High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way (NTC SPORTS/FITNESS)

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Mike was truly ahead of his times, the book felt like reading something modern, so many notions turned out to be true, truly a thinker and philosopher, what a great man all around, I truly admire him. https://youtube.com/watch?v=oG_aCnrVeuI Video can’t be loaded because JavaScript is disabled: Mike and Ray Mentzer train Boyer Coe (HIT) (https://youtube.com/watch?v=oG_aCnrVeuI) In his last interview before his death, Mentzer said he was delighted to get so many phone clients and close personal bodybuilding friends, such as Markus Reinhardt, who had been influenced by him to become Objectivists. He described Objectivism as the best philosophy ever devised. He also criticized the philosophy of Immanuel Kant, which he described as an "evil philosophy," because according to him Kant set out to destroy man's mind by undercutting his confidence in reason. He also criticized the teaching of Kantianism in schools and universities and said it's very difficult for an Objectivist philosopher with a PhD to get a job in any of the universities. [13] Final years and death [ edit ] To go beyond failure, do pre-exhaust supersets. For example, do a set of dips immediately after triceps extensions. Jones pioneered the principles of high-intensity training in the late 1960s. He emphasized the need to maintain perfectly strict form, move the weights in a slow and controlled manner, work the muscles to complete failure (positive and negative), and avoid overtraining. Casey Viator saw fantastic results training under the direction of Jones, and Mentzer became very interested in this training philosophy. [11] Eventually, however, Mentzer concluded that even Jones was not completely applying his own principles, so Mentzer began investigating a more full application of them. He began training clients in a near-experimental manner, evaluating the perfect number of repetitions, exercises, and days of rest to achieve maximum benefits. [8]

Mentzer started bodybuilding when he was 11 years old at a body weight of 95lb (43kg) after seeing the men on the covers of several muscle magazines. His father had bought him a set of weights and an instruction booklet. The booklet suggested that he train no more than three days a week, so Mike did just that. By age 15, his body weight had reached 165lb (75kg), at which Mike could bench press 370lb (170kg) [ citation needed]. Mike's goal at the time was to look like his bodybuilding hero, Bill Pearl. After graduating high school, Mentzer served four years in the United States Air Force. It was during this time he started working out over three hours a day, six days a week. [4]I started receiving Zen instruction around the time I started weight-lifting. It was so strange because in Zen you are encouraged to focus on action and the body whereas Mike Mentzer in this book about weight-lifting is telling you to focus on your mind. It’s a great combination. All are welcome here but this sub is intended for intermediate to advanced lifters, we ask that beginners utilize the weekly and daily discussion threads for your needs. By working yourself to absolute muscular exhaustion, doing the most damage you can to your tissues while staying out of the hospital, then taking 4-7 days off, you give yourself plenty of time to recover and avoid the risk of the dreaded (semimythical) CNS fatigue, which leads to overtraining, catabolism, bad dreams, income inequality, world hunger, climate change, whatever.

This is a book about becoming a multi-dimensional human being. It will teach you about weight-lifting principles and work-outs, but it is so much more than that. Calorie counting, which is still the most common form of dieting for competition, was still a rarity among competitors, but Mentzer was one of the exceptions. Before the 1979 Mr. Olympia — where Mentzer would win the heavyweight division — Mentzer employed a very straightforward approach to his diet. First, he neutered the Junior Mr. America and earned first place at 190 pounds. Then, he took third at the 1975 Mr. America, stepping on stage cut at 195. He placed behind Roger Callard and Robby Robinson. Mentzer's empirical answer? Go balls-to-the-wall in the gym to the point of absolute muscular failure. If muscle increases size through repairing these microtears, make as many microtears as you can by pushing yourself to your physical limit. This is the premise of high-intensity training. Then, once you've done your whopping 25 minutes of 2 agonizing sets to failure per body part? Go home for a week. Don't come to the gym for 7 days. Read a book. A philosophy book. Start a salsa company. Hug your dog. Get a hobby that doesn't involve having the fellas oil you up. Cultivate your mind.

With gyms re-opening I wanted to find a new way to weight train, while moving away from standard "bro" splits but something familiar enough that I could supplement my knowledge of weight training with it. It doesn't disappoint I came in looking for good advice from a legend, and was left with more knowledge and a new outlook on how I train.

Man’s proper stature is not one of mediocrity, failure, frustration, or defeat, but one of achievement, strength, and nobility. In short, man can and ought to be a hero.” Mentzer advocates doing only 1 set of each exercise and training that set to failure with maximum intensity. But why is 1 set more rational than 2? If 1 is better than 0, why is 2 worse than 1? In school and later in university, Mentzer distinguished himself by virtue of his remarkable grades. He was a top student, one whose ultimate goal was to become a psychiatrist. Before embarking on that pathway, however, Mentzer threw himself into amateur bodybuilding. ( 5) Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Bill Dobbins. The new encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding (Simon and Schuster, 1998), 205.Oversimplification aside, the passages in Mentzer’s works were emblematic of his drive to verify everything for himself. This also affected his training style — he initially trained like everyone else before discovering that a high-intensity approach yielded better results. Mentzer helped revolutionize bodybuilding training when, along with Jones and later Dorian Yates, he promoted an all-out intensity approach in training. Mentzer was a man unconcerned with what others expected of him. His books on bodybuilding, like Heavy Duty, were littered with philosophical passages and encouraged readers to think deeply. Mentzer's training courses (books and audio tapes), sold through bodybuilding magazines, were extremely popular, beginning after Mentzer won the 1978 IFBB Mr. Universe contest. This contest gathered a lot of attention, because at it he became the first bodybuilder ever to receive a perfect 300 score from the judges. Some time later, Mentzer attracted more attention when he introduced Dorian Yates to high-intensity training, and put him through his first series of workouts in the early '90s. [8] Yates went on to win the Mr. Olympia six consecutive times, from 1992 to 1997. Mike Mentzer was born on November 15, 1951, in the Germantown section of Philadelphia and was of German descent. In grammar school and Ephrata High School, he received "all A's." He credits his 12th grade teacher, Elizabeth Schaub, for his "love of language, thought, and writing." In 1975, he started attending the University of Maryland as a pre-med student where his hours away from the gym were spent in the study of "genetics, physical chemistry, and organic chemistry." After three years of study at the University of Maryland he dropped out. He said his ultimate goal during that period was to become a psychiatrist. [4] [5] Bodybuilding career [ edit ] Amateur [ edit ] The above video, featuring Mentzer training Boyer Coe, is rather clinical and stunted. Focus, however, on the content — he pushes one set to all-out failure. This, he believed, made the muscle grow.

The book breaks down the high intensity system into details. However, sometimes it seems to be hard to see what is the recommended system to use. Mentzer himself trained two hours per week - four thirty-minute workout - before Mr. Olympia, but the consolidated program seems to be much less than that. Neverhteless, the book is very helpful in explain the high-intensity system. Mike Mentzer was the big man before Arnie came onto the bodybuilding scene. He is as much philosopher as he is bodybuilder and his ideas on the mind/body balance have been pivotal in the way many of the great bodybuilders operate. His ideas on intensity and speed being one of the most important aspects of the workout have evolved my routine to great benefit. If you like your slow, steady, grinding workouts, don;t read this book. Read more

From 1990 until 2001, Mentzer once more became a recognizable expert on high-intensity training. He wrote multiple articles, created several training videos, and in part helped influence Dorian Yates’ Olympia training.