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Dr Mike, I just started doing the Thor routine. Tried walking barbell lunges for the 1st time, holy muscle activation. I do 245 high bar squats, I had to use 95lbs for the lunges. Absolutely insane pump, my quads feel like I had liquid metal injected into them.
Mentzer is still so popular today, not because of the exaggerations he talked about, but because no one before him laid out the three cornerstones of bodybuilding training so clearly and comprehensibly - intensity, volume and recovery.
@NorthernIrelandConflictDorian yate didnt even follow mike mentzer HIT training, hell mike mentzer didnt even follow his own training, yate did train hard using some stuff taken from heavy duty training but overhall it was so different that you might actually just call his training high volume high intensity, no research ever found mentzer to be right, and if you dont believe me try it, do 6 month of mentzer training, see how much you gain, and after 6 month switch to proper high volume training, do between 10 and 20 set to failure per muscle group per week, 2 minute rest time between set, no superset or anything fancy, train each muscle 2-3 time a week, and see if mentzer is lying or every serious study about muscle hyperthrophy is
Agreed for western philosophy. But Bulgarians had figured out manipulating micro-periodization that took into account the factors of volume, intensity, and rest… long before the 70s and 80s. Same with the Russians.
@@kdeb92968 No they want to do ENOUGH. And today take STEROIDS away and nobody would be able to train 6 days a week and make any meaningful progress. The body needs TIME to properly recover and grow optimally. And the problem is naturals watch roiders doing too much volume. And when they copy them they get no results. And most give up or go on roids.
I was a phone client of Mike’s about 30 years ago and we talked about every 2 weeks on the phone, and exchanged the data from the workouts. It’s incredible how strong you get, and how strong you continue to get. If your numbers start stalling, he would just have me take another couple of days off before the next workout for more recuperation, and it always worked. The last we spoke I was working out once every 10 days and the results were fantastic. I miss the conversations with him and I’m glad people are still talking about him. You don’t have to agree with everything he said, but he was a brilliant man who took it very serious, and got his body to a world-class level. Glad to see him mentioned here. 💪💪💪
@Mantastic-ho3vm Why is he lying? Is it not believable? Personally since starting mentzer's style of training my reps have gone up almost every workout without fail! What's so hard to believe?
@Mantastic-ho3vm Which part of it is just dubious claims? LOL. Thousands of people used mentzer's approach and still are using it to get fantastic results. I personally have been recording my reps since I started training infrequently and with extremely low volume and my reps have gone up!
I'm new to it, and I'm a woman, but I will say that I'm on week 2 day 2 and even though I'm up 2lbs, I'm down an inch in my belly. I'm up 2 inches in my hips, 1 in my thighs, and .5in in my arms. As long as I can tighten up, I'm happy. If I end up with a large layer of fat over these muscles, then I'll be pissed
@@namaste348just make sure you eat accordingly based on the amount of exercise you do. You will be doing less overall exercise, so you don't have to eat as many calories.
@@hunterwaits408 Arnold was just a better bodybuilder and had better genetics, greatest chest and biceps ever, maurice's physique is beaten by any top 5 classic physique these days, the guy had no back, trained like a lazy fuck but still got results because of all the steroids, was a depressed alcooholic, and cried about his loss to Arnold that was deserved.
I dont know man , Ive been doing Mike Mentzer program for a year now, Iam 35 - been going to the gym since 16. I have NEVER looked so buff and jacked in my entire life, and I feel great. It feels really weird tho by only training every 5 days or so like 15-20 mins. But it works for ME, so Iam sticking to it 🙏 .
I tried Mentzers stuff for like a month. Instantly saw results and I'm surprised that the "less is more" to a degree actually gave me more strength in a such a short amount of time.
Same here and year older than you. Did 20kg gain in 1 year, NATTY! Half was HV then did HIT. HIT gains in strength eclipse the HV approach, look better, rest better, feel better, muscles more defined etc. I had 7 years prior experience and 10 years off. Mentzer is the way to go IMO just tailor for your body and use modern dieting. It's the GOAT approach.
Yup, same here. I’ve trained the modern higher volume methods for over 12 years with correct periodization, program variations, etc. Threw out everything I thought I knew, read Mentzer’s books and followed to a T. Cut my training back to 2-3 times a week 1 set to ALL OUT balls to the wall failure and I’ve seen more progress in the past 4 months than in the past 2 years combined. It was hard for me to break away from the modern dogma as I have a science background and was almost married to methods Dr Mike spoke about but the results are undeniable. Everything Mentzer explained in his book just made sense scientifically. It’s clear from the recent criticisms that people still don’t truly understand how to train heavy duty style. Most people do not train any where close to the level of intensity Mentzer recommends. I’m making progress on every workout and will continue to follow the HIT method.
The more people work out the more money their is for the industry. That means more stuff they can sell you, more payment for trainers, and more need for gyms. Triple the work out time means triple the volume. A healthy regimen means significantly less money for the industry.
Ive been training for 4 years now. On year 3 I started adapting Mike Mentzers routine. In my first 2 MONTHS of doing 3 days a week 1 set a body part 4-5 exercises, I put on over 150 pounds on my leg extension. Never in my life of training 6x a week have I ever seen such a thing. On all other bodyparts I continued to get stronger and stronger as-well. His method 100% works, I would advise anyone who's looking to switch up their routine to train the Mentzer way.
