that the most popular movies of the day were 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea and The Time Machine. Arthur got the name "Nautilus" from one movie (his offset cam, copied from German physical therapy equipment of the mid 1800s, looked like a cross-sectioned conch shell), and the design from the other movie (his first machines were curiously reminiscent of the "Time Machine").

Response: What's that have to do with what Brzycki said?


Yes. Arthur's business plan was brilliant, and it was carried out even moreso. It's no wonder that the religion has persisted to this day, so stauchly converted were his disciples.
Meet Some Of The HIT Disciples


There is a small (but utterly vocal) band of Arthur Jones disciples who have, since the early seventies, clung desperately to the oft discredited notion that one high intensity set to failure is all you need to achieve your maximum potential in growing stronger or bigger. In fact, the contemporary biblical interpretation (below) admits that one may profit from three sets, although one set is just as good as three. I say "desperately" for good reason.
These guys (who like to call each other "HIT Jedi") invested their hearts and souls (and, quite often, funds from their respective organizations) in the superiority of both Jones' equipment and his theories on how best to use it. Others have been or are "sponsored" by Arthur. It almost seems as if they are afraid of losing face (if not their jobs) if they were to back away from the tenets of the HIT theory now, despite the huge volume of scientific studies discrediting many of its tenets.

Response: And where is this "huge volume" of studies?


From a social-psychological view, it's utterly fascinating to watch the HIT men scramble. It brings to mind the great movie, "Lord of the Flies," in which a bunch of shipwrecked boys, left to their own devices, created a sort of Pagan society amongst themselves. Some of the Jedi who are more vocal than most, having written many passionate articles or books on their own cute little variants of the old Jones theory, bear mention. How they refer to each other as "Jedi" (which, I'm assured, means "priest") is yet more proof that HIT is a Pagan religion. I must say, however, I admire their zeal for lifting!
Response: Ahhh, attack the person. Forget the scientific basis of HIT, let's make fun of these people for being Star Wars freaks, ha ha! Yes, please do compare us to the Lord of the Flies, we are a pagan society that follows HIT only to fulfill our own needs. Are you aware that your last, oh, 10 paragraphs only attacked the people behind HIT and not the actual scientific basis of it?