10 replies to this topic

[sub7]

Dear Fellow Posters,

The Web Site for Accelerated Inroad Training or simply ACIT is now ready for your review. As the co-developer of the technique, I believe that this is a truly revolutionary method of resistance training and definitely worth taking a look at. As the name implies, ACIT is a means of achieving a tremendous degree of inroading and intensity in an incredibly short period of time and will therefore give the trainee a chance to work very hard with much less risk of overtraining.

please check it out at www.acit-training.com

As you will notice, the site is entirely non-commercial. We offer absolutely nothing for sale, are not hoping to generate revenue via advertising or cross-linking and are only trying to foster intelligent discussion as well as help develop a means that will bring us all a step closer to the greater health and well-being we are looking for.

I would like to thank you for your time in advance and am looking forward to hearing your opinions.

Best regards,

Sub7

[DukeNukem]

Interesting stuff.

If I understood this, you would use a lighter weight than normal (approx. 2/3rds the normal 8-10 rep weight), and you'd still reach a point of failure around the 8-10 rep mark.

I'm willing to give this a try.

Scott

[tracer]

Errr... my thoughts:

1. Too much to read too little time, please excuse if I missed anything in my skimming of your site:
2. NO system that doesn't incorporate periodtisation will allow you to keep gaining indefinitely. NO system is a panacea.
3. That said, it's a novel idea. What you may have missed is that a condition of hypoxia can be induced either by maintaining tension in the muscle or by stretching. The stretching is more beneficial because it induces local IGF1 ang PGF2a production which is more effective for hypertrophy and hyperplasia.
4. You will generally start to los neural efficiency trainng like this resulting in a decrease in maximum force thresholds.
5. You are neglecting the overloaded excentric.

[rhakshasa]

That very long to read, maybe there should be a resume of it or something.

[skuldugary]

Interesting theory. The 2 sentence overview is the assertion that by building up lactic acid in your muscles, the aerobic cells shut down and the anerobic cells must take over, leading to more complete muscle exhaustion in a shorter amount of time. The site then gives a method for achieving this lactic acid overload safely, essentially by using the muscles themselves to slow blood movement and prevent lactic acid recovery.

This actually sounds interesting, and might be worth a try, however nowhere in the site (that i could find) did they provide even anacdotal evidence that this technique actually does make you either stronger or bigger (and if so, which).

For instance, I would hope that someone has actually done a max lift (or percentage) then done this technique for a while, and then performed a max lift with significantly more weight. Or, if this builds size, someone should have measured a muscle, done this technique, then measured again with significant size increase. Instead he gives examples of how much weight he had to drop and how much pain he was in.

Back in the distant past, what this guy is advocating was called a "pump", and while it made you feel like you were blasting, i'm not sure it did anything positive for your size or strength.

Still, this is a really interesting technique that I will try to use in my workouts. if this peaks your interest, i would recommend reading the entire web site. it has quite a bit of detail and if nothing else it gives an excellent overview of how your muscles work.

-doug

[hyoomen]

Yeah, the concern regarding measurable improvements is one I share. My roommate just began 8x8 training, though, and has already seen marked improvement. While 8x8 isn't specifically related to ACIT, the similarities inherent in not allowing your muscles to relax for more than 15 seconds could speak to some cross-validity.

If this is an effective method it could help reduce worries over PWO shakes for diabetics, late night lifters, cutters, etc.

Should definitely be written in a more concise manner (separate examples somewhat more from primary text, don't try to get everything on one page, &c).

[tracer]

I doubt this makes you stronger. Peak force generation (1RMs) really depend more on the number of FFT fibers you recruit at will and on the Golgii Tendon Orgna threshold, which is lowered by training with circa-maximal weights and avoiding failure.

It may make you bigger, but the problem is that you are focusing only on one aspect of strength training and will therefore plateau out very fast... or not make any gains at all if you are already an experineced strength trainee.

[sub7]

I thank you all very much for your thoughtfull comments. Comparing the level and maturity of the discussion on this site to others, this board really does stand out...

Basically all the issues you have brought up are very valid, but please do keep in mind that the web site was put together with limited resources. Sure we would have liked to go ahead and sponsor a study in a local University and have a published paper at hand, or at the very least recruit some 20(ACIT) + 20(control) guys and conduct a little "experiment" in a nearby gym but these things require time and money, which is in short supply at the moment. Both Ron and I have full time commitments (I am hoping to publish my book -not related to this topic- in Feb 2006 BTW) and with the resources at hand, this is what has been possible for the time being. However, like out physiques, the site will look better next year than it does now...

At the moment there are a limited number of people using this technique and they are scattered all around the world. 3 are my personal friends that I trained with in the past (though now I am far away from them), some of the rest I met only briefly in the past, and some I have only corresponded with via email. Numerous people have reported very good results, but how can I put them up on the site as claims or testimonials, when I have not even seen the results myself in person let alone been able to verify that they have been achieved with ACIT as claimed?