@@jakobkristensen2390i think it's like for chest, he would do 1 set of incline press, 1 set off flies,1 set of flat press, 1 set of dips and 1 set of decline press. Something like that i think
There's no secret to this. If you train mainly with intensity it's no surprise that you'll make insane strength gains as this is the main component when it comes to building strength. It's very much suboptimal for pure muscle growth. Now if you train you'll gain muscle regardless if you take steroids as we saw with mentzer. But for natural guys. You're gonna want to pick one, strength or muscle. For myofribillar growth (strength gains), you're gonna want high intensity low rep and low set training. For pure muscle growth you'll want high volume, medium-high intensity but still low enough to where you can get between 8-15 reps. This will cause sarcoplasm hypertrophy. Which is a sure fire way to get muscle growth. Probably not a good idea to train like a powerlifter as a bodybuilder. Mike taught during a time where exercise science was not nearly as evolved. What he's teaching is not anything surprising to anyone with a basic comprehension of exercise science. This is kind of like saying, "High intensity cardio is the fastest way to increase cardiovascular fitness!" Gee wow I had no idea! He taught the basics, and this is great for anyone that's starting out into the realm of exercise. But once you get to a higher level, you're definitely gonna have to search beyond mentzer to find some decent knowledge.
All this dude does is put popular peoples names in the headline for clicks to sell ad space he doesn’t know anything more than them his physique isn’t particularly impressive for having all the answers
What I’m saying been lifting since I was 13 years old and his techniques are solid. I think what’s different is peoples diet processed oil has destroyed people’s hormones so they will never achieve peak fitness as fast as before
@@dannyg1252the people that don’t believe in Mikes program eat wheat and soy protein isolate powder. I wouldn’t think to say their test levels are dropping but it’s because of what they consume requires them to workout 5-6 times a week to obtain the growth I get from working out every 4 days. Mike is right and I know he is because it works for me and I’ve seen much more growth than I ever have before and I only eat as pure as I can without the protein powder as well (fairlife milk is a godsend). I only use olive/coconut(rarely) oil and stay away from soy and processed oils and I was the healthiest and exponentially strongest person in my high school when I was in high school. To this day I still believe processed ingredients do some unknown trickery to people’s bodies and my peers around me compared to my growth and general health seem to be a perfect representation of that.
"do not worry about your individual potential. potential is only the expression of a possibility, something that can be assessed accurately only in retrospect". that is one of the most profound statements ive ever heard. also please review the rest of the video.
I was struggling as a lean person. I tried Weider's method, believing working out for ages in the gym was the best. Then I met someone in the gym who had an amazing body and never spent more than 30 mins in the gym, (he did underwear modelling). I asked him what he did. He put me on to Mike Mentzer. After following Mentzer's basic routine, I grew more in that first month than any other time in training. Mentzer's method definitely works for me.
@@Felled-angel check paul carter and chris beardleys podcasts. its because researchers dont care so much about fatigue. just stimulus. it doesnt matter if 15 sets for a muscle provides greater stimulus, if your recovery gets tripled or even higher in time. getting 70-80% of the stimulus in just 2-5 sets but your fatigue is much lower, letting you workout again in 24-72hrs as apposed to the 15 sets not being recoverable for 6-10 days. hopefully that makes sense. its like the tortoise and the hare type of situation on muscle growth.
@@jccoachingpodcast7517 Most studies are done with 2-3 workouts per muscle per week and then measure muscle growth at the end, so no they are not only working out every 6-10 days. Hope that makes sense
@@mekelopte7071 thumbnail takes a direct shot at him for being "outdated", very first exercise the straight bar bicep curl $h1ts on it immediately, did you watch the video?
@@ngatiwarrior6975 That's because some things are, in fact, outdated, That doesn't mean Mike's training is bad, it's just impossible to create a training program that won't become outdated over time as new scientific evidence emerges. He also praises the good parts, which shows a balanced perspective. If you think he hates Mike just because he points out some outdated aspects in his training, you are delusional.
I once convinced my friend to do 10 sets of 20 squats cause that's what Tom Platz (supposedly) did. I didn't know what weights Tom used so I just loaded 100 kg for him. He made it to the 14th rep of set 2, called me an asshole and went home. :'D
I am still a big Mike mentzer fan. I read his books when I was 20. His biggest contribution was to tell people to train hard but in short sessions. This countered the nonsense that Arnold was a purveyor of. Which was being in a gym 24 hours a week. Mike showed people you could get results on a few hours per week. I like that Dr. Mike, despite his criticisms from a modern context, still gave a lot of credit to Jones/Mentzer.
We do need both. Especially for newbie gains, take all the recovery you like or need, but do have a good one when you go to the gym. For pros on gear, yeah the sky's the limit. There is no single "best" program. Just what works for you.
I think another great thing that Mentzer helped bring to light is recovery. Not only is training 24h/week bad because of all the junk volume and risk of injury, but it also ignores the importance of proper recovery
Common misconception. Arnold wasn't in the gym 24 hours a week. He actually trained a fairly normal routine but overtrained during his contest prep because it burned fat and they believed at the time it gave them more detail. Sergio Oliva and Serge Nubret in particular both trained with more volume than Arnold.
People put so much effort into making it seem like Mike didn't know what he was talking about. I don't get it. He looked awesome & competed at the highest level. He provided very sound reasoning for his arguments. He achieved more than most ever will. Are they jealous of his physique? What else is there to be upset about? Why are there so many comments talking about how effective Mike's programming is? Something isn't right.
It just shows that the so called "science" isn't always right. Mike Mentzer had a far better physique than Dr Israetel. I don't think that he thought this one through.
