Training for the mass: principles of HVT and HIT
In body building, the choice of system and technique to achieve the highest possible level of hypertrophy (mass increase) is still the subject of numerous discussions and controversies.
High intensity training (HIT) effectively stimulates strength, imposing an almost maximal stimulus thanks to the achievement of submaximal muscle tension (usually by concentric contraction), but with rather short execution times (<Time Under Tension - TUT); on the contrary, training for high volume mass (HVT) subjects the body to longer but less intense muscle stress, taking care of both timing and the technique of execution (> Time Under Tension - TUT).
Before going into the description of training by mass according to the principles of High Volume Training (HVT), it should be noted that: the growth of muscle volume does not follow standardized rules and, besides being extremely subjective, requires LONG-TERM use of BOTH principles (HVT and HIT) supported by an extremely accurate diet.
The best training for mass: High Volume Training (HVT)
As anticipated, the High Volume Training (HVT) is a training principle that is based on a controlled stimulus, technically unexceptionable and characterized by Time Under Tension (TUT) rather high. If supported by a correct diet, it is particularly profitable as it stimulates the main components for the growth of the section and of the muscle mass:
- Exhaustion of energy stocks (first the ATP, then the creatine-phosphate and finally the muscle glycogen)
- Lactic acid production (notoriously related to somatotropin-GH secretion)
- Muscle exhaustion up to the controlled exfoliation of contractile fibers (which induces anabolic supercompensation)
The supercompensation of HVT, in addition to the reconstitution and increase of energy reserves, determines the increase of the cellular enzymatic pool, the thickening of the connective sheaths, the increase of the fibro-cellular cytoplasm by increase of myofibrils, the recruitment of satellite cells and, in a relative manner, also the increase in capillarization.
All this could not happen with Time Under Tension (TUT) similar to those of HIT.
Time Under Tension (TUT) of HVT and Total Work (TW) of HIT
l TUT (Time Under Tension) is the tension time to which the muscle is subjected during contraction; the TUT is the sum of all the times related to the different phases of the exercise, therefore (referring to concentric executions):
TUT = concentric phase time + eccentric phase time + maximum shortening static phase + maximum elongation static phase.
The same could be evaluated in executions of eccentric (negative) or static contraction (isometric - among other things, particularly effective in hypertrophy!).
The Time Under Tension (TUT) significantly affects the training volume, a primary characteristic of the HVT technique, although the most well-known formulas do not include it in the final estimate of the amount of physical work performed. This last parameter, also called Total Work, represents the fulcrum of the HIT training and does NOT take into consideration either the work inclinations or the Time Under Tension (TUT).
Total work = displaced mass * gravity * movement space
( Baechle, Earle, & Wathen, 2000, page 418; Fleck & Kraemer, 2004, page 7) .
Eg the estimate of TW in HIT and HVT:
- Pushes on flat bench in HIT: series 3 - repetitions 10 - mass moved 100kg
TW in HIT of thrusts on flat bench = 3 * 10 * 100 = 3000kg
- Pushes on a HVT bench: series 3 - repetitions 10 - mass moved 80kg
TW in HVT of thrusts on flat bench = 3 * 10 * 80 = 2400kg
NB . The HIT often makes use of much lower repetitions with much higher loads, based on the body-builder's goal; if the HIT is used for the research of the increase in muscle mass the repetitions remain between 8 and 12, on the contrary, wanting to stress the component of neuro-muscular activation, of fiber synchronization etc. (force), repetitions are reduced to 2 or 3 up to a maximum of 5 or 6.
Comparison of training volume for mass in HIT and HVT
Although the TW is ALWAYS greater in the HIT (since it is based on the execution of maximal or sub-maximal contractions), considering that in the HVT the Time Under Tension (TUT) is "at least" 2 or 3 times higher, it is deducible that you need a metabolic commitment, therefore physiological, decidedly greater than HIT.
In conclusion, it is possible to state that:
While HIT is a principle of highly PHYSICAL training and mostly stimulates the components of strength, HVT is a more METABOLIC-PHYSIOLOGICAL training principle and, as such it mainly stimulates the anabolism of muscle mass.
Bibliography:
- Current Results of Strength Training Research - M. Fröhlich, P. Preusspag - pagCuvillier Verlag Gottinger - 45:64.