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High Intensity Training Mike Mentzer Tips
Learn the principles behind Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty workout system with these high intensity training tips by legendary bodybuilder Mike Mentzer, the very first man to get perfect 300 score in the Mr. Universe contest.
H.I.T. and Females
I can't believe it took me this long to find the definitive answer as to whether women should use Heavy Duty training. I have been asked that question in countless letters and seminars and I always hemmed and hawed. Now I know; and the answer is YES! And the reason was so simple it should have hit us all between the eyes.
It is widely recognized that women generally have less strength and muscle than men because of their much lower levels of testosterone. Testosterone is a powerful androgen that also aids the recuperative sub-systems of the body to tolerate and respond better to exercise in all forms; hence the higher records for males in all sports. Since women have lesser androgen in their bodies, they don't tolerate exercise as well as most males; which is why brief, infrequent, high-intensity training is tailor-made for women.
Mike Mentzer
H.I.T. and the Elderly
Although the benefits of weight training for the elderly has been espoused for years, many in their golden years shy away from it. The thought of going to the gym everyday or three days a week for an hour or more puts them off. However, with high-intensity training, they need only train once or twice a week for 15 to 20 minutes maximum. And because intensity is the cardinal element, they can lift light to moderate weight for even up to 20, or more, reps and still improve their condition, so long as they reach failure, or close to it. And as they'll see strength increases every workout, they'll receive the immediate, continuous feedback that their efforts are worth, important forvital maintenance of motivation. They need to remain sufficiently motivated and continue with the program; even make it fun. Of course, in addition to the regular strength increases, they develop and tone their lean mass for better metabolism and weight control. Of particular concern to many of the elderly is osteoporosis(loss of bone mass), which can be prevented through proper nutrition and the imposition of weight-bearing stress, such as weight resistance exercise.
Mike Mentzer
H.I.T. and the Career-Oriented
Many who might take up weight training fail to do so for it is almost axiomatic with the public that "more is better." I have spoken with numerous career professionals who related that they always wanted to take up weight training but couldn't justify the time: a 30 minute drive to the gym, working out for an hour or more, 30 minutes for showering and dressing, then another 30 minutes back to home or the office. And who can blame them? Weight training -- albeit important -- is merely one value that should fit comfortably into a hierarchy of rational values.
I honestly believe that the promulgation of daily, volume workouts is the single most detrimental factor affecting the growth of bodybuilding and fitness. In addition to it preventing many from taking up weight training, it causes many to drop out due to chronic fatigue and frustration. I say "You're Welcome" to those who have thanked me for getting them started and keeping them involved in weight training/bodybuilding by introducing them to the ideal form of exercise: brief, infrequent, high-intensity training.
Mike Mentzer
Stress and Cortisol
Recall that exercise is a form of stress, and like other stressors, just enough will cause a postive, adaptive result, while too much will cause a negative result. The negative results from too much exercise are losses in strength and muscle size; and they are associated with, but not limited to, the secretion of certain hormones.
The following is a quote from the pioneer researcher in stress physiology, Hans Selye, MD: "It is remarkable that so-called adaptive, or stress, hormones are also important regulators of growth. ACTH and COL (cortisol) are potent growth-inhibitors. . . . It is not unexpected, therefore, stress can affect the growth of the body as a whole. If children are exposed to too much stress, their bodily growth is stunted and this inhibition is, at least, in part, due to an excess secretion of ACTH and COL." And, as I've emphasized before, excess, prolonged exercise "stress" will cause catabolism, or a loss of muscle.
Mike Mentzer
Some bodybuilders have reported that they don't acquire the same degree of pump when training with high-intensity as they did with the superannuated, volume approach. Others, including myself, have indicated that they obtain a better pump with high-intensity training. But, either way, it doesn't matter. The pump is not indicative that growth was stimulated. The pump of course is only temporary -- I enjoy it myself -- but you're lucky if it lasts 20 minutes. If obtaining as pump was a sign that growth was stimulated, then veteran volume bodybuilders would have 30-inch arms by now, as they've been getting pumped for hours a day everyday for years. Training to failure, where another rep is impossible despite your greatest effort, is the stimulus responsible for growth, not the pump!
Mike Mentzer
H.I.T. and Powerlifting
I am often asked if Heavy Duty high-intensity training is suitable for powerlifters. The answer is an unqualified -- YES! Most bodybuilders don't know it, but a properly conducted bodybuilding regimen is essentially a strength training program. In fact, I train my clients exclusively for strength, as I know the size will follow.
My consolidation routine (listed in my book Heavy Duty II) is especially effective for powerlifters, as it includes Squats, Deadlifts and Dips. Dips are particularly effective as an adjunct to Bench Presses and should be used alternately with that exercise in my consolidation program. (All great Bench Pressers used Dips to help their Bench; it might be thought of as the upper body Squat.) As I mentioned in the Training Tip above, intensity is the key to building strength, not endless pumping of the muscles. The mindless, arbitrary pumping of the muscle is for "stimulus freaks," i.e., those who forget that the workout is merely a stimulus which, when carried out correctly, will result in the desired Response, growth.) If you are a powerlifter, I suggest you try Heavy Duty training for three months, and see if I'm not right. Considering your present progress, which is meager or nonexistent, you've nothing to lose.