Because you can’t produce reams and reams of RU-vid content if the answer is simple and right in front of your face. Yeah, RP is overly dismissive with this video.
I starred training following Mike Mentzer’s principles and I made a ton of progress. I have trained for several years before and discussed training plans and methods with many people but Mentzer was really the one who helped me by far the most.
Another video highlighting the difference between hypothesis and conclusion. I wish Mentzer had lived long enough to see exercise science answer some of his ideas.
Would've been great if he could've shut these so called "scientists" up who can not and never have known what true failure is. Their subjects just don't go to failure. They have videos on YT where they demonstrate going to failure and it's pathetic. Looks like 3-4 reps in the bank. I'm wasting less time in the gym, having more results the Mentzer way and nothing can deny that. It's sustainable and I've got time left for other hobbies. Obviously thick meatheads find it hard to adjust something they've done their whole lives.
His (super hardcore) fans seem to give him a bad reputation. He's incorrect on things he couldn't know. Has some clean takes on topics that were known about in his time.
That part about load progression instead of adding a rep was a lightbulb moment for me. Thank you Dr. Mike, I can look past your many addictions out of respect for the knowledge you have dispensed
Same. I've been stuck trying to add a rep but one thing I haven't tried is actually adding a tiny 2.5 or 5lbs plate. Gonna try it soon after my rest days
@Ashok_Regiment yeah exactly, a percentage is probably not the right way of looking at it. Adding a 405 rep is lifting 405lbs more, adding 5lbs to every rep is only adding 30lbs
The more I lean towards the Mentzer mentality and workout program the more progress I see. Getting big is about pure strength and power, it isn’t an endurance test. I love the guy. Mentzer rocks.
how is that going for you? I just started yesterday with the ideal routine.
3 месяца назад
@@dextermorgan7764 been at it for about 5 months never going back , the moment you have that holy fk moment after not being in the gym for 8 days , you'll never forget it
I bought Mike's books when he 1st published them. It was through mail order. He even sent a beautiful signed black and white 8x10 photo of his classic pose. I was a teenager and quickly dove into his training methodology. It was an amazing experience. The main problem I kept having was overtraining in 6-8 weeks. I would then stop working out and my momentum was lost. Over the years, I have continued to use certain aspects of HIT combined with many of the things pointed out in this video. Logging my workouts have been the greatest help in avoiding overtraining, injury, or stagnation. Good job pointing out the pros and cons.
Bump because mail order is so crucial to understanding the era. It's like that era's Patreon. Every main guy from this era has a "system" because that's how you put a tiny ad in the back of a magazine to get people to send you money. That doesn't mean the system was bad. But it was packaged with an audience in mind. Even if the science hadn't changed, if Mentzer was alive today and talking to today's audience where gym culture is so much more common, he'd package it a different way.
I’m glad you recognize that Mike Mentzer is talking about this stuff 30-40 years ago, and how he didn’t have the amount of research available to him. It’s very easy to critique a 40 year old video with outdated ideas and mock it. But the thing that continues to draw me back to Mentzer is the pearls of wisdom that are sprinkled throughout his commentaries. We know the heavy duty program is mostly only suitable for initial gains or as an occasional curve ball to a higher volume training. Mentzer was very much right when it comes to diet and steady state cardio, well before the rest of the industry came along to those things.
Mike was a con artist and a meth user. He built his physique with high volume training like everyone else in that time. I'm sure every body builder from then had more than a couple things right.
@@BennyParcher Go to your music collection or maybe your book shelf, and throw away all of the creations made by guys on opium, meth, cocaine. See how much is left. The meth thing is irrelevant. I don’t look at Thomas Edison’s career and think, “forget all these revolutionary innovations, the man was on coke.”
@@BennyParcherone sentence in and you’re already lying 😂 do you know the difference between methamphetamines and amphetamines which Menzter was prescribed lmao
Critique HIT all you want but it helped me get over plateaus and I saw more gains with it than with marathon training sessions. I first did a phone consulting session with Mentzer back in 1992-93 and even though I only paid for 30 minutes Mike gave me 50 minutes of great advice that saved me a lot of money on supplements and wasting time being in the gym too often and for too long. I think HIT stands the test of time.
Mike Menzner was the only Mr. Olympia with a perfect score of 300. Standing corrected, he won the Mr. Olympia in 1980, and got the 300 in 1978 in the Mr. Universe. My takeaway is to give it everything you have in your target set will require ultimate effert, followed by needing more recovery time, and governing you more results.
Hyperbole does not make a good argument. I have taken 7 days off between arm days for the last two months and in that 6 weeks i have seen noticeable growth in my arms and have increased the weight I can move week over week. That is good enough for me.
I tried his method on Friday and today Sunday I can feel muscles I never felt before and can barely move my arms. I've been working out since 15 and I'm 51. His method works at least for me.
1 set made you feel muscles you've never felt from 36 yrs of lifting? Are all these comments BS? Had you never lifted to failure before? Is this some weird Metzger cult or something?
I've tried a bunch of different programs, but the one that really worked for me is Mike Manser's Heavy Duty program. It's a shame to see people criticizing someone who has genuinely helped others. For me, it's the best program, and I'll never switch.
@@patitix22I do 4 days a week 1 set per exercise. Monday: shoulders (front and side delts) and triceps, Tuesday: Back and rear delts, Wednesday: Off, Thursday: Chest and Biceps, Friday: Legs and abs, Saturday and Sunday: Off.
