Browse: Home / 10 Tips to Optimize Your HIT Workout

Menu

Skip to content
Header image

Training For Climbing – by Eric HörstLogo

Train Smarter, Climb Harder!

Menu

Skip to content
  • Privacy Policy
  • About
    • Welcome to the New T4C!
    • About T4C
    • Eric’s Biography
    • Eric’s Publishing Resume
    • Eric’s Books (1994 – present)
    • Meet the Hörst Family!
    • Testimonials
    • Terms of Use
    • Contact Eric
  • Knowledge Base
  • Multimedia
  • Buy Books
    • Training for Climbing (3rd edition)
    • The Rock Climber’s Exercise Guide
    • Maximum Climbing
    • One Move Too Many
    • How To Climb 5.12
    • Learning to Climb Indoors
    • Rock Climbing: VA/MD/WV
  • Training Tools
    • Lattice “Triple” Hangboard
    • Lattice “Mini Bar”
    • Lattice “Pinch & Crimp” Block
    • Lattice Training – Lifting Pin (aka “Loading Pin”)
    • Lattice Training “Micro Holds”
    • Endless Rope Trainer
  • Research
  • Coaching
  • Links

10 Tips to Optimize Your HIT Workout

Posted by Eric Hörst on January 1, 2015 in Train Body, Training Articles | 1,734 Views | Leave a response
13 Shares
  • Facebook 13
  • Twitter 0
  • LinkedIn 0
  • Email 0

HIT-Josh
1. Each set must be near-maximum intensity and produce failure in 10 to 20 hand movements. Add weight if you achieve more than 16 reps. Ideally you should reach failure between 10 and 16 reps.

2. No stopping or chalking during a set. Climb briskly and without hesitation. Consider using a spotter so you can keep moving confidently up to the point of failure. Always step off the wall as opposed to risking an uncontrolled fall.

3. Try to climb through the reps with normal foot movements and body turns. Smaller foot holds (approximately 0.75 to 1.5 inch in depth) are best, but too much thought on footwork will slow you down. Most important, keep the footwork simple—the goal here is to train the fingers, not footwork and technique.

4. Rest breaks between sets must be exactly three minutes. Use a stopwatch and stick to the planned order and schedule of exercises. This way you can quantify and track your gains in finger strength! If you’re sloppy on the length of rests, the numbers become meaningless. Advanced climbers may choose to do two or three sets with each grip.

5. Keep a training book where you log each set, weight added, and the number of reps achieved. This way you’ll always know what weight you need for a given set and you can easily track your gains (weight and rep increases) from workout to workout.

6. Always do your HIT workout in the same order and never perform more than three sets per grip position! I advise one set per grip position for all climbers new to HIT and for anyone uncertain of their capabilities. There will be no added stimuli by doing an excessive number of sets—you’ll only dig yourself a deeper hole to recovery from, needing more days to recovery, and risk injury.

7. Tape your fingers using the “X method” to reduce skin pain. I find this imperative when I climb with high amounts of added weight.  The increased skin comfort will enable you to push the envelope a bit further—you never want to end a set due to skin pain! You can also sand down the HIT Strips if the texture causes pain that prevents you from completing the workout. Note that new HIT Strips have a texture ideal for the high traffic of commercial gyms, but it’s way too aggressive for home gyms. Therefore, I encourage you to remove the texture from where your fingers wrap over the holds, while leaving the texture intact where your finger tip pad touches (grips) the strip.

8. Increase rest days if you find your HIT reps and weights are decreasing. If you ever feel “weak” on the rock after a HIT Cycle it’s due to insufficient rest. Remember that it can take as much as 4 to 7 days to recover from severe central fatigue. At the very least, you’ll need two full rest days days between HIT workouts. I find that I often need three days to feel 100 percent. Therefore, I advise alternating two rest days and three rest days between your workouts—this translates to two HIT workouts per week. Any additional climbing should be done on a day preceeding a HIT workout day. A brief, low-intensity “recovery climbing session” (easy, no-pump climbing) is okay—and perhaps beneficial—the day after a HIT workout.

