@@equalizer2233 You will do ONE set. You can do a warm-up set or two if needed. But you will do ONLY one actual working set. Example is my leg workout. I start with leg extensions with a weight heavy enough that I can do 10-12. But ALWAYS to failure. This is immediately followed by leg press with a weight heavy enough to do 4-6 reps. When I canøt do more, I will use my hands to help me raise the weight so my legs can lower it slowly. I will do this until I can't do it any more. Only then am I done. 1 set. If I want to warm up, I can get in the leg press to warm up with a compound movement. This is with a moderate weight for a few reps. You don't need to reach failure or even push yourself here, you will need that energy. Now the kicker is the duration. 2-4 seconds up and down, slow controlled and with no jerking. If you hate the couting, do it like a Dane and when you lift the weight you think: "one case of beer" and when you lower the weight you go: "one case of beer." Have fun mate.
I tried that one body part per day workout many years ago and annihilated that part like you said. I got the best results I've ever had in my life. I'm a lot older now (77) and only go to the gym twice a week - half the body one day, the other half the next. Mostly in the 15-20 rep range for the joints. It's actually enough to maintain some semblance of a physique.
@@PatrickStar19872 There is no right or wrong here. It all depends on what your goals are. I have a better physique at 77 than probably 90% of men my age do. I get good results considering the workouts I do.
@@donaldwilson5693 Ofcourse you do, you lift weights. If your goal is to not be sedantary, then that's easy. So the answer is, it's wrong to not change your plan.
You are right on spot. I am 50 and I have been training this way since I was 25. I tried training my body parts twice a week and I did not see the gains I was expecting and I was exhausted. Once I started training each body part once a week, I saw huge gains. The only body part I train 4x a week is abs and I train it like any muscle in the body.
Hi ! Mick ( Wolf ) I first trained with you at your Sydenham Gym . I was 28 at the time and Les Shorter introduced me. Les was one of the few people to win a Novice competition at their first attempt which is rare. At 74 now I can still pull, push and lift a 100 Kilo's. I still follow the basic routine you taught me nearly 50 years ago and I've never had any serious injuries touch wood. I'm still in good shape good shape with 18 inch Biceps it's great when your down the Gym and a youngster says your strong Mr. !!! they say Mr. because it's a term of respect. I have used the Gym as a form medicine when I've not been well, I get back to it using the same gradual building up of strength, when someone has upset me I use it as a form of therapy. I hit the metal instead of them and at the end of the session I'm usually to tired to go round and give them a slap. Anyway nice to see your still around thanks for all the advice it's kept me in good stead. Hope you and your family are all well Best Regards Graham Newman
Wow. You are so genuine it's very wonderful things. I will keep this in mind. ❤I am 26 yr old 1 yr since I joined gym . Lose 16 kg . Now 73 kg. Trying to cop of every odd. Thank you for inspiring me. ❤😊
After 10 years of working out i started watching his videos and I’ve change so much that is unreal I’m using less steroids eating less not lifting as heavy as I used to and I look way way better, thank you for the videos brother god bless 🙏🏻🙏🏻💪🏻💪🏻💪🏻
Spot on! I've trained 1 body part per day since forever and it's been working for me to this day. Mike's said it best, and he's said it in the past. DO WHAT WORKS BEST FOR YOU!
Mike you are spot on. I use to obliterate my parts twice a week and I was regressing. After listening to Mike Mentzer’s advice and your videos, I train less frequently and from week to I am getting stronger and seeing the changes. My recovery level is spot on. Thank you my brother.
I've been so annoyed by the harping AGAINST once a week training. So many big bodybuilders grew their physique on once a week. If there is something to gain, it's a small amount... MY TAKE. Do WHAT PLEASES YOU. This is all an experiment, at least enjoy it. And don't hate. You do what you love.