Dr. Mike’s explanation on why it’s probably better to add weight incrementally and keeping the same reps vs keeping the same weight and trying to add another rep is an excellent example of why I watch this channel.
Mikes workout regime is amazing still today. Less time at the gym more Intense sessions. Being at the gym 24/7 is the fools mentality that only constantly working out gives results, that is false. People who constantly workout cannot recover, thus the need for “enhancements” workout hard give yourself time to recover to come back with even more strength. Mike has trained some of the best bodybuilders and they all said they gained more muscle/strength.
I saw all these comments saying dont care if you say it works or not, it worked for. Been doing it for two weeks now, man im getting stronger, i dont know what to say, ive done 5x5, ive done 10x3 ive done high weekly volume, everything, everything!! and at 43 years old, this is working. Very interesting. Some days Im doing just one set per muscle. Depends how hard I hit it in that set. Sometimes two sets. But I am getting cray results. Legs are shaking, like it is brutal to say to yourslef "I have this one set to spark hypertrophy" but boy, you can and you should.
if you hate volume follow menzter. thats really what turned me on to him in my 20s. now im 49 and i still generally use his advise to keep weight lifting short and sweet and safe. all of my weight lifting injuries over the years have happened in the 4th or 5th set of over doing an exercise when i new i should have stopped.
I try and keep an eye out for when I have a really good pump, and when my reps start to get shaky. If I've done enough that I'm shaky on the first rep of a set, especially if that happens after I get a good pump, I know that I've worked that muscle enough and call it.
I did volume training for years and it wore my body down... when I switched to HIT style training, I had the best gains I've had in years... had little to no injuries, and had way more time to spend with friends and family.
Let's face it, as much of a fan of Arnold that I have been.. Arnold's best physiques were in '72, '74, and '75. 1980? He was a shadow of himself, his physical condition was Hollywood shape, not bodybuilding shape. The sport had moved beyond him. The best physique that day belonged to Mentzer, not Arnold. He pulled out all the stops to ensure a seventh win. He allegedly trained for eight weeks to return to competition. If he had started two years, a year and a half, a year before competition...it would not have been so bitterly disputed. Eight weeks after a five year retirement? No one buys that. No one.
1. Mentzer categorized exercise into two different categories: aerobic exercise (high volume and low intensity exercises like running) and anaerobic exercises (low volume and high intensity exercises like lifting weights). By saying high intensity exercise is the optimal way of growth, he is absolutely right. 2. I think this video might be a little old because he says that large muscles should be worked first. However, in his ideal routine workout in his latest book, deadlifts are the last exercise to do in his chest/back workout session, and in his arms/shoulders session, dips are the last exercise, which is the most demanding one in the program. He was always improving his style of training as he gained more experience over time. 3. Also, the day before he died, he was shooting a video of training a client which you can find online. You can see that he used multiple sets of light weights to warm up his client instead of stretching. So, I guess again, this video is old and outdated. 4. Mentzer always included compound movements in his programs. For example, in his first session, you'll do flyes + incline bench (which works pecs, shoulders, and triceps), reverse grip pulldowns (which works biceps, lats, and shoulders), and deadlifts (which works glutes, hamstrings, core, back, and traps). In his arms/shoulders day, you'll do lateral raises and bent-over raises for the shoulders and rear delts, barbell curls for the biceps, and tricep pressdowns + dips (which works triceps, shoulders, chest, and lats). So, you'll target almost all of your upper body muscles in each session, and it would be an overlap if you don't take a considerable amount of rest between them. Also, since he used to go beyond failure with heavier weights, you should be completely rested to be able to put out your maximum effort. As you said, Mentzer was a dope guy, and if you improve his training style a little bit (as he would have done himself over time), it works very well. It's worked for a lot of people, including myself.
@@Rob-qn6od I started bodybuilding less than a year ago, so I'm not yet jacked, but I've made extremely good progress. I was extremely weak and fat, and I couldn't even do a single pushup. However, I started doing 15kg barbell curls around 10 reps, and now I can easily do +10 reps with 30kg weights. I can also do at least 20 pushups, but I haven't tried to do more than 10 yet because it's not in my routine and it would be overtraining if I do so. I suggest you try this program for at least a month. If you don't see any results, you can come back to me and say whatever racial/sexual slur you want. Here's what you need to do: * If you're on steroids, you'll need to take 2-3 days off between workouts. If you're natural, you'll need 4-7 days of rest. * If you've already been working out, take some rest days and then start the program. * Choose a weight that allows you to do 8 reps without assistance and in a slow and controlled manner with full range of motion. * Also, you'll need a spotter to help you with assisted reps (they'll help you raise the weight, and you'll lower it slowly and under control). * I personally work out at home, so all you need for this program is a set of dumbbells, a barbell, an incline and flat bench, and a rope press/pulldown machine (I welded a roller pulley to my roof and use a rope + normal weights). If you don't have machines for legs like me, just do a set of squats instead. I take a multivitamin+minerals and ~5 grams of creatine and eat a balanced diet of ~2500 calories every day. Day 1: a. Do a few pushups to warm up your pecs and triceps (if you can't do a normal pushup yet, do knee pushups). do one set of pec deck or flat bench dumbbell flyes ~8 reps to failure, supersetted with incline bench press ~4 reps + ~2 assisted reps. b. Do 8 reps of straight arm pulldown (if you have a Nautilus pullover machine, do that instead), supersetted with close grip palms up pulldowns ~8 reps + ~2 assisted reps. c. Warm up with a light weight, then do 10~15 reps of normal deadlifts. Day 2: a. Do a few light weight squats to warm up your legs, then do ~12 reps of leg extensions supersetted with leg presses. b. ~20 standing calf raises. c. ~20 situps. Day 3: a. Do a few light weight barbell shoulder presses to warm up your delts and triceps, then do ~10 reps of dumbbell lateral raises + ~2 assisted reps. b. Do ~10 reps of bent over raises (if possible, do reverse peck decks instead). c. Do ~8 reps of barbell curls supersetted with ~8 reps of close grip palms up pulldowns. d. Do 8 reps of tricep pressdowns supersetted with ~4 reps of dips + ~4 negative or assisted reps. Day 4: a. Do a few light weight squats to warm up your legs, then do ~12 reps of leg extensions supersetted with squats. b. ~20 standing calf raises. c. ~20 situps. Repeat from Day 1.
