HIT Scores at Home Discover how these unique HIT routines muscularized the body of an infomercial athlete

HIT Scores at Home Discover how these unique HIT routines muscularized the body of an infomercial athlete.By Andy McCutcheon http://www.drdarden.com/readTopic.do?id=382901

HIT Routine A

Leg extension on Bowflex ~ Leg press on Bowflex / Lateral raise on Bowflex ~ Overhead press with barbell

Lying biceps curl on Bowflex ~ Seated triceps extension on BowflexStiff-legged deadlift with barbell ~ Wrist curl with barbell

HIT Routine B

Leg curl on Bowflex ~ Squat with barbell ~ Straight-arm pullover with one dumbbell

Reverse grip pulldown on Bowflex ~ Chest fly on Bowflex ~ Bench press with barbell ~ Pushup on floorReverse trunk curl on floor ~ Trunk curl on Bowflex or on floor

Ive always been a person who would rather train at home than go to a commercial fitness center. I grew up in Cambridge, England, and I got my first barbell set in 1984 when I was 18. Shortly thereafter, I started lifting in my parents garage.

At that time in my life I was into the martial arts and Id heard that weight training would make you into a better fighter. It certainly helped me. I trained consistently for several years and got hooked on bodybuilding. Basically, my goal was to get as strong as I could in all the basic barbell exercises. I even placed high in a couple of regional bodybuilding contests.

Mr. Olympia, Dorian Yates, was a judge for one of those contests and he invited me to workout a couple of times in his gym. What a treat it was to experience Dorians intensity up close. He was big, strong, and lean to an extent that was almost beyond belief. It was through Dorian that I first learned about the writings of Arthur Jones and Ellington Darden. HIT soon became an important aspect of my bodybuilding.

I moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1992, and took a job for Novellus Systems. I am an engineering project manager and I often work at the office 50 hours a week. But even so, I still find time to continue with my training at home. And it shows. Some of my friends, in fact, encouraged me ten years ago to put together a portfolio and get involved in commercial modeling.

I was thrilled when I was chosen over numerous auditioning men for a Bowflex shoot in 1994. A subsequent commercial, with me holding a bow, then pulling the string and arrow into a drawn position, as the curve of the bow then transitions into a bending Power Rod of a Bowflex machine, was a tremendous success. Ive done infomercials for Bowflex ever since.

Through Bowflex, I met Ellington Darden. I was photographed for many of the exercises for his book, The Bowflex Body Plan (Rodale 2003). More recently, I demonstrated most of the exercises for The New High-Intensity Training (Rodale 2004).

Ellington has hammered me with the importance of harder, briefer exercise combined with superhydration and carbohydrate-rich foods to build and sustain my muscle mass and overall leanness. When we took the photographs for The New HIT, I was in my all-time best condition. At 38 years of age, I weighed 184 pounds at a height of 6 feet even. Ellington measured my body fat at 3.4 percent, which is as low as Ive ever been. And my muscle mass was 5 pounds more than any time previously.

I continue to train at my home gym in Portland. I have a Bowflex Ultimate machine, a couple of bars, 400 pounds of free-weight plates, and a large punching bag attached to the ceiling. Below are the routines I followed for six months prior to the HIT photo shoot.

HIT Routine A

Leg extension on Bowflex ~ Leg press on Bowflex / Lateral raise on Bowflex ~ Overhead press with barbell

Lying biceps curl on Bowflex ~ Seated triceps extension on Bowflex

Stiff-legged deadlift with barbell ~ Wrist curl with barbel

HIT Routine B

Leg curl on Bowflex ~ Squat with barbell ~ Straight-arm pullover with one dumbbell

Reverse grip pulldown on Bowflex ~ Chest fly on Bowflex ~ Bench press with barbell ~ Pushup on floor

Reverse trunk curl on floor ~ Trunk curl on Bowflex or on floor

Each routine was done for one set of 8 to 12 repetitions until muscular failure. Sometimes Id work up to 20 repetitions on the leg press and squat. I always moved quickly between exercises, especially the ones involving pre-exhaustion, such as the chest fly, bench press, and pushup in Routine B.

Pushups were and are still a specialty of mine. In England, I once held the British record by doing 107 pushups in a minute. So Ive got to pre-exhaust thoroughly my chest to make those pushups meaningful.

I alternated between Routine A and Routine B. Routine A was done usually on Monday nights and Routine B on Thursday nights. On my off-days, Id punch the heavy bag and do my martial arts training. One night per week Id play soccer.

As you can probably imagine, Im pretty much a hyperactive individual. I feel most productive doing some type of exercise almost every day or night at least, thats the way I felt until I got to know Ellington. Ellington taught me the value of taking off several afternoons and nights a week. Now, I eliminate all strenuous activity on the day after my HIT workouts.

Taking off two days a week has helped me get into the best shape of my life.

Am I satisfied? Not quite. Id like to add another 5 pounds of muscle, while keeping my same degree of leanness. And I figure I can accomplish my goals by applying the HIT philosophy to the equipment in my home gym.

"The HIT philosophy helps me to focus clearly," Andy McCutcheon says, "on the basic factors related to building muscle." Andys muscular physique is pictured throughout the pages of The New High-Intensity Training.