It take my body at least 1 week to recover with high protein high carbs and lots of sleep. My deadlift are every 10 days because I push so hard. Tom platz trained legs twice a month. I'm 100% with you
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been training since i was 15 and i am 51 now, ive tried them all, the best for me has always been 1 body part per week, but i smash it for an hour, il finish of with some calves or abs every other day with one exercise 100 reps like a rest pause, natural or with minimal gear and have got great gains, now im 51 i train similar but shorter time 30min but superset as i could not be stuffed training for over half an hour, weekends i walk or ride my push bike, lots of stretches and mobility exercises these days, but i use to see it with my friends, they trained 6 days a week with high frequency and the looked skinny, i always looked fuller and thicker, for us it was about getting big, nothing else, no compitition bodybuilding just a hobby. 1 body per week is king for me in my opinion.
Couldn't agree with you more. All my life, I was training with programs such as full body, push-pull-legs , 5x5 and things like these.. the past 2 years I do a 5 day bro split and my gains skyrocketed. But, a bro split might not work very well for a beginner .. I came to understand that the more advanced you are , the less frequently you have to workout. I know it may sound crazy for most people, but that's the reality.
5 day a week bro split is the best routine I’ve ever tried, and I’ve tried them all. I could care less if 99% of guys on Reddit think it’s stupid. This is what works the best for me. I feel like my muscle actually gets thoroughly worked. I get to focus on individual muscle groups and bring up lagging muscle groups. My recovery is much better. I actually look forward to each day because it’s been a whole week since I experienced that particular workout. My recovery was terrible on other routines and I had terrible symptoms of overtraining.
Can you tell me about what the sets and reps are? I know Mike doesn’t ever really say much on specific sets and reps because we go off feel. But I come from sets/reps and I’m trying to move away from that mindset but I would love to know how you incorporate your training like Mike does
@@Wrigadelphia1908 12 sets for chest 12 sets for back 10 sets for shoulders 9 sets for triceps 6 sets for biceps 15 sets for legs Pick a few exercises for each muscle group to divide up sets. 3 min rest breaks for big lifts 2 min rest breaks for small lifts 6-12 rep range Work each muscle once per week Train 5 days per week Abs twice per week. 3 sets each time.
I was training with high frequency and heavy weight and I was tapped out. I switched to a body part split two weeks ago and feel great. You're spot on!
This is what Mike mentzer and Dorian Yates talked about in the 80s and 90s I tried this method of training it is great stimulated muscles to muscular negative and positive failure and thank you big Mike for your channel for teaching the Next Generation how to train proper
I made all my gains training each body part once per week. Tried switching to twice a week, but I never recovered properly and I always felt that I wasn’t training each muscle hard enough in each workout. However, the empirical evidence does show that higher training frequency causes more growth. That being said, I do believe that not everyone’s body works the same way.
@@gorandsands lol I hear you. I'm 39 so I'm knocking on the door but typically, in the past, I felt better if I only rested one day a week. Usually on Sunday or Weds
The best results i ever had is when i was doing Bro split, one body part per day. And i started to combine back and chest on Mondays, which gave me one more rest day and 72 hours until shoulders on Thursdays. This is still a bro split, just combining two days into one. The criticism of bro split are that you then only get one session per week per muscle group, which argument is that it's not enough. Well with this regime, if i feel like it, I can add arms on the back/chest day to get some more arms, i can also add some shoulder presses for some more shoulders. And on Arm day which is Friday, i can add 2-3 back and chest exercises if i feel like it. But keeping it simple seems to be the best for me, i grow faster when i let the body rest for long periods. And I'm 47. I always get 72 hours no matter what, and that is pretty perfect for me.
Hi Mike, can you please make a video and clarify if there is a difference between natural and enhanced lifters in terms of frequency and how often a muscle should or must be trained per week. I'm pretty new and totally confused because one says one thing and another says something else. I bet that many respond to this comment as well and everyone writes something different. But I believe in what you say because you make an honest impression and therefore your opinion and your view would be very important to me because right now I don’t know what I do, I don’t know what I should do and I don’t know who I should listen to as a natural (no trt etc) 35 year old beginner. Thank you very much
What Mike mentzer kept emphasizing was besides sufficient warm up, to use perfect form focusing on negatives followed by rest-pause sets. There are traditional weight training exercises that are not recommended anymore due to the high injury risk.