9. Cycle on and off of HIT every two weeks, or employ weighted HIT workouts during the three-week maximum strength phase of the 4-3-2-1 cycle or the 3-2-1 cycle. I prefer the former schedule (2 week on-off cycles) during climbing season, whereas I use the 3-2-1 Training Cycle during my winter off-season.

10. Other training protocals to consider: Use of the HIT System as a method of training anaerobic endurance (AE), by climbing up and down for as long as you can at bodyweight. You can also employ the HIT System as part of a Complex Training program (where you combine, say, HIT Workouts with Campus Training). I’ll provide more info on these methods in future articles.

13 Shares
  • Facebook 13
  • Twitter 0
  • LinkedIn 0
  • Email 0
Posted in Train Body, Training Articles | Tagged grip strength training, HIT, Hypergravity Isolation Training

Stronger Tendons. Fewer Injuries. Really!

supercharged collagen for climbers

Research-based connective tissue, joint, and muscle matrix support for climbers.

Learn more at PhysiVantage.com

PhysiVāntage Europe!

physivantage nutrition europe

Attention UK & EU climbers! You can now buy PhysiVāntage nutrition from the EPIC-TV shop!

Beat the Pump with Endure X!

Endure X Performance Drink by PhysiVantage

Increase your power endurance, stamina, and recovery between repeated efforts in training and climbing!

Learn more at PhysiVantage.com

Lattice Testing & Training Rung

Lattice Testing & Training Rung

Learn more >>

Vegan BCAA & Electrolyte Supplement

FLOW bcaa electrolyte physivantage

Support muscle function and performance through long workouts or days of climbing.

Learn more at PhysiVantage.com

#1 International Best Seller!

Eric Horst's Training for Climbing, 3rd edition, 2016.

Click the book cover to learn about this international best-seller!

Premium Protein for Muscle Strength/Power Gains & Faster Recovery

Weapons-Grade Whey Protein Complex by PhysiVantage

The first recovery protein designed for climbers! Feel the Weapons-Grade difference.

Learn more at PhysiVantage.com

PowerPlex Plant-Based Protein!

Powerplex Plant-Based Protein

The Most Advanced Plant-Based Protein and Collagen Alternative for Vegans!

Learn more at PhysiVantage.com

Knowledge Base

  • Train Body
  • Train Technique & Skills
  • Train Mind
  • Train Strategy
  • The Hurt Locker (Injury)
  • Youth Training
  • Climbing Mastery
  • Nutrition & Recovery
  • Research
  • Gimme Kraft! Videos
  • Basic Training
  • Climbing 101
  • T4C Videos
  • T4C Podcasts

Connect with T4C on Facebook!

Privacy Policy

https://trainingforclimbing.com/privacy-policy/

Footer logo
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Follow T4C on . . .twitter_logo1facebook-sm

 
 

Popular

    Training Programs for Climbers (T4C free download!)

    264950 views / Posted July 10, 2019
  • fingerboard training

    4 Fingerboard Training Protocols That Work

    170840 views / Posted November 1, 2016

    Treating “Climber’s Elbow” – Rehab and Prehab Protocol

    147166 views / Posted May 14, 2021

    The Best Climbing Exercise You’re Not Doing: The Scapular Pull-up!

    140324 views / Posted September 2, 2020
 
 

©2021 Eric J. Hörst - All Rights Reserved | Hörst Training, LLC

Menu

Subscribe to Training For Climbing Newsletter


(Your email address will NOT be shared or sold, and you can unsubscribe at any time.)

13 Shares
  • 13 Facebook
  • 0 Twitter
  • 0 LinkedIn
  • 0 Email
  • More Networks
Share via
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Mix
Pinterest
Tumblr
Skype
Buffer
Pocket
VKontakte
Parler
Xing
Reddit
Flipboard
MySpace
Delicious
Amazon
Digg
Evernote
Blogger
LiveJournal
Baidu
MeWe
NewsVine
Yummly
Yahoo
WhatsApp
Viber
SMS
Telegram
Facebook Messenger
Like
Email
Print
Copy Link
Powered by Social Snap
Copy link
CopyCopied
Powered by Social Snap