Hofmekler’s Controlled Fatigue Training

Ori Hofmekler is a well-known fitness expert, former Penthouse columnist and no stranger to controversy. His ideas about training run so contradictory to most of what you see in the fitness magazines that most people either say, “the guy’s a fucking genius,” or “he’s a complete dumbass who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Love him or hate him, one thing that Ori got right is his concept about the development of super hybrid muscle. In fact, his Controlled Fatigue Training program is really one of the very first hybrid muscle training programs ever put together. Hybrid muscle training develops super hybrid muscles and developing super hybrid muscle is of course you know, the goal of the Lean Hybrid Muscle training program.

Lean Hybrid Muscle is inspired in part by ancient warrior cultures like the Spartans, the Gladiators, the Vikings and others. Ori’s concepts are also inspired by these warrior cultures. His interest arose from his formative military experiences, which prompted a life interest in survival science and the ways of the warriors. Ori began researching ancient cultures and based on what he learned, became convinced that ancient warrior cultures like the Spartans, the Gladiators and the Vikings were so successful because they had developed a great deal of super hybrid muscle.

Normal muscle fibers are generally either built for strength or endurance with not a lot crossover-at least not in modern man. Ancient warriors though, not only had great strength, but they had a hell of a lot of endurance too. They were like that because the way they trained forced them to develop super hybrid muscle, which is muscle that has essentially been reconfigured, adding mitochondrial density, resulting in a bigger stronger muscle with more endurance capacity.

Ori says that Controlled Fatigue Training builds super hybrid muscle by triggering our body’s survival factors. Survival factors are what keep us alive-there’s a lot of them but they include strength, power, speed and endurance. The survival factors are also what trigger the “fight or flight” response-meaning that you’re either ready to seriously kick some ass or you’re going to haul-ass for the hills with your tail between your legs. The ancient Spartans, Gladiators, Vikings and others, were able to choose “fight” not “flight” because they had developed super hybrid muscle. Their muscles were capable of generating and sustaining strength for extended periods.

Controlled Fatigue Training (CFT) seeks to mimic the same responses in our modern bodies and in the process, prompting the development of super hybrid muscle. Controlled Fatigue Training is built on a methodical combination of strength speed and endurance together-very much like the Lean Hybrid Muscle training program. But CFT isn’t just another training program-it’s tough. Really tough. So tough that I’d say that at least nine out ten guys who start training the CFT way, don’t have the balls to stick with it for more than a couple weeks-if that. CFT requires you to repeatedly shock your body by doing really intense exercises that incorporate strength, speed and velocity to maximize the body’s capacity to resist fatigue and stress.

According to Ori, “the core concept of controlled fatigue training is to gradually train the body to resist fatigue and sustain strength during a prolonged intense physical stress. That way one could handle higher volume of intense exercise and thereby be able to gain strength, speed, and velocity with an improved muscle/ fat composition.”

The overall CFT workouts incorporate three components: 1) pre-fatigue exercises; 2) core exercises; and 3) post-fatigue exercises. One example of a CFT exercise would be riding a stationary exercise bike on a high level (at least level 10 or above) at a fast pace while simultaneously doing alternating dumbbell raises. Or you might find yourself doing a series of rapid sprints while carry dumbbells and when finished, launching immediately into weighted walking lunges just before doing five sets of dead-lifts. The sets are performed sequentially, with little or no rest between sets. You can rest for no more than one minute between exercises.

So you can see the similarities between Controlled Fatigue Training and Lean Hybrid Muscle Training. Both programs have as a core concept, the idea that when it comes to weight training, if you want to see real results, then moderation is for pussies. You’ve got to push yourself to your limits and beyond. The repeated intense, brutal onset of physical stress brought on by training programs like CFT and Lean Hybrid Muscle forces our bodies to adapt by increasing their capacity to utilize fuel and resist fatigue-switching the body into “survival mode.” Once these triggers have been activated, it stimulates a profound anabolic effect that enables us to survive in times of high physical stress or danger by increasing our strength, speed and velocity while maintaining optimum body composition ratios.