Best news ever for me. I always feel if i do PPL or any other split besides pro (or bro) split, i always feel like all i did was hit everything at about 70% of what i could do rather than if i had of just spent my time blasting something like chest and concentrating on only chest on chest day. After watching this, i am going back to one body part a day. I've also been told pyramiding the weight up is not ideal because you are strongest and freshest at the beginning of the session. Most people say do one warmup set with 135lbs for bench and then go right to your 80-90% of your 1rm and work there, otherwise you are fatiguing yourself and not taxing the muscle. however, I am way too afraid of tearing something so i'd rather just do some lighter sets and pyramid up. I may be leaving some gains on the table but i have been lifting, making decent gains being careful like this focusing on pump instead of training like with 80-90% of my 1rm risking injury where all i feel is ligaments and tendons and bones. I've always been confused watching someone like Sam Sulek (spelling?) going all out with partial reps, throwing full stacks around not worrying about form (it seems,not judging) and wonder should I just train this way? Mike seems to show in his videos a more smooth rocking style keeping tension on the muscle and it seems safer to me. I would love to see Mike react to one of Sam's videos to hear his opinion. Sam is, after all, Jacked and what he's doing obviously works but it seems SO different than how most other bodybuilders train (except for Branch and Johnny).
I agree with Mike. I'm a big believer in training at the frequency that allows you to recover fully so you can attack that same muscle with intensityfully and be able to train with extreme intensity again. There are days no matter the amount of rest where it's jusl not there and probably better to either stop and go home or turn it into a light deload day. Some of my best workouts have been after two or even three weeks of rest. Quality sleep and time off is very healing. Just my opinion.
I did switch to 1 workout per body part per week long ago and it worked great ! However now I'm old and have to work around many old injuries so now at 66 yrs old I train twice with moderate weights at best. I figure if I can't go as heavy as I'd like then adding another workout is better. So far so good
Facts I just started back hitting it hard seeing results & upping the weight on bench ended up hurting my shoulder & I immediately took a week off you gotta know when to chill 💯
@@UnburdenMyWordSalad53 here. I do chest and back on mondays, arms and legs on thursdays. Sometimes a little ab work. On off days I do 20-30 mins cardio (hometrainer, walking or jogging), but not on the day directly after a workout day. Sleep at least 8 hrs per night, low carb diet, vitamines and also doing IF (18/6).
I've learned so much from Big Mike. My pumps from the movement style he promotes have been so helpful. I imitate his training out of admiration. And it's simply been helpful. Thanks again for helping me reach my bodybuilding potential! 🐉💯
100% agree. Statements like they are making rank right up there with videos say the best and worst exercise for a body part. I have found so many times what they call the worst is one of my foundation exercises. Each body is different. Experiment and find what's best for your body.
For a long time I thought I needed to train everything twice a week. When I stopped doing that and started training everything once a week, wouldn’t ya know it. I started growing more….. more is not always better. Quality workouts will benefit more than just stimulating style workouts. Just my two cents lol
im in the same boat. Have been training for 15 years and always hit everything twice per week. Now, with the intensity I need to train at to keep progressing, I cannot recover from training with that frequency. I recently started hitting everything around every 5 days and im instantly feeling the positive results.
Hi, don´t get me wrong and I really couldn´t care less because everyone can do whatever but can I politely ask please if you are natural or on trt or peds? I ask because everyone says when someone is completely natural it´s necessary to every muscle at least 2-3 times per week because muscle protein synthesis is only elevated for 48 hours!? thanks for your help
@@flynnryder7798 I want to ask you the same as I asked the pumpshack, can I politely ask please if you are natural or on trt or peds? thanks for your help
Mike I think this video is one of your best. I appreciate u explaining this stuff because people need to understand how to explore what work for them when it comes to training….Thanks
Always did my own thing and it works everytime been lifting for years and know what works for my body. I look up different exercises and forms to switch it up but never did anyones training program.
I found doing a body part a day twice a week gives a massive boost to muscle size 💪 I was actually doing 4-6 reps heavy and 6-8 reps if lighter , trying to protect my joints, good advice your video Cheers
I actually like this video you articulate the importance of thinking about what you're doing and not following wannabe trainers blindly. I'm always looking for ways to grow smarter in my lifting journey. It gives me confidence and comfort when I hear a guy like this give important details about how we're not all one-size-fits-all. Sure he's rough around the edges but he's speaking the truth and I'd much rather have the truth than listen to somebody that could cause me to stumble.
