While the scientific and medical basis underlying the principles presented in Body By Science will be new to most of our readers, the principles of high-intensity training have been known for many decades.

Arthur Jones, the founder of Nautilus Sports/Medical Industries was the first to take a purely scientific look at strength training and to spend large sums of money on research that revealed the total fitness benefits to be had from intense, brief and infrequent strength training.

Ken Hutchins started as an employee of Arthur Jones but soon saw ways of enhancing both the stimulus and environmental components of resistance training, which added to our knowledge considerably. Hutchins is the creator of the Superslow™ approach to training, which has brought far more precision, clarity and safety to proper exercise.

The next pioneering figure to appear on the scene was Mike Mentzer, a champion bodybuilder (and the first to ever garner a perfect score in competition) who worked with large numbers of the general population and was the first to systematically make large reductions in his clients training volume and frequency in an effort to learn more about the precise requirements for human strength training.

These gentlemen were and are the giants upon whose shoulders the authors (and many others who have an interest in productive exercise) stand. Much of what is known about the fundamental principles of high-intensity training is based upon the work and writings of these men.

The next breakthroughs in exercise science, however, will come from the work being undertaken presently by dozens of personal trainers throughout the world who are employing the principles of high-intensity training with hundreds of clients, collecting data, and continuing to experiment with and refine these principles. Their continuous efforts are already deepening our understanding of exercise science. Interestingly, to a person, each of these individuals has arrived at the same conclusion as the authors: that productive exercise need not require more than a handful of minutes once a week to stimulate optimal results. The fact that these individuals are all personal trainers hailing from different points of the compass, yet have come to identical conclusions on how best to exercise in order to produce optimal results in themselves and clients (who demand results rather than fads) speaks to the universality of the exercise principles that they have embraced and employ. Compared to the decades that many of these ladies and gentlemen have been perfecting their craft, most other personal trainers are mere babes in the woods. We are therefore pleased to provide a forum for some of the more dedicated of these trainers to share their insights on productive training.

– John & Doug

GREG AND ANN-MARIE ANDERSON

(OWNERS/OPERATORS OF IDEAL EXERCISE, SEATTLE, WA):

Ideal Exercise has been in the business of providing one-on-one instruction in high-intensity strength training since 1994.  Prior to establishing our own training facility, we had managed various HIT programs throughout the country.  Having been well grounded in the Nautilus exercise philosophy, our approach has always been to provide each client with workouts that are brief, intense and infrequent.

During the 1990’s we were influenced by our friends and colleagues in the training field, among them the late Mike Mentzer, a former Mr. Universe winner, and stalwart advocate of brief and infrequent training.  We were also very fortunate to form a relationship with Dr. Doug McGuff, with whom we spent many hours discussing the fundamental variables of high-intensity training: Frequency, intensity, and volume.

When we first met Dr. McGuff we had already decreased the training of our clients to an average of five exercises per workout, and a frequency of 1-2 workouts per week.  Our reasoning behind down-regulating volume and frequency was twofold:  First, we had noticed a definite improvement in our own training with briefer, compound-movement based routines.  Often our schedule was such that each of us would be upwards of 30 clients per day.  The demands of such a schedule made the “traditional” Nautilus/high-intensity training of up to 12 exercises performed two to three times per week impossible to recover from.  Second, our frequent conversations with Mike Mentzer served to convince us that ultra-brief workouts (later to be known as the “consolidation routine”) were optimal in terms of delivering a high-intensity training stimulus while still serving the recovery requirements of our clients.

Dr. McGuff brought a fresh perspective to our views on training as he began to examine high-intensity exercise from a biological/medical viewpoint. Dr. McGuff’s pharmacodynamic model of the dose/response relationship did much to explain why our Mentzer-influenced approach was working.

Our constant mission at Ideal Exercise is client progress.  We work with a wide range of clients, from the young to the elderly, and from the collegiate to the professional athlete. While we do certainly favor compound-movement based routines, we make judicious use of rotary/isolation exercises and “advanced” techniques where useful.  These may include use of pre-exhaustion, rest-pause, negative-only, and Max Contraction protocols.  Most often, these techniques are used within the context of body-part specialization programs.  Typically, if a client wishes to specialize on a certain area of the body we will do so (while still exercising the entire body) for short periods of time.  Clients always return to a consolidation type of routine after such periods of specialization.

We have found that the “bottom line” in a proper physical training program is weight/strength progression within the constraints of a safe, consistent protocol.  We have no fear of telling clients to train less, or to take time off when necessary, and to realize that we are merely providing thestimulus for positive physical change.  Safety is also uppermost in our minds when training.  The use of efficient equipment, proper biomechanics, and a controlled speed of movement insure client safety. As we have said many, many times, “Don’t kill the organism that you’re trying to enhance.”

