In his book, High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way, Mike states that he performs barbell rows parallel to the floor pulling to the sternum. Doing a Mike Mentzer heavy duty program - Bodybuilding.com In my opinion you can even make better results on Heavy Duty than you can using steroids, guru58 December 6, 2020, 5:17pm 2. The materials are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind either express or implied. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Mentzer mostly focused on a heavy-duty variation and this would require a weight that would take you to failure in between 6 and 9 reps. Mike Mentzer always wanted to stay in his best shape and he would often keep his training week down to 3 working days and 4 days for rest. The pros of this type of training are obvious more time off to allow the body to rest and recover. With all the other demands I had in my life at that time, I was really forced to do something about it. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Having recently done the program, I decided I would share my 2 cents. As per usual, though, goals dictate the effectiveness of a program. The website's content is not a substitute for direct, personal, professional medical care and diagnosis. freedom to become a more productive individual and enrich all areas of life. The insurgent 28-year-old Mentzer finished a controversial fifth, and, in the aftermath, retired. Calf raises 2 x 6-8 The materials are provided "as is" and without warranties of any kind either express or implied. Mike Mentzer Consolidation Routine: Workout A Sam Ernill 1.83K subscribers Subscribe 9.4K views 3 years ago Seminar video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8CXe. Leg curls 2 x 6-8 Compound pushing and pulling movements should be done in both vertical and horizontal planes, and compound lower body exercises should include both thigh dominant movements like squats and leg presses and hip dominant movements like deadlifts and trunk extensions. Creatine I asked him if perhaps exhaustionsuch as that experienced on the whole-body routinewas, then, truly a requisite for growth stimulation, bearing in mind Jones adage that unless you were made nauseous from a set of barbell curls, you didnt know what hard training was. ask you to try Heavy Duty--Mike Mentzer's routine that you've heard about a lot, give Finally, there is the research (National Strength & Conditioning Association) which shows that multiple sets are better for producing muscle gains than are single sets, which were found to be good for maintaining but not as hot for gaining. But you cant take that principle and blindly apply it to exercise and expect to get anything out of it.. Mike Mentzers once a week training philosophy was so unconventional that, to this very day, different bodybuilders hold radically different views on his approach. I really didn't give it that much thought. Mentzers training was based around intensity. , Mike states that he performs barbell rows parallel to the floor pulling to the sternum. I remember meeting my brother in the gym for one of our usual workouts. On this arm routine, Mentzers would hit a total of 7 different exercises. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I would just suggest that no matter what methods you use, you dont do more than four to six sets per bodypart, use strict form, train to failure, use forced reps occasionally and dont overtrain. On this leg routine, he performed 6 different exercises. On the other hand, the younger bodybuilders who reduced both the number of sessions per week (from 3 to 1) and the exercise volume (from 3 sets to 1) maintained their muscle size, while those who cut down to exercising once a week but maintained the exercise volume (3 sets) managed to increase their muscle size. This is, and isn't what high intensity heavy duty training is all about. For instance, rather than train Monday and Tuesday on a split routine, working half the body on Monday and the other half on TuesdayI would do the first half of the body on Monday, skip Tuesday to recuperate and then train on Wednesday, rest on Thursday and repeat the cycle again, starting on Friday. Your email address will not be published. I found him to be honest, intelligent and articulate. For the latest news and updates join our 1 Million fans on Facebook and Pinterest. Little is now available for phone consultations regarding Mentzers revolutionary Heavy Duty Training System. development I had but even then I was thinking; I'm going to lose everything that I worked so hard Mike Mentzer Consolidation Routine Mike Mentzer Workout Routine - Pros and Cons Mike Mentzer had one of the sharpest minds in the muscle game. Single leg extension (5 sets, 8-10 reps), 3. During the next two decades, Mike Mentzer created a lot of fuss with the unconventional training philosophy he wrote about in his Heavy Duty articles and which emphasized brief, intensive and infrequent workouts. Standing dumbbell shrug (5 sets, 8-10 reps), 5. I think it was the second day of a split-routine schedule, and we were both quite fatigued, apparently still not having recovered from the previous days workout. Divide your body parts into two workouts, and allow 48 hours between workouts. You're going to have to try something different like Heavy Duty to get different results. Then I might finish off with two sets of lying triceps extensions. Barbell preacher curl (5 sets, 8-10 reps), 7. All I know is my waist size has gone down Without question genetics played a huge role in providing the foundation for the muscular mass that Mike builtas he was the first to admit. Whereas Arthur Jones prescribed one 20-rep set per exercise, Mentzer lowered the ideal rep-range to 6-8. The study was suppose to be training one day a week not 3. Wed do that because wed meet on Wednesday morning or discuss it Tuesday night, and it was obvious that we were still tired, that the forced reps and the negatives wed done on Monday with our leg and the chest work, for instance, were so exhausting that we hadnt overcome the effects of the workout. He is known for being a fitness icon and he was known for his muscular shoulders. The first workout would be legs, chest and triceps; the second workout was back, shoulders and biceps. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, I thought I was your typical Mike Mentzer's High Intensity Weight Training - MotleyHealth Therefore, when answering a question like this, you should have some experience actually doing the program in question. using the wrong training systems. Derek: What made you decide to try Heavy Duty? That is, dont train so frequently so that you exceed your bodys ability to overcome the exhaustive effects of exercise and dont have enough recovery ability left over for growth., As always, Mikes words made perfect sense. his articles and it made perfect sense to me. The greatest representative of the old guard, Arnold Schwarzenegger, won. This is fine, however, an additional row targeting the lower lat area in addition to this movement would be useful so that the entire lat is hit. When you look the same from year in to year out and you're putting this much time in it's This is a Mike Mentzer Heavy Duty routine, circa 1979. Mentzer came from a well-educated home. Seated machine press (5 sets, 6-8 reps). While some truly believe he was a genius, others think he was completely crazy. Weight: 200.8 pounds Especially if you lift slowly, instead of quickly pumping out 12-15 mindless curls. One team of researchers tried to examine how muscle mass and strength were influenced by reducing the number of training sessions per week to one. Getting back to your question yeah, I heard about it Less time spent in the gym, and more time spent recovering and building muscle. INRAE center Clermont-Auvergne-Rhne-Alpes training, Body Contract-Duchaine's, Arnolds, Weider, POF, Periodization, non Periodization, go out and sometimes I'll now be bigger than the bouncer. Mike Mentzer High Intensity Training Information - Bodybuilding The brevity of the program is important for the following reasons: when you grow stronger as a result of your workouts, the stresses on your body . Observe how this differs from the "typical" chest routine you'll see in most gyms. Pushdowns 1 x 6-8 No mention of intensity in the study. For the record, you can read about my entire experience on the aforementioned program here: https://wildyakathletics.com/2020/12/27/review-of-my-last-8-weeks-of-training-october-22-december-22-2020/. I will do three progressive warm-up sets before each working set, which must be taken to failure. Being 41-years-old, I am not the ideal candidate for building a lot of new muscle, so this will be an interesting experiment. Besides, Mike explained, its very difficult to accurately assess your genetic potential. Mike Mentzer Routines - Heavy Duty Bodybuilding Heresy Sandows method uses weights to build the mind/nervous system/muscle-connection contraction feed back loop so that, if your lifting a 10lb dumbbell, with the isometric contraction added, inside your arm, it feels like your lifting a much heavier weight. I'm saying before you even look to anabolic steroids or to the Machine Pullover or Dumbbell and Cable Pullovers Together. Who was Mike Mentzer? Now I see that was wrong. type of anabolic in existence using outrageous quantities and this I've learned greatly Reports varied as to the actual size of his arms. "Has Anyone Gained Mass from Mentzer's Consolidation Routines?" Required fields are marked *. Train with more intensity and you will need less volume. But again, yes, I think mass gains can be acquired if you use this, or a similar routine. At the very least not only all the results you get using On this chest routine, Mike Mentzer performed 5 different exercises with an average of 5 sets. As Mike pointed out Login. Sam Ernill 1.83K subscribers Subscribe 8.6K views 3. Ali: Since I started 3 months ago I have gained 23 pounds of muscle, I look like I just went through a complete physical metamorphosis! Vitamin E Front barbell raise (5 sets, 8-10 reps) 5. effort, money, gym membership, supplements and buying every program with nothing in return? Mentzer liked the Nautilus side lateral machine (Arthur Jones created Nautilus), but you can use any lateral machine or dumbbells. He mentioned to me after Back. After speaking with Jones directly, Mike decided to switch back to a three-days-per-week whole-body routine, performing approximately five sets per bodypart in high-intensity fashion. Super greens. and use Heavy Duty protocol. We knew that recovery was important in terms of overall, or systemic, recovery. The important thing is when you make the switch The last workout I performed was a light full body workout on July 21, 2008. 