I have started making gains again after a years long plateau by increasing my frequency. I do the same amount of volume I did before, but the I am able to increase my intensity. I can go much harder on my third and fourth exercise when they are on a different day and I am not walking around sore all week.
Push, pull, legs, day off, push pull arms. Working great for me, I did bro split for years, but hitting body parts twice a week I find better. But I do different exercise for the two pulls/push days so it's a different attack twice per week.
Ive been training one body part a week from day 1. I dabbled in a couple other ways and gave it time but for me i like and get better results doing it the way i was tought. And i love it which is huge for the mind. Only thing ive changed is listening to my body when i should take rest days. Im not in my 20's anymore lol.
So glad I found this video. I recently got back into the gym and I've been going regularly for a month now. I'm on the routine the trainer set up for me but I've been watching videos on how to gain muscle and strength. You're desd on with the amount of videos out there that don't offer anything new. Very few point out how different plans work for different people. I'm 49 and my goal is to look kick ass by 50. Not looking to compete but want to look as if I could start.
4 weeks ago, I changed things up drastically. I went from low volume, high frequency to high volume, low frequency training muscle groups every 7-8 days. My rep range went from 6-8 to 12-15. I went from one set per exercise to 3-4 sets per exercise, ans from 1-2 exercises oer muscle group to 3-4 exercises. The log books? I tossed them out. 5 years worth of training logs, shredded and recycled. Chalk? Bin. Straps? Left them in the garage. Wrist wraps? Gave then away. Training began to feel like a chore and the enjoyment was slowly dying away. The day i let go of all of that "scientist approach", I became so much happier. 4 weeks in and my physique has changed, looking full, joints don't hurt, everything has opened up and I look bigger plus I'm 6kgs down from 100kgs
@@TunnelVisionAthletic I know bud, but letting go of the log books just felt good. I stopped obsessing over numbers, which were causing me to get off track and lose sight of the end goal, which is to build muscle, not push loads. Eventually I'll get back to using one, but for now I'm happy being without it 😅
The wonderful world of bodybuilding. I started bodybuilding at 21 and now in my late sixties I can honestly say I saw it all. Trained with world champions in bodybuilding as well as powerlifting. There are no magic numbers or exercises. A 'natural' has 2, maximum 3 grow spurts and that's it. I'm sure about that. However, I do think we used to do too many sets. Disappointing, perhaps, but what is not there cannot grow. Whatever they (the gurus) say. Did Milos Sarcev ever got his arms up to pair (even with syntol)? No matter his knowledge as a trainer of champions? I can give many more examples. Arnold weighed 106 kg. a dwarf (no disrespect) like Nick Walker 130 kg? Did the human body change? Just be realistic. Another sport maybe, but bodybuilders (not all) can learn from weightlifters. It starts with a certain civility and modesty. The top are demigods in their country, but still somehow humble. Headphones, hoodies over their heads and a bag with enough content to survive the winter is what I see these days. Lightweight baby is what I hear all the time. A disrespect to Ronnie. Not even the sunglasses are missing (LOL) It was different in the old days. Being Dutch, guys like Berry de Mey, Ben Herder to name just two were definitely not ego trippers. The reason Berry wore a headphone was not to be disturbed too much during his training. Guys, concepts are just ideas and usually a way to knock some money out of your pocket. Think for yourself, do not get confused and enjoy the journey.
Thank you Mike for your sane approach in the insane world of fitness of today. As far as frequency of each muscle group is concerned, one of the factors impacting it is the way people combine muscle group to be trained in one workout. E.g. if one performs push-pull-legs split training each bodypart once a week then he/she is actually training each muscle once a week. But if one combines e.g. antagonistic muscle groups in one workout (ag. chest+ back, shoulders + arms, legs) training each muscle directly once a week, he/she is actually training most muscle groups in the upper body twice a week, once directly and once indirectly. Do you prefer combining agonistic muscles (e.g. "pushing" muscles in one workout, pulling ones in another, legs in another workout still) or antagonistic groups (e.g. chest and back, biceps and triceps, etc.) in one workout? And does it matter, how we combine muscle groups to be trained together? All the best
@@analogcrunch4716 therefore Mike trains most bodyparts more than once a week - once directly and once indirectly (shoulders and triceps get involved indirectly on chest day, biceps on back day, back on leg day (e.g. when doing stiff-legged deadlifts) etc.