Mike mentzer gave away all his training videos for free. Mike Israeltel charges crazy amounts to get his program. Mike mentzer looked 5 times better than him. He wasn't politically correct, money wasn't his motive. This is why the fitness industry outed mentzer because his theology on fitness
I trained with a guy who was Vince Taylor’s trainer in the 90s. He saw me stretching prior to working out and I’ll never forget the ear beating I got. He told me I was already wasting energy and strength. And he was right
No, at this point its just click bait and a comment trap. We're all falling for it every time. If Metzner So outdated why does RP/Isreatel and a few other fitness influencers go out of their way To disprove Metzner, other than the fact that it yields a shit ton of likes And comments?? 🤷♂️
Oh boy its every time the same. A few years ago they swore: 1 hour riding the bicycle is superior to 30 seconds all in. Now there are 100s of studies proving that you can improve your stamina in 30 seconds just as you would with 1 hour mediocrely riding. You people are so stubborn in learning literally anything unless hitler himself says so. Go READ, then go TRY IT, then COMPARE RESULTS. more is not better, more was never better and its all about giving it all for a few seconds. DO YOUR OWN STUDY AND TEST IT YOURSELF INSTEAD OF YAPPING
@@chadingram6390that's how all these studies work. They all say something different. There's a recent study that showed 52 sets is optimal but there're so many factors outside just the number of sets that factor into hypertrophy. There was one study that showed there was little difference in muscle growth between concentric and eccentric focused exercises which many would disagree with. Whatever works is what gives you the best stimulus. People have built big bodies on high volume and low volume the only commonality between the biggest people outside of steroids is intensity and controlling the weight. If you listen to all the greats like Arnold, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, it's always about pushing yourself to do more and to maximize muscle stimulation with every lift
Your point about potential is so true, and it's sad to see nobody in the comments talking about it. There are so many 130 lb lifters who will never compete who complain about their genetics or how much more important steroids/genetics/etc supposedly are when they're barely out of the novice phase
I mean its usually very easy to see if you have potential to be great in something in the very early stages, so im sure alot of people recognise that they will never be Mr Olympia or WR holders so don't feel the desire to compete and just choose to train as a hobby
@@calumbell2276 Strongly disagree. If you're further away you're not able to gauge what you're going to look like. At bare minimum 3 years of solid training is necessary to know your potential. Most people slack off here and there or take years to get serious so it's more like 5-10 years for most people. No 130 lb guy has ever been close to his natty potential.
The problem is always blaming genetics instead of focusing on getting better. Your back isn't small bc of genetics u probably can't feel shit or/and don't progressively get stronger, that's fucking it.
Personally what i took and absorbed from HIT is to take as much time as needed to fully recover between workouts instead of having a fixed routine, either by moving the workouts or by regulating the volume (in other words: avoid overtraining). As a principle, every information should be taken with a grain of salt, regardless of its source.
Well 3 decades here, but I'm still a bit cheesed off. Dr Mike can make as many videos on this as wants, but enough people have progressed on this (at a more advanced level, but also not) to make it an exercise in pointlessness.
“nah bro one set is all you need. In my 2 minutes of lifting ive made such fast progression, surely it’s from listening to mike mentzer and not at all to do with being a novice lifter. Big volume shill”
@@baronmeduseNo one says you can’t progress on HIT. But you can potentially make even more gains scaling up from your minimum effective to maximum recoverable volume, deloading, resensitizing yourself to volume, and repeating the process meso after meso. Modern exercise science is pretty cool stuff if you give it a chance :)
Stop hating. It is not “outdated” if it still works in the present time. People have different practices and some are better than others. People can choose whichever practice fits their life. Mike Mentzer was ahead of his time.
Mikes overtraining early in his career served him well.As he aged his bodies muscle memory had established the connections necessary to cut his workout schedule in half 10 years later...and still made gains.
The difficulty increase is even more than what Dr. Mike explained. The percent increase from 6 to 7 reps is +16.67% and actually proves his point further
@@lucaalexicevaer-corey9167 exactly this. The math is a bit wrong in the video. When adding one rep to 6 its actually 16,67% (1/6*100%=16,67%) more, not 14% that was said in the video. Going from 6 to 7 is 16,67% more, but going from 7 to 6 is 14% less (1/7*100%=14,29%).