2. Once you get adjusted with the weight you're lifting, try to increase it within this rep range. And there were times when we skipped even two days in between workouts72 hours. Biceps is the last body part in what is essentially a pull workoutback, traps, bicepsthough with the addition of deltoids. Mentzer's Ideal Routine. As men and even women for that matter age our hormone levels drop as we age making it harder and harder to do the things we once did say in our 20s as compared to my age now which is 64. At that time, most top-level bodybuilders had long training sessions that included more than 20 sets per body part, 5-6 days a week, and Mike thought they were doing it completely wrong. The Centre is part of a particularly dynamic ecosystem, within the second French . had even less exercises. Incline presses 1-2 x 6-8 Yes, I used this type of routine throughout my professional bodybuilding career, but the greatest gains I got from it was when, rather than following it on the usual four-out-of-seven-day schedule, I began spacing it so I trained every other day on a split routine. lose that by trying this radical system. Mikes forearms rippled as he carefully placed a pen on his desk and answered, That would be back, shoulders and biceps. Ali: Strength increases have been phenomenal, going up on major multi-joint exercises like Increasing the volume also increases the amount of recovery time need to make the gains needed. But Heavy Duty endured. Ali: Since I started 3 months ago I have gained 23 pounds of muscle, I look like Single leg Extension: 5 sets 8-10 reps. I recently did one of Mike Mentzers consolidation programs (the variation with 2 days per week, 3 exercises each day) combined with the recommended 4-2-4 tempo and gained 10 lbs in 8 weeks. for 7 years which was very minimal or miniscule to say the very least and I thought I was going to All of a sudden it occurred to me that it would be useless to train with anything less than all-out intensitysince that was required to induce maximum growth stimulation. Mike Mentzers workout philosophy was adopted by Dorian Yates, who won six Mr. Olympia titles in the 1990s. Met-rx meal replacement drink Beta Alanine I had originally thought of doing bench presses instead of dips, but I will follow the program to the letter as outlined in Mentzers Underground Seminar video. These muscle groups are often stubborn to grow because in compound exercises the bigger, stronger muscles take on most of the work. The routine I followed was the essential basic Heavy Duty routine consisting of four to five sets per bodypart and broken into two workouts, he began. The formula is: brief training, intense training, infrequent training, he said. . Here is Mike Mentzer's shoulder routine: 1. Mike was smart in using compound movements like the deadlift, dip and squat to make the most of the minimal time he recommended. Overhead cable triceps extension (5 sets, 8-10 reps), 4. Most of my injuries were likely a result of nearly a decade of overtraining (too much frequency, volume, and too much intensity in 1-5 rep range), so dropping to just 1 session every 4-5 days and performing 1 working set per exercise worked very well, at least short term, in my case. You would think it would only be half, but apparently, after a certain point, in terms of volume of training, the exhaustive effects grow geometrically as opposed to arithmetically. enhances recovery ability. (And there is much merit in that approach.) ANALYSIS: A pre-exhaust superset for chest: flyes before presses. I was just Mike trained about 500 clients using this method and the gains were not just good but dramatic with clients gaining 20 to 30 pounds in a 3 month period. Mentzers high-intensity has influenced other training programs, like Doggcrapp and Max-OT. Or do you spend hours sitting at Have you ever considered the significance of grip strength in your overall fitness journey? Also note that he does squats after the leg extension and leg press superset. Emmy Wallin is a writer for Jacked Gorilla. Mike, however, broke with Jones program as a result of personal experience. Hes not asking if anyone thinks, hypothetically, if its possible to gain mass on the program. All my other friends [are] as impressed we'll Yes Robert you are right on the money. Mentzer began lifting when he was only 12 years old, and by the age of 15, he could bench over 350 pounds. It wasnt the long-term recovery that was required. Your email address will not be published. Single leg hamstring curls (5 sets, 8-10 reps), 5. Do your last warmup with approximately 75% of your working weight and stop before reaching failure. figured that this is like anything else in the world, you just model what the majority of Incline barbell bench press (5 sets, 6-8 reps). I wouldn't believe it or I didn't want to believe it. Mike Mentzer's Perfect Consolidated Workout - Day 1 Today is Day 1 of my experiment with Mike Mentzer's Perfect Consolidated workout. The website's content is not a substitute for direct, personal, professional medical care and diagnosis. None of this is to be deemed as health, fitness, or medical advice in any way, shape, or form. Your central nervous system becomes fatigued which eventually weakens your immune system which leads you more susceptible to illness). Bent-over barbell rows 2 x 6-8, Traps And his pairing of the exercises is brilliant as well. It is also hard for some trainees to summon the intensity necessary to make the workout successful in only a single set. Standing dumbbell curl (5 sets, 8-10 reps), 6. Mike Mentzer Consolidation Routine Over Training ), there's a routine called The Consolidation Routine, which consists of the following: Workout A One set Squats One set Close-grip, Palms-Up Pulldowns rest 5-7 days Workout B One set Regular Deadlifts One set Dips rest 5-7 days I would like to preface this interview first by thanking Ali Ahadpour for his testimonial. Maybe they are afraid, have some fear or are skeptical even though they see Mike Mentzer's Old School "Most Productive" 2 Day Split Routine - Substack because my metabolism has increased. Other than that, I will drink them when Im pressed for time. Workout 2 Squats 8-15 reps Reverse-grip lat