High-intensity strength training as we teach it has worked well both for our clients and our business.  The two of us supervise over 10,000 workouts each year.  Our average client has been with us for 6+ years and we have many clients who have been with us for over 15 years.  We have never had a client injured in the gym, and even our most advanced long-term clients are still making progress – all in about 10-minutes of training each week.

BLAIR WILSON

(MEDX PRECISION FITNESS. TORONTO, CANADA)

Blair Wilson represents the best of the “new breed” of personal trainers. These are trainers that focus on what is actually required from exercise – rather than trying to bedazzle clients by having them perform dozens of exercises. Such approaches are really smokescreens; offering “variety” as a cover for their clients demonstrable lack of progress.  Blair on the other hand values “results” above all and understands (in a way that most personal trainers do not) that human muscle and joint function has not changed in over one hundred thousand years, and that once one has found the best exercises to track muscle and joint function, any change from these movements represent a compromise of efficiency and effectiveness. It’s like searching for years for the perfect car – one that is fuel efficient, safe, powerful, spacious and sleek, but then telling people to use “any” car and to “change it up” as often as possible.

In the five years that I’ve known Blair I have been impressed with not only his willingness to study the theory and principles of exercise science, but to apply them diligently to his clients’ workouts and even to debate them quite ardently and eloquently  (and successfully, I might add) with a host of adversaries, from uninformed medical doctors to hockey coaches to personal trainers to members of the general public. In short, Blair knows whereof he speaks.

Blair has also been one of the few individuals that I’ve encountered in my journey who shares the same passion for research as I do. He was the point man on conducting what I consider to be a ground-breaking research study on the effects of practices and games on “A” level hockey players, coming away with the conclusion that it is best to train these athletes during their offseason, as doing so during the competitive season will only result in a marked loss of muscle, power and protection for the athlete. Our professional athletes would do well to examine Blair’s data in this regard.

Training at Blair’s MedX Precision Fitness centre (http://www.medxpf.com/) represents the ultimate in science-based training and results. Every piece of equipment was selected by Blair for a reason, as is every feature of his clinic. If you live in Toronto – or even live just outside of Toronto – I would strongly recommend that you seek out Blair’s council on all matters pertaining to exercise and nutritional science and, if you’re fortunate enough, to enroll at Blair’s clinic to receive personal training directly from him. He has put me through enough workouts over the years for me to realize that he is one of the best trainers in North America and his insights into exercise science are fact-based, logical and directed toward your getting the most benefit with the least amount of time spent in the gym.

– John Little

DAVID LANDAU

(RATIONAL EXERCISE, FLA):

Finding out the exact amount of exercise required to stimulate an optimal response from the body has taken me a period of 30 years of thought, observation, and no small amount of money. Someone once said, “You have to turn your back on the crowd in order to conduct the orchestra.” In order to have a viable and rational objective in the field of strength training one must avoid current fitness trends and keep an active mind in order to find out what really works. Consequently, over the years I have found that the intensity/quality of effort that one expends in the gym is light years ahead of most fitness approaches that would have the trainee simply filling endless hours with low intensity modalities of exercise. Having tried (or at least seen) my fair share of them, I can unequivocally state that the high-intensity approach of once a week bouts of training is far superior to anything else that is in the running (no pun intended).  Like-minded people think alike, and with the parallel pursuits of John Little and Dr. Doug McGuff it has been a much easier journey.

Actions speak louder than words, which is why I am pleased to say that my clients at Rational Exercise show exceptional gains from one 20-to- 30 minute workout performed but once a week. The results produced by these clients really must to be seen to be believed! One of my clients is a very passionate trainee that I have nicknamed “Mad Dawg,” and who, at age 65, is in the most incredible muscular condition – a fascinating trainee to say the least. Many have seen almost instantaneous results, because the high level of intensity is something their bodies have never been exposed to. The body will only respond if you give it a reason. But a word of warning, you must throw all the current trends under the bus  – all the Rubber Balls, Rubber Bands, Wobble Boards, Bosu balls, and the One Hour Activity (Anything Goes) classes. Once you do that, you must ask yourself, “Am I serious about obtaining maximal results from my exercise training?”  If you are that type of person who is serious, and who wants results that exemplify health, strength, and vitality, then high-intensity training will make those results a reality for you.

(For those in South Florida that would like to contact David directly to set up a workout appointment, he can be reached at  305-778-6558).