@@biglabradori would say so ive seen so many videos of Mike that it appears he separates back, chest, shoulders and legs - so assuming he has an arm day but also saw Mike do chest plus triceps together. Love for him to clarify.
You should be called "Iron Preacher" mate! It's impressive listening to you and seeing the reality. Because of a major surgery I am about to get and I new job I've started, where I am working night-shifts, I have stated missing workouts... and since then, I have noticed that I am getting stronger and bulkier... thanks to the rest I am giving my body. Today, I have started the "bro split"; been doing PPL for a few years, and I am going to following what you say cos it makes sense... Cheers and keep the preaching going!
Tried both, personally for me I respond better to frequency than volume. I keep the volume down, some weeks legs twice taxes me and I’m gassed by Saturday with a PPL repeated and a Sunday off. I think the industry fry’s people head with nonsense to baffle people into thinking they can’t do it alone. High volume sure does work as does frequency and I think the main thing you are highlighting that others don’t is recovery, respect for calling out the bullsh!t
Mike isn’t talking about volume. He is talking about annihilating the body part you are working. It can be done in two ways, HIT or Volume. As long as you destroy the body part. What you are describing is the opposite of what he is saying. You are doing what these bullshit artists are teaching. If it works great for you. What he is saying once a week after annihilating the muscle and bodypart works better. Been training with HIT for over 35 years once bodypart a week. As a former NPC level competitor most professionals train once a week. There is a reason for it. You seem to have missed his point.
@@chelious1973 If you’ve been training for 35 years the you should know enhanced and natural are totally different than shouldn’t you. If you’re natural and I annihilating a body part once a week the your protein synthesis declines rapidly after around 36 -48 hours so it wouldn’t be the best idea for naturals. If you’ve trained one body part a week for 35 years your training is rigid. Also don’t say say other people opinions are bullshit, you sound ridiculous with a mindset of thinking you’re right cos you’ve done the same thing for 35 years. What’s optimum for you is different to others, why would naturals wait a week to hit the body part again when protein synthesis is already dropped in a matter of say. Captain bro science
Everyone is so different that it’s almost nonsensical to say what worked for me will work for you. The experience I share lately is that I started lifting at home in 3rd grade and was in Gold’s by myself at 13. I’m 48 this year. I have tried almost every workout variation, including the usual Chest/Monday, Back/Tuesday, etc. I did gain a fair amount of muscle over the years. I have been on “supplements.” When I did 1 part a week I was always so damn sore and tight. Loads of shoulder pain. I switched to total body three days a week, which was odd for me at first. Lagging parts finally started catching up and the pain was gone. I’m not doing all 20+ sets of chest in one session and my tendons and ligaments are celebrating. If you are getting beat up in the gym, total body is at least worth a try.
This video is gold. I have “never been into bodybuilding” but who am I kidding, it would be a lie if I said I didnt care how I looked, somehow those youtube idiots got me thinking strength oriented workouts will leave me looking jacked as well. Sure Im strong, but nothing to brag about in lets say a powerlifting competiotion and I look like shit compared to guys focusing on volume and hypertrophy. Im the clown, im the idiot following bs for so long. I could never follow a program because my intensity was high and frequency twice a week. My legs are way bigger than my upper body which looks just as bad as jacked guys with chicken legs. Yesterday I only did chest and I was blown away by the difference (in a good way) my triceps and shoulders got such heavy indirect work that its unfair to say that I just did chest yesterday. And if theres is anybody who actually read this shit, my common sense tells me that lower frequency of once a week is more optimal for naturals (not the other way around) Am I missing something? If you are on steroids, you essentially speed up your recovery and should handle heigher frequency, but those of us that are not, I honestly cant handle twice a week, unless really conservative on volume and intensity per given workout. What am I missing?