As a Natural... I'm With Mentzer... I know he Wasn't Natural... But his advice has worked for me the Best... Because i think for Naturals the Recovery Time Needed is much Greater... 2-4 Days of Rest between each session... and extremely brief and Intense when you do train has worked the best for me... Plus this video of Mentzer is from like 1978 when he was about 28 years old... The stuff he put out about 20 years later when he was a trainer is much more valuable i think
I don't think so man. It makes a lot more sense to me as a natural to add volume. I still only spend about 30 min at the gym but in that time I'll drop set ending with light weight to failure
You enjoy them sending critique to dead men that cannot defend themselves? Different Epoch. Like calling Newton a dumbass because Einstein "disproved" his aether theory
I love mike mentzer's "4 seconds up, 4 seconds down and hold for 4 seconds on last rep" method. I do this with all exercise and it really pushed me to the limits than doing the normal method
Mike would never have listened to anything involving frequency . He was so extremely single minded truly believing advanced bodybuilders shouldn’t train more then once every 4-13 days
@@josephohrablo4866 Dorian Yates attributed his winning the olympia to Mentzer. Tom Platz who had arguably the greatest legs in bodybuilding said he would only train legs a few times a month because with the intensity he trained with it was all he could handle. I'll also add that Yates' philosophy molded from Mentzer's is volume didn't matter as long as you went to failure. Yates would do 3 sets for an exercise and would go to failure at the end. It worked for him obviously. I think the bigger picture here is that everyone is different and different philosophies work better or less for different people.
@@Matt34677 Yate's training is a much more refined version of HIT than Mike's, especially nowadays as Dorian is much more focused on safe repetitions and using perfect form. It's annoying to see Mentzer's approach suck up all the HIT oxygen in the room as it ignores decades of progression and refinement, and I can't eyeroll hard enough at the 'Imagine if Mike Mentzer had access to todays science aka Brad Schoenfeld's 52 set studies!' posts.
3:25 into the video Literally doing a biceps and back while watching this. This was the first time I programmed biceps first because I feel like my biceps are my weakest in terms of overall physique. I feel very validated right now
Please review more Mentzer. I’m 50 this year. I played football and powerlifted in college and have lifted fairly consistently across my life. I’ve always been drawn to Mentzer and Yates because, I think, it just feels great to go balls to the wall on a few sets rather than do endurance sessions for hours at a time. And I’m a busy dad and husband and educator, so I don’t have a ton of time anyway. But the limitations of this approach are apparent, and I deeply value your content for how to supplement this approach. And you convinced me about full ROM on leg exercises, so there’s that. One special request: Some day I would love a series from you on how old farts like me should train. Thanks for all you do. I give you a 0/10 rating on bullshit, and a 10/10 on potty humor.
You want to stay injury free, avoid the slow grinding up reps or worse pushing to the wall. That type of lifting has wrecked more friends over the years preventing them from going strong into the 40's 50' 60's....This from an injury free lifter of 40 yrs, currently in his late 50's Finish your workouts feeling strong not spent and you will stay on the path of progression.
While it's not neccessary to progress, more muscular endurance does benefit your ability to handle heavy loads more consistently. As for cardio and mobility, as well as a reduction in any above extreme intensity, these are vital. Overall focus more on warming up and mastering form. Injuries are the bane of all lifters and can end a lifting career. Nothing wrong with lifting more wisely. True muscle building comes from intellectual and methodical experiments, more so than from physical might and enduring tolerance. But I'm sure this is all information you already value.
@@Artaxerxes. Not mine but the great Bill Pearl, but its adoption was MY missing puzzle link to consistent steady progress over my lifting lifetime. I was never looking for short cuts or hacks, because there are none for naturals.
Mike Mentzer was a man of conviction logic and integrity. He had the most comprehensive bodybuilding program for his time. He was educated on the workings of the body and went to Maryland U as a pre med student. He was an intellectual. He was the extreme opposite of the marathon training style of the time and he simplified and helped people sort out the bs that was going around with his articulate & eloquent nature.
He most definitely did NOT have the most comprehensive program for his time, that title belongs to literally any other Soviet-Russian training textbook LOL
@@MrSpartan117fan You post like a 12yr old, better grow your small intellect first. Worse you talk about small, but are blind to your own pic deficiencies. Its like you just got started huh.
I’m old enough to have seem Mentzer compete. A couple years ago I revisited his philosophy. At my older age I have seen remarkable improvement. I credit it to allowing my old body time to heal between workouts. Less injury. Maybe not great for younger lifters, but as we age it is essential I believe
I’m 17 and his training philosophy absolutely works for all ages. I’ve been lifting for 3 years and following his methodology for one, this last year has brought my more substantially more progress than doing a standard routine. I definitely think doctor mike missed the mark on this one
I love how everyone in the comments who have tried Mentzer’s technique have good things to say about it. People who disagree with Mentzer should give it a go - and I mean properly: full stretch, long reps, perfect form, one set to failure for each exercise.
@Mantastic-ho3vm The fact I haven't seen one person who's tried it say anything bad about it is fascinating. Especially with how divisive the Indsutry is, i can guarantee if it sucked i it would have a lot of anecdotes of it not working...
@Mantastic-ho3vm have you tried it - like a genuine go over a decently long period of time, following principles of recovery and slow reps/controlled? Genuine question.