BO RAILEY

(EXERCISE INC. BROWNSBURG, IN):

I have been a high-intensity training enthusiast ever since I met Dick Conner at The Pit Barbell Club in 1983.  While I was in college I trained with Dick and competed on his world-class powerlifting team.  Dick has coached more champion (drug free) powerlifters than anyone alive. Of course we always trained 3 days a week: squat on Monday, bench press on Wednesday and deadlift on Friday.  Because of this schedule, The Pit was, and still is, open only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

After college I moved to Indianapolis and started a personal training business.  I began training all of my clients 2 or 3 days a week. However, in the early 1990’s Dick told me that he was having great success training some of his powerlifters only one day a week.  I thought he was nuts!  What if you had a bad workout?  It would be a week before you could make up for it.  How could you possibly get decent results training one day a week?  I just couldn’t get my head around this concept.  For 10 years Dick tried to get me to try this abbreviated approach.  For 10 years, I ignored him and continued to train myself and my clients 2 or 3 times a week.

In 2003 Dick gave me a book that changed my thinking about training volume and frequency. It was entitled Ultimate Exercise and was written by a gentleman by the name of Doug McGuff, MD.  Doug’s argument for brief and infrequent workouts was compelling enough for me to try an abbreviated approach. I started using the Superslow TM protocol as recommended by McGuff to increase the muscular loading and muscle fiber recruitment of each exercise.  I cut back to one set of seven exercises, and trained twice a week.  I also set up a couple of phone consultations with Dr. McGuff.

Doug defined progress as adding weight to most (or all) of my exercises every time I worked out. He also told me that while I could make good progress training twice a week, if my progress stopped I should train less frequently and “decrease the dose” by using fewer exercises per workout – and that’s exactly what happened.  Before long I was training only three times every two weeks, on a Monday, Friday, Wednesday schedule.  When I stopped progressing, I further reduced the frequency to once every five days, then six days, then seven days.  I reduced the exercises to only four to five per workout. And within   six months, at 38 years old, I found myself stronger and more muscular than I had ever been in my life.

I immediately converted all of my personal training clients to four to five exercises once every seven days.  At first, everyone thought I was crazy.  While the move to once a week initially cut my income in half, the new approach served to attract even more clients that were interested in a time-efficient approach to exercise. As it turned out, my new approach quickly made up for the revenue I lost with new clients coming in all the time.

It’s now been five years since I switched to a once-a-week protocol and I’m still getting stronger every time I train.  I’ve even found that I can produce great results training as infrequently as once every 14 or 21 days.  Dick Conner was right after all –  it just took a doctor to get me to believe him.

CARY HOWE

NAUTILUS NORTH (BRACEBRIDGE, ONTARIO):

When I first walked through the doors of Nautilus North Strength and Fitness Centre in 2004, I was “green” by fitness industry standards to the whole concept of strength training. Although I had read many books on strength training and had played sports and trained with weights for years, I had no way of knowing that there was a “right” way and a “wrong” way of exercising – and that I (and most everyone else) had apparently been misled by the industry into thinking that there were only “different” ways. I worked with John Little from that year to the present and we agreed to test everything – every workout protocol, every recovery interval, every nutritional consideration that we had heard about. As a result, many concepts that were popular were found to be without foundation, and a new direction began to emerge.

We conducted studies on protocols to test training theories on large numbers of people to see what worked, to what degree it worked, and whether or not better results could be obtained. As someone who likes to golf, my interest in how to improve my game was always in the back of my mind. Many of the clients I train are also golfers and are hungry for knowledge on ways to improve their games as well. What taking part in all of these studies gave was an objective view of the data. Neither I nor my clients cared about the fitness industry, or what was the new hot trend. Instead, we wanted results – the quicker the better – and if that meant we didn’t have to be in the gym three to four days a week, that was fine by us as we’d rather be out golfing anyway.

In the first year that I worked for John and Terri Little I personally supervised some 7,500 workouts and our facility oversaw some 25,000 workouts. Indeed, since we kept workout records on all of our clients there was already a considerable database of cause and effect relationships prior to setting out to conduct our more formal studies into the effects of exercise.

One of our first studies involved devising a means to determine an individual’s optimal training frequency. For instance, when did the body produce a change in muscle mass and at what point would it begin to lose size after it had been produced? The results were astonishing.  The first few days following the workout revealed to us that a trainee is not stronger, but weaker.  Indeed, since recovery precedes growth, the data revealed that a trainee is not ready to work out again and would not make any meaningful progress for at least a week after a workout. We also discovered that, despite what the fitness industry has been saying for years, one did not lose what one had gained if one did not work out again within ninety-six hours. With help of the Bod Pod body composition testing machine, we were able to scientifically track what happens to the body in the two weeks after a high intensity workout – this was the first time that such a test had been performed.