For me I train everything twice a week especially because it takes that much work for me but I'm also 36 yrs old, 5'6, 180 lbs, with a top out of 12 percent body fat when I'm not training, but I highly rep no more than 200 lbs when I do hypertrophy but then when I deload I go back to a more powerlifting regimen and drop volume but add more load, and only train each body part once a week and up my cardio, but it's taken me over 20 years to figure out what responds well for me, I don't train any heavier than 300 lbs on compound movements because I don't want to destroy my body and I still want to be able to hit the gym just as good when I'm say 50 or 70 years old, this is a really good topic and you spoke the truth really well
As someone with shoulder mobility issues, I've stopped listening to the "you need barbell back squats" crowd. They think they'll look like Tom Platz some day if they believe what they heard from him (they never will).
The part of comparing back spread from the best deadlifters is so spot on. It took me several years of training to figure out that one thing is moving weight from A to B, another thing is lifting to trigger a specific body part. Young people should view these videos, it will save you years of bad workouts.
After basically being plateaued, I decided to bulk and pick up mike mentzers training techniques and now I pr every workout and my body feels amazing and my joints don't hurt. No one can survive lifting a muscle group 2x a week with 60 sets to failure you won't recover nor grow.
For me personally what's been working for me lately was targeting 2 body parts on 2 days (biceps and chest. Another day back and Triceps) the other 2 days I hit legs 1 day and shoulders on the other day. I try to recover 2-3 days for each part I do 3-4 sets of 3 different exercises. moderate weight. So far so good
So true. I trained with a power lifter for years. I was boybuilding. After years of destroying his joints and laughing at bodybuilding he tried bodybuilding. He could DL 700 plus pounds but his lat spread was almost sad. His back was thick but when he posed (lat spread) it left everyone thinking he just didn't know how to pop them out. There were natural female bb.ers in the gym who were wider. Sadly R.I.P. from liver ca.(It was a narrow coffin)
I must say I recently lowered my volume of sets (still doing my whole body twice in eight days, two different workouts twice). My body has responded better than before. I do three sets (intense, 6 to 10 reps to failure each time, on my first exercise for a specific muscle, and one set for the two variations I do after. One day in and one day off. Im almost 51, and I know my recovery ability. Works for me.
How much can you recover? What's the goal? For bodybuilding personally I see the best results hitting major body parts twice a week depending on how I feel, look and quality of each session. I can go months without doing dedicated arm work if I'm really in a groove with back and chest. In that case I split my weekly sessions to blow out very specific regions or movements. Front/rear legs on different days. Upper chest mid chest, upper back/mid back. I'd only add in dedicated arm work approaching a contest or if they were lagging but that's also based on genetics as my arms and shoulders hyper-respond to the slightest stimulus.
Love it is like saying stick to the basic is has work for many generations of body builders the Olds school wat is the best way thanks for coming out and setting it straight forward.
Finally someone can relate to. As an Accountant I look for best return on investment and I found and stuck to a push pull 1-1.5hr day on-day off works best. Stuck to it for years now. Each body part once in 6 days, 5 hours a week total in gym, good results. Listen to body though sometimes good on day 5 sometimes I need a week
I'm 50 years old. One working set to failure for each angle with a heavy load is a good stimulation that can be performed twice a week without over training, if schedules allow for it.
Then you have crazy recovery skills. I train just like you said, but once a week for a bodypart. Sometimes I give myself even more rest. I don't reciver that fast :))
When you’re young doing each body part 2-3 times a week is fine depending on volume. Once we reach a older age our bodies need more recovery so once a week is perfect.
You are so right. I have been over training, heavy go to failure mix it up all crazy shit. Every time I get close to my goal weight, I tear something. Last was trying to bring up my hamstrings and hit them hard more often twice a week and bang two weeks on crutches because of that. Eased up body part a week rest more often and my body has ballooned. I like to train it's my thing but I have been over doing it.
Yuuuup I hit the gym now w a trainer and ea part is hit 1 x a week over t,w,th I now eat right, walk 7 to 10 miles a week, swim 4x a week. Best muscle separation/definition I've ever had. You are SPOT ON.