Mike advocated this: Principles. That's why he's popular. The application of them even he changed over time, mostly from anecdotal, personal experience (as he didn't have access to University research departments which weren't interested in his theories whilst he was alive). But now that Mike Mentzer fans got into those Universities during the 00s and 10s and 20s, they did the research and his principles are being proven correct: - Full ROM - Slow Negatives - Eliminating momentum - Training to Failure - Lower volume - The importance of recovery and less frequency - The need for a balanced diet of all 3 macro-nutrients These and many more are being proven correct. Whilst other Principles are being proven incorrect: - Pre-exhaustion being necessary for maximum hypertrophy (No difference) - Overlapping being a negative (it can be beneficial) - Static Holds in the fully contracted position being the most productive part of a Rep (it's actually resistance in the stretched position).
his full rom beliefs are technically being proven incorrect Dr. Mike brings that up in the video. His philosophy of training to failure isn't right, neither is low volume, and less frequency. There's a certain amount of volume and frequency that's the most efficient for hypertrophy and it isn't at all what Mentzer preached.
@@ethann5410 Wrong on all levels. I have summed up Mike's principles but if you read him, you'll see the reasons behind it. 1) The whole "stretched partials" is just a new fad of exercise scientists with a bit of research behind them. You know what was the fad of the early 2010s being recommended by "scientists" and backed up by the latest "research"? Partials...in the fully contracted position. And the 2000s? Squats...on unstable surfaces (bosu balls). And the 90s? Static Holds...a new decade, a new fad by the sports sciences selling you their training protocol... And that's the point: from the 50s onwards, college professors in sports departments have come up with their marketable fad, done research that confirms it, and sell it. The stretched partials guy (I forget his name) is selling programs using them...and the research? Done...by himself. That's the degenerate sickness of the sport exercise world: everyone is twisting the research to prove the thing they sell is "optimum". Go to any year or any decade since the 50s, and you'll see the latest "research backed" training style. Mike said Full Rom was necessary as that is the only way a trained can know they are maximising muscle recruitment. If doing partials: how can yoy be sure as a trainee you've got the correct degrees? And how do you keep that during each Rep as you exhaust? You can't. So for long term, consistent growth, yoy can ensure every muscle is recruited and worked through the most productive parts of the Rep through full ROM (not to mention the decades of research showing full ROM is better for Tendon growth, injury prevention, hypertrophy and functional strength. "New" research by self-interested "Doctors" selling a product doesn't wipe it away). 2) Training to Failure: as Mike said, it is the only way a trainee can know they reached the necessary intensity freshold to maximise growth. How can you tell you are truly left with 2 Reps in reserve? Or 3? You can't. Therefore, going to Failure guarantees the correct intensity is there. And like for like: Failure is superior to RIR (Reps in reserve) Training. Doing 3 sets to Failure is superior to 3 sets with 3 RIR. So he's not only technically correct with his principles, but on a practicability and application level (training principles and programs are useless if they can't be implemented and maintained), he's even more correct.
@@ethann5410 Mentzer preached doing the least amount of volume (he says it as work in his videos) you can possibly do for the most amount of intensity to maximize muscle growth. He also says "One set per exercise" so that doesnt close out the fact that you can have 2 for the same muscle group. He infact did have 2 exercises for some muscle groups in his training plans.
Wow, great summary. I need to pick your brain! Haha thanks for shitting on my pre-exhaust methods. I use them for chest for my bad shoulder, and sometimes quads and or hamstrings on leg day. For chest it’s cable flys and legs it’s extensions and curls. And now I’m confusing myself and thinking “is what I’m stating really a pre-exhaust method or just warming up?” How do I know the difference? Please help, thanks. PS - I’d know and could redeem but all my magazines from the late 90’s-2014 got stolen and I had almost every muscleman, M&F, Flex, & MD, and some Ironman. I learned a lot and also forgot a lot from them magazines. You can’t get that stuff no more….
I think Mike Mentzer was more correct in his earlier years. He still said one set to failure, but his protocol for it was different. Lets use chest for example: You'd warm up then you'd do a pre-exhaust set for pecs. You only want one working set, but you will atleast have one warmup set somewhere close to your top set that is likely atleast slightly stimulative, then hit your RPE 9.5 set of chestflies, before doing a warmup set close to your "one" bench/inclinepress/chest dips set. Since that is your main compound you would also have a rest-pause amrap at the end. So effectively you would for chest have: 12x1 chest flies, 8x1 chest flies, 10-8x1 chest press, 6-8x1 chest press and then a few quick sets of 1-2 reps with 10 sec breaks. So about five sets of chest in total.
@executiveinvestments arnie also built his body powerlifting and yet we dont follow that but we follow his volume nonsense he got when he areived on usa and got all the size he would need already
@@DarkoFitCoach who is “we”? And no Arnold didn’t get his size from power lift training. That’s complete nonsense. Every bodybuilder in history volume trains. Even ur idol mentzer volume trained.
You touched it briefly without giving it the recognition it deserves and it's biggest advantage even in mordern lifting : Simplicity. You dont have to think too hard or know much. The amount of people screwing their training up today with * splits is staggering. HIT for the simplicity and still getting it done.
Trained your way twice Mike, and both times I could barely walk after. Quads were on fire. Felt like I was working muscles I didnt even know I had. Thanks from Australia.
Definitely do a part 2 and 3, Mike modified his program alot from this older video. Please critique his "ideal routine " which think he trained Tom Platz and Yates with. His later program has a routine with deadlidlfts last and doing the compound exercise after the isolation, so he threw the largest to smallest idea out later on. So just critiquing this older doesn't show the whole picture and his revision of his program.