I can however tell you about my personal results. During the last 2 months I have been using ACIT in all of my exercises except calves (which sometimes cramp up with ACIT). I have gained around 3-4 (weight naturally fluctuates based on hydration) pounds, which to me is very impressive because my primary goal is leanness. I am trying to stay as close to a very-hard-to-maintain 6% bodyfat at around 168 pounds and had more or less peaked at this weight and by% for many many months. I have gone from this stable 168 to as high as 172 with absolutely no increase in waist size or bf as measured by calipers. BTW, the current 6% is my prediciton. I was hydrostatically measured at 5.5% at Adelphi University by Professor Bob Otto in the past, so I have a yardstick to measure my current condition against, but still this present bf% has not come from the super-computers of IBM.

What I attribute my improvement on the ACIT cycle to is the lack of overtraining symptoms. ACIT has allowed me to train very hard without wearing myself out. In a way, ACIT has been like carrying on the most intense, balls-to-the-walls phase of a weight training for several consecutive weeks if not months without the resulting burnout. Can you keep going like this on ACIT forever without periodization? Of course not... Sooner or later you will need to give your nervous system, joints, mind and muscle building precursors a break. But my estimation is that this break needs to be taken much less frequently when on ACIT.

As you can see, succinct writing is not my strong suit, which is why I am publishing a book by the way, and I managed to prolong even this simple post... Since the site is already long enough we didn't want to put all the basics about muscle building into the site which would have turned it into an even bigger monster. We are simply assuming that the reader is familiar with the basics. Yes, like with every method your peak force output will not be optimized unless you incorporate exercises that will facilitate peak force generating CNS activity. Yes, like with every other method, using this exclusively is not the smartest things you can do. Hence you don't have to. Use the method, maybe in an exercise where you need to give an injured joint a break, and see how you like it. But please do give it a few weeks before reaching a conclusion. Then, if you like it, use your best judgment to incorporate it into your workout....

If there are any specific questions as to the applications of the principles, I would be very happy to try and answer them to the best of my ability.

Thank you again and happy holidays

Sub7

[sub7]

A study where the approach was very similar to ACIT....

Tanimoto M, Ishii N.

Department of Life Sciences, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

We investigated the acute and long-term effects of low-intensity resistance exercise (knee extension) with slow movement and tonic force generation on muscular size and strength. This type of exercise was expected to enhance the intramuscular hypoxic environment that might be a factor for muscular hypertrophy. Twenty-four healthy young males without experience of regular exercise training were assigned into three groups (n = 8 for each) and performed the following resistance exercise regimens: low-intensity [~50% of one repetition maximum (1RM)] with slow movement and tonic force generation (3 s for eccentric and concentric actions, 1-s pause, and no relaxing phase; LST); high-intensity (~80% 1RM) with normal speed (1 s for concentric and eccentric actions, 1 s for relaxing; HN); low-intensity with normal speed (same intensity as for LST and same speed as for HN; LN). In LST and HN, the mean repetition maximum was 8RM. In LN, both intensity and amount of work were matched with those for LST. Each exercise session consisting of three sets was performed three times a week for 12 weeks. In LST and HN, exercise training caused significant (P < 0.05) increases in cross-sectional area determined with MRI and isometric strength (MVC) of the knee extensors, whereas no significant changes were seen in LN. Electromyographic and near-infrared spectroscopic analyses showed that one bout of LST causes sustained muscular activity and the largest muscle deoxygenation among the three types of exercise. The results suggest that intramuscular oxygen environment is important for exercise-induced muscular hypertrophy.

[tracer]

Hmmm... sub7 - two things stand out:

1. Your humility is refreshing.
2. Having had far too many discussions with HIT-jedis and 3-sets-of-8 disciples, I am afraid that I have become somewhat jaded and cynical regarding strength training techniques, and especially those "programmes" which are published for mere personal enrichment, and yet contain much propaganda and many anecdotes, but unfortunately are woefully lacking in substance and therefore results. I am sure that you are familiar with a few such books. That said, after your responses above, and duly noting point 1, I must conclude that your heart is in the right place. More power to you, and best wishes with your book.

PS: I still think it would be more anabolic to incorporate stretching and some overloaded excentric movements... but that's just my opinion.

[sub7]

Tracer,

Thanks a lot for the very kind words. Lucikly -for me and the world- my book is not about training but on management. I will hopefully post more information about it in a month or so.

As far as ACIT goes, we have a very productive discussion going on at
http://www.hypertrop...f=2;t=2158;st=0

My suggestion towards the end of this thread is that ACIT could be an excellent "deconditioning tool" while one is taking a break from more conventional training. If you have always done heavy conventional sets of 6-10 reps or weighted stretching or overloaded eccentrics, it may be extremely helpful to take a 2-4 week break and use nothing but ACIT to

a) give your joints a break
b) replenish hormones/neurotransmitters and any other substances that may have been depleted or pushed out of balance due to such heavy CNS activity
c) Just as importantly to let your body forget the heavy weights a bit so you can elicit an even stronger response from the heavier weights when you return to them.

As I have always said, it is extremely unlikely that someone will invent "the best eva" training protocol which will trump all others. In all likelihood, we will probably keep finding a few "cool" training ideas and still will have to cycle as conditions dictate. I continue to think that ACIT is one such cool idea that deserves a shot by any serious athlete. If you do try it please let us know how it goes.

Once again, my sincerest thanks for the encouraging words...

Sub7