Muscle tissue repairs relatively quickly. How long does it take for your body to increase bone density? Vascular System? Adapt the CNS to new, continued stresses? Hormonal system? All of those things change and adapt/improve before the body can build more muscle. We can probably file that under “common sense” , but I’m not sure how many people take the time to think about everything that goes into body building and why it takes so long. Love these vids. Best bodybuilding channel out there.
Good point. It seems ppl think. If its a hard leg day upper body is resting. They dont understand the body works as a system and recovery iss till effected by the leg day. ( and any other stressors not just in the gym) . Recocery isnt a body part by body part deal
Definitely feel that olympic and powerilfting frequency worked it's way into bodybuilding somehow, combined with people not truly going to failure on the sets, not truly obliterating the muscle during the workout for the week. Going to failure to the point of throwing up on hack squat... you won't want to hit legs for a week. There's no doing that again a few days later.
I've had some great results in my early 50s with Mike Mentzers HDT. Training about 70% less. Training heavy but controlled. Warming up well. No injuries. Joints in general feel better through far less sets and reps. Dont have to spend so much time in the gym amongst juiced meat heads. What I find interesting is you're saying exactly what you're claiming everyone else is doing. Your way is the only way. How you respond to any program is mostly genetics anyway.
This always troubled me. I prefer to hit hard once per week any body part. But, while listening to more "fitness" pro the last years, I thought it is better to train every part more time and this is the only way to grow and put some more muscles on me. Thanks for sharing your views,Mike.
@@terminator2348ol optimal? Says who? Let me guess some stupid study which proves nothing. If you train and tear down Chest Monday then hit another body part and tax CNS Tuesday and even Wednesday then there’s no way your body and chest recovered to hit chest again Wednesday. This won’t work. It’s illogical
I live in the UK He's right. If you workout on a single body part in however many angles. Do it properly, lift the amount to push you but properly & like he just said.... It will take your body a week to recover meaning when I do chest , my chest or arms or whatever still feels the tension in them. So come when it's time to do that particular body part, your ready. I do 1 body part a day & eat normal sometimes not but with no protein or anything. I do between 30 - 60 mins max on 1 body part per day. I can go work & finish & complete exercise without it being a chore!!! Obviously I've had to eat more than I used to but not all the time but to see & feel the results more, you have to eat right but obviously enough to improve on your gains. It's a slow process & over exercise just burns you out to the point working all day will just drain you, then it means you have to keep motivated which is even harder!!! So 1 body part a day properly is fine!!!! I also do setups & twists first & some shadow boxing, takes about 15 mins, then I do the 1 body part!!
I think most natural lifters are afraid that they will leave gains on the road because they are always told that as a natural lifter you have to train the muscle more than once a week, just because of protein biosynthesis. Actually, at least from another perspective, supported athletes should train several times a week because their recovery is much better. Personally, I have been training for over 15 years and am now in my early 40's. I have made the most progress in the last 2 years with an adapted 4-day split. For example, on Saturdays I train my back with full "week volume", at the end I do 3-4 sets of biceps. On Wednesdays I train my arms and shoulders. At the end of this workout, I do 4-5 sets for the back if the muscle soreness from Saturday has disappeared.
Frecuencia is based on the number of Sets performed un the week. If you train chest and blast it with 20 Sets then your training frequency only needs to be once a week. If you do 3 Sets of bench and don't train it again for a week chances are you're not going to get a shit load of growth. As,I said earlier, training frequency is based on the number of Sets performed through the week. So I think this is,what Mike is getting at.when he's dicussing these subjects.
For the massively pronated client you referenced around 10:40 I would initially stop all pressing movements for the chest and focus on retraction exercises for the upper back (with very strict form) and plenty of stretching for the chest. That would be my solution anyway, although I’ve been out of the industry for 19 years so I’ve probably missed a thing or two.
I hit each muscle group about every 72 to 96 hours. That seems to work well for me. I don't do 20 sets a workout, however. 10 to 12 sets on larger muscle groups and 9 or 10 or smaller muscle groups. Volume for the week ends up being around 20 sets per body part. I use Mike's style of movement and tension during my lifts. It has really helped me focus on the muscle more. I did have to lower the weights a little. It was worth the trade off.