pulldown 6-10 reps . The main legs workout is repeated. Mike Mentzer said of his workout routine, "The routine I followed was the essential basic Heavy Duty routine consisting of four to five sets per body part and broken into two workouts - The first workout would be legs, chest, and triceps; the second workout was back, shoulders and biceps. Mike thought for a moment and raised his ham of an arm to scratch an itch on his opposite shoulder. Derek: How about your friends, what has been their reaction? The information contained within is not intended to provide specific health advice, or any other advice whatsoever, for any individual or company and should not be relied upon in that regard. Walking dumbbell lunge (5 sets, 8-10 reps), 6. Nautilus pullovers 2 x 6-8 No, he said, it was the immediate response, the immediate fatigue. Whether or not the body fat calculation is accurate, at least Im getting consistent readings and have a point of reference by which I can monitor my progress. Dips 1 x 6-8 Five years later in 1976, Mentzer would go on to win Mr. America with his revamped high-intensity training program. He saw right away it led to overtraining for the majority. Mike Mentzer Consolidation Routine: 2 Month results! But if youre looking to maximize your physique potential, you need to use exercises that directly target each muscle groupat least some of the time throughout a training year. Even today Mike is considered to have had one of the greatest builds of all time and validated once and for all HIT. After he retired, Mentzer prescribed increasingly lower volumeeventually as little as only one or two all-out sets per body part every two weeks! I help people achieve their health and wellness goals through simple, time efficient programming that emphasizes a balanced approach to improving general fitness, while bringing out the inner athlete in us all. Your conclusion for the older group of 60 to 75 year old trainees makes no sense at all. ANALYSIS: Here we see the first of Mentzers pre-exhaust supersets: leg extensions before leg presses. Considering the lack of science-based knowledge, supplements and the variety of elaborate training techniques we have today, that win was a huge accomplishment that launched Mike's future career. None of the suggestions (including exercise, diet, products or services) mentioned should be performed or otherwise used without clearance from your physician or health care provider. If they find its too exhausting, try the four-day. Finally, I asked Mike to summarize his experience for the benefit of all those bodybuilders looking to build mass. To maximize recuperation, workouts follow the push-pull system: pushing muscles one workout, pulling muscles the other workout. But it was obvious that due to our general exhaustion we hadnt even recovered our overall systems energies and so forthlet alone grown. It is probably the case that performing one se to less than failure once a week will not produce much in the way of strength or muscle gains. This article is from 2003 to read a more updated article on how Mike Mentzer had a Heavy Duty mindest and workout regime Click Here, He stood only 58 yet packed 215 pounds of rock-solid muscle on his frame. Once again just like Mentzer stated you are falling into the trap that many body builders are confused in that the more is better like more money is better, more women are better, taking more s******s is better! Legs are given a. little more reps than the upper body. In 1986 I was living in Canada and searching for answers concerning the ultimate truth of bodybuilding, and I set out to interview those who, in my estimation, had tried to decipher this Rosetta stone themselves. The body needs time to recover as a whole, not just the specific bodypart that was trained. More like 5 or more if you really want to be at your strongest. Look at But as his shape and health deteriorated throughout the 90s, Mike lost a big part of his followers. She is a young Swedish girl from Uppsala, who is currently traveling around the world. When 19-year-old Casey Viator won the 1971 Mr. America after training HIT-style under Arthur Jones tutelage it caused a sensation in the bodybuilding world. It's insane to keep doing the same thing and expect to get different results. A proper training protocol should have been about 3 different exercise of one set each in a high intensity method of taking each set to failure once every 7 days. You are reading opinions only. I knew that hed been all over the board in terms of sets and reps throughout his early career, starting out with a whole-body workout performed three days per week, on which he gained no less than 70 pounds over three years, bringing his bodyweight up from 95 pounds at age 12 to 165 pounds at 15. Ive been lifting 12+ years, but was coming off 3 years of dealing with some hip injuries. Now I see that this is exactly how much time it takes for the body to recover from high intensity training The solution is beautifully presented in Mike's writings on Heavy Duty. Single leg hamstring Curl: 5 sets 8-10 reps. Barbell squats: 5 sets 6-8 reps. Just by using a very simple, concise and When Mike Mentzer was asked how big they were at one of his seminars, he responded with characteristic wryness, Very big., I once asked Mike what his arms had taped at their largest, and his answer startled me: About 18 1/2 inches. I was incredulous. Derek: What was your initial reaction when Mike first outlined the Heavy Duty workout? That would be it.. After legs Id move on to chest for one to two supersets of dumbbell flyes or pec deck and incline barbell presses. As we age we should be training less but not more.