Hi Rachel,
My suggestion is to give the plan a try and see for yourself.
I happen to live in a city where there is a personal training studio that uses MedX, Nautilus, and Keiser equipment. They are proponents of High Intensity Training (HIT) in particular and Arthur Jones and Doug McGuff specifically.
For me, over the three month period I had personal, one-on-one training, it was not boring.
1. There were many machines to work the specific muscle groups.
2. The time in the studio was very minimal. There was no goofing-off.
3. Training was every seven-to-10 days, so lots of recovery time.
Now, remember, the training is supposed to be HIGH INTENSITY.
The higher the intensity, the less of it can be done. I speak from personal experience that this stuff can make you dizzy, make you vomit, and/or put you on the floor. For me, working my quads was always the worst. I dreaded that the most, because I completely taxed myself.
Truly, this stuff isn’t for the faint of heart. So, before starting any exercise program, I would get a check-up from your Doctor, find a qualified trainer that’s experienced with HIT, and start slow.
Now, speaking of rotator cuff stuff, after three months of doing HIT, I went back to my regular gym and tried to do some of the same work on my own. The personal training was expensive, so I figured I could take what I learned and apply it myself.
In my case, that was a mistake.
In personal training, the instructor would help raise the weight, so I could work on the eccentric phase, once I exhausted my muscles on concentric phase. This would allow me to totally deplete my muscles. In the gym, however, I ended-up hurting myself by compromising my form in an attempt to manage the equipment/weight.
Later, I tried to apply the eccentric training principles using body-weight exercise, as described in Jonathan Bailor’s book “The Smarter Science of Slim.” In the book, one of the exercises he suggests is pull-ups. Probably due to the mishaps in the gym, I ended up injuring both rotator cuffs with my pull-up bar at home.
It’s been over six months and I’m still having terrible shoulder pain. Imagine not being able to raise your arms above shoulder height. (Some days, not even that much.) Doing things like washing your hair, scratching your own back, putting-on or taking-off a shirt or coat become impossible without help. Literally. And, in my case, the pain seriously affected my sleep for months. It still does, a little bit.
So, if I had it to do over again, I would have just stick with the personal training–doing it very intensely, and, as a result, very infrequently. Also, I would get lots of rest and eat plenty of food, including carbs.
On second thought, I might have just stuck with activities that I enjoyed like walking, hiking, and biking and calling it good. I used to do them all the time and took it for granted. Now, that’s all I want to be able to do. Due to following low-carb with all my over-exercise, I really put myself in the ditch and I’m still trying to recover. In addition to the rotator cuff injuries, there’s also muscle pain, weakness, and fatigue.
Take it easy on yourself and listen to your body.
Good luck,
Simon
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-you-should-lift-and-lower-heavy-things/