Well said. But he still only did 1 or 2 exercise per muscle; which has me wondering if he did more exercises for back and legs and less for arms and chest because of the size of the muscles and the way they all work together? I like his style but want more exercises. A warm up or 2 per exercise and 1 all out to failure set and do 2-4 movements per muscle; be it 1 compound and 1 isolation and more if needed. Lastly; I need help with the ranges of failure. Dr mike likes 1 rep in reserve or 1rr or whatever it’s abbreviated as. And Mentzer calls for failure bjt what type of failure? There’s 3 or 4 levels? I forgot all this shit. Contractile, absolute, momentary, etc. so just wondering and speculating that each type of failure serves a purpose and not created equally. Thanks
I heard him call tom p an 'ass' for doing the O the year the others boycottedit..1981....did TP learn about politix at that show...mike trained TP after TPs muscle tear...i saw them at Golds V.
I used a few different lifting programs and when I did HIT I grew like a crazy and got stronger, but we did 2 warmup sets and 1 set to failure 3times a week, after 6wks took 2wks off and started again.
Love this guy, even though I don't workout only once every 4 days. Like you said, there is a lot to learn with Mentzer if you don't just blindly follow everything. Dorian Yates learned a lot from him and became a 6x Mr Olympia
Bingo, read between the lines and go for understanding. Both him and his brothers deaths are very suspicious, due to the face that they were stirring the pot in the communit. Stir the pot in a big $$$$ industry and you make big enemies
I have found that people who do higher volume training can't comprehend simple logic. There's no way on GOD'S green earth. You can extrapolate accurate information from a 6-8 week study. It's never going to happen. The reason you will never see long-term studies is its quite expensive to pay each participant for their time in the study. The next point I need to make is that every single set that you perform truly makes a deeper inroad into recovery ability, especially as the trainee grows progressively stronger. It's kinda like when you started as a beginner. It took years to develop muscle maturity, and I mean years. Look at my thumbnail and tell me low volume hit doesn't work. My take-home message is one set to failure over time, which will build incredible mass n strength. I currently do about 6 work sets total per week for each large muscle group, eg. Legs, Chest, and Back and 3 sets total per week for delts, triceps, and biceps. And I train half the body on Saturday and the other half on Sunday resting Monday thru Friday.
There was something very charismatic about Mike. Like....the teacher in school you didn't mind paying attention to no matter what. Kind of like Dr. Mike :)
Im now 30 yrs old & I’ve been working out since highschool & about 6 months ago i found mikes workout & it works perfectly i am in best shape of my life no muscle pain or joint pain.. All these new guys are just jealous
How can they criticize something that works ? And worse, they call it outdated ?? I dont see why people bash some school of thoughts just because they dont like it. Mike was a proven bodybuilder, he actually studied his art and spoke like an intellectual, he brought up facts and valid arguments. Those who dont like his method, fine, dont follow it, but dont say its outdated or not good. To each his own
Mentzers philosophy in training is working for me and I’m a hard gainer I notice somewhat of a difference after 3 months compared to the last 6 years and doing less just more intense
Same here. It works, just tailor it for your body. I did 20kg in one year, about half of that was on HIT and I got much stronger, faster on HIT than HV.
Dr. Mike's insights into progressing reps are golden. I have been working to increase my reps on weighted pull ups. I was stuck at 6 reps on my top (heaviest weight) set for weeks and weeks, and one day while walking out of the gym, I realized that, in trying to go from 6 to 7 reps at my top weight, I was going for a 16.667% increase! (7 is 1.1667 of 6.) So I wasn't necessarily stagnating. I just couldn't expect a sudden 16.667% increase (especially at my age and experience level). That realization was liberating. With that insight, I could now try to improve my performance of whatever reps (usually 6) I was doing each time, or microload the weights.
That's a silly way to look at strength gains. I'm astonished Dr Mike actually said that. Do you really think if I used to perform 1rep at 100kg and then I can do a second, I'm now 100% stronger? That's pretty ridiculous. The best way to compare is to convert reps and weights to 1-rep maxes and compare the 1-rep max. 2 reps on 100kg is equivalent to 1 rep for about 106kg, which is a pretty decent jump of 6%. After about 5 reps, being able to add a rep is closer to 2.5% stronger. (There are various ways to estimate 1-rep max which you can google around for, but they're all ballpark.)
@@danieltemelkovski9828 Nobody said you'd be a 100% STRONGER. I (am presumably Dr. Mike) was referring to percentage increase in REPs, not strength. But I bet you feel ingenious for erecting and knocking down a straw man. Oh and by the way, passed the beginner stage even a 2.5% strength gain can take months, if not years, so even on your misstatement of what we are talking about, your point is off-base.
@@adamsloane1748 Hey, I was just trying to help you wrap your head around making comparisons of effort across differing rep numbers. But it sounds like you've already got it worked out or are more interesting in white knighting Dr Mike like a good little fanboy, so knock yourself out.
I was stuck on weighted pullups for months too until I tried mentzer's approach. Now I train pullups for fifteen minutes once every twelve days and my reps go up almost every workout. It's funny how dr mike says the science is against mentzer but for someone like myself and many others, using mentzer's principles of low volume high intensity is what worked wonders for us.
@@Ibrahim-fh6bnas someone interested in weighted pull-ups, what’s your split? What were your numbers before and how did they progress using Menzter’s method?
I'd really like to see a part 2 of this video, Mentzer had such a unique style of everything that it's interesting to see his training styles almost modernized
It’s heartening to see all of testimonials supporting Mentzer’s approach here. I’ve just started this approach and am already seeing results. You WORK when you are at the gym. Get in. Get out. Then REST more than just 48 hours. The recovery is the Yang to the HIT’s Yin.