DOUG HOLLAND AND WIFE AMY LOVE, WITH DENISE HEARD.

(INTELLIGENT EXERCISE. SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA)

While in high school,I was fortunate enough to stumble upon some Arthur Jones articles in Athletic Journal.Those writings along with later articles by Ken Leistner encouraged me to adopt high intensity training principles to my own workouts.In 1980 I began training a small number of clients,adapting H.I.T. methods to barbell exercises with great results.I met Ken Leistner in 1983 and he encouraged me to make my passion for H.I.T. a fulltime job,and it has been ever since.In the spring of 2000,I even had the pleasure of taking Body By Science co-author Doug McGuff through a workout.

Today Amy and I own a 4,000 square foot gym filled with MedX,Nautilus,and Hammer Strength equipment,along with many barbells.There are no treadmills here.Our clients range in age from 12 to 89.Many of our clients have been with us since 1988,and all are getting the best in tough,brief,safe,infrequent workouts.

KEITH MORTON (& PARTNERS DENISE MORTON AND THERESA SNYDER), OWNERS OF CITYWIDE (CHICAGO, ILLINOIS)

For 45 years I’ve been an aficionado of health and fitness.  I worked out 10 hours a week including three days of weight lifting and 6 days of running, believing more was better.  I ran marathons and 10-ks regularly  As I hit my middle 40’s my body started to break down suffering from overuse (didn’t know what that meant back then) and injuries.  In 1998 while in an airport, I read an article about H.I.T.  It sounded interesting.  I proceeded to read everything I could find on  the subject. This lead me to a phone consultation with a guy who, supposedly, knew a lot about this concept.  When the call started he asked me what kind of exercise I did.  ”Run and weight lift a bunch of days a week” .I said.  He responded,”The first thing I want you to do is take two weeks off and then quit running”.  Yea, RIGHT! By the way, the “guru” I talked to was Doug McGuff.  Even though I thought his prescription was absurd, I decided to strength train the way he suggested.  In March of 2000, I was running on vacation.  My hips were killing me.  I had to walk back.  I said “I’m going to take a month and try what this guy said.”

That changed my life.  My pains went away.  I felt great.  My workouts were terrific. And, I had hours and hours of newly found time. If my life could change this dramatically, then what about others?   I noticed there wasn’t a single facility that offered this protocol in the city of Chicago.  Even though I was busy running a software company, I said I had to open one .In 2002  I found a partner; and with my wife, Denise, the three of us opened Chicago’s only HIT facility.

That partner has subsequently been bought out by Theresa Snyder.  Today we have 4200 square feet, 30 machines, 12 trainers and do hundreds of workouts a week.  Every day is a thrill when I see how our clients not only “get it,” but their lives are changed too.

JOHN TATORE (EXERCISE SOLUTION,LLC, STAMFORD,CT)

It’s a privilege to be able to be part of this Recommended Trainers Forum. I truly feel that Dr. Doug McGuff’s book “Body By Science” is now what should be considered the “Bible of HIT”. This book has taken everything I’ve read for last 25 plus years (starting with the Nautilus Book by Ellington Darden) and summarized the principles into very simple words.

My studio Exercise Solution, LLC has been servicing Fairfield County, CT & Westchester County, NY  for the last 6 plus years (www.ExerciseSolution.com). I currently have 13 exercise machines (9 SuperSlow Systems machines, 3 Refurbished Nautilus machines and 1 MedX/SSZ Lumbar machine). This allows me to cover every muscle in the body and work around any injury. I employ the once-a-week high intensity exercise protocol as explained in Doug’s book . I myself have been doing high intensity exercise since 1982 following the advice of Arthur Jones, Ellington Darden, Ken Hutchins and lastly Doug McGuff. This has enabled me to provide my clients with the very best result producing exercise program which is safe and doesn’t require hours of working out. I found the gift of hard brief exercise over 25 years ago and have dedicated my career in providing it to as many clients as I can.

I also started the Yahoo ‘High Intensity Training Professional’ Group in August of 2003 ( it was originally started as an email group know as SuperSlow Trainers a few years before that). This group has over 275 members who believe and share their knowledge and experience regarding many topics under the High Intensity umbrella (http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/HITP/).

I can be reached at 203-249-3937 for anyone interested in learning more about this time proven exercise protocol.