Mike Mentzer
More Confusion from the Experts
An increasing number of "experts" in the bodybuilding magazines are erroneously asserting that all training approaches invariably lead to "adaptation, " something they deem negative, or undesirable; and use as a justification for moving arbitrarily from one system of training to another.
In reality, in logic, adaptation is precisely what is desired. The purpose of imposing a high-intensity, anaerobic training stress is to cause adaptation, i.e., an adaptive response, i.e., stronger and larger muscles. Similarly, people lay in the sun to elicit an adaptive response; namely, the development of a suntan.
Mike Mentzer
Avoiding Sticking Points
What these individuals are groping to describe is this: That without a properly regulated volume and frequency training protocol, their training approach will lead to a "sticking point," where no further progress can be achieved. Heavy Duty, high-intensity training is the only approach which recognizes that as one grows progressively stronger, i.e., lifts heavier and heavier weights, the stresses grow greater; and that if the increasing stresses aren't continually compensated for by decreasing the volume and frequency, the stresses will reach a critical point. The first symptom will be a slow down in progress; and if the trainee continues with the same volume and frequency he'll ultimately hit a sticking point, or, may even regress. Don't confuse adaptation with a sticking point.
Mike Mentzer
Exercise Induced GH Increase
A number of "experts" have also been suggesting that exercise induced GH increase, in and of itself, is the summum bonum, the be-all-and end-all; that with elevated GH levels increased muscular growth will inevitably occur. If such were the case, those GH anamolies suffering acromegaly would have physiques like bodybuilders; but, in fact, they are primarily skeletal giants. Obviously, elevated GH levels alone are not responsible for muscle growth beyond normal levels.
Mike Mentzer
More Experts
Still other celebrated exercise scientists have claimed recently that volume training results in both increased testosterone and cortisol levels. They then conveniently drop the issue of the increased cortisol output, and focus on the increased testosterone as though it were the ultimate factor responsible for increased muscle growth.
I strongly doubt that their one study revealed increased testosterone output, as numerous past studies have shown that chronic volume training stresses result in the opposite, i.e., a decreased testosterone output.
Mike Mentzer
The Fog Grows Deeper
Bodybuilders whose thinking is thusly restricted usually resort to a type of "Russian roulette," where they move anxiously and uncertainly from one training approach to the next, hoping that someday they luckily happen upon one that works. Or, having sacrificed individual judgment and personal sovereignty entirely, fearing that he - and he alone - suffers a nameless deficiency, many opt to conform to the herd, and blindly follow the other sheep by adopting the training program that has the most adherents in their gym. Little does he suspect that the others are doing the same thing. Like him, they think the others must know what they're doing; after all, how can the majority be wrong. In fact, the entire world can be wrong and one man right. Remember that even though for thousands of years millions of people thought the earth was flat, such didn't make it true.
Mike Mentzer
An Identity Crisis
What's the value of possesing well developed muscles, if the individual is arrested intellectually on the level of a dependent child? Not long ago, in Flex magazine, a very young, heavily muscled, well-known bodybuilder was quoted in bold print, "If 20 sets are good enough for Arnold, it's good enough for me!"
When someone asks, "Who am I to judge?" you really have to wonder. Your "self", your "I," is your mind, i.e., your concepts, ideas, beliefs - in short, your philosophy; which determines the extent of your ability to think and to judge. When a person has relinquished his judgment, deferring that responsibility to others, he has, in effect, sacrificed his self, and literally ends up selfless, suffering an identity crisis.
Mike Mentzer
The Power of the Mind
The idea of a "healthy mind in a healthy body" comes to us from the age of classical Greece, 23 centuries ago. Theirs was a Golden Age which idealized the beauty of the human body and exalted the power of man's mind.
The power (or health) of an individual man's mind is directly proportional to his conceptual range, i.e., the number of concepts his mind has integrated, how well he understands their exact meaning, and the number of logical connections he has made among them.
Mike Mentzer
Conceptual Integration
Considering the massive rise in the number of studies measuring the effect(s) of exercise on hormonal output, what is sorely needed is the logical analysis and "integration" of the results of these studies. This would require interdisciplinary cooperation, including the philosophy of science. Presently, our universities are not aware of this; and "data" continues to accumulate without the requisite processing. The main point here is that without a full, proper contextualization of the data/information derived from such experiments, these reports only serve to relieve the pressures of publish and perish, having little or no practical value.
Mike Mentzer
Bewildered Bodybuilders
"Literally awash in the oceanic proliferation of new 'theories' on exercise, the average bodybuilder cannot even begin to judge, or evaluate, the flood of contradictory information. His thinking is severely hampered, limited to interminable quibbling over relatively unimportant details, such as whether to turn his little pinky up or down when doing Dumbbell Laterals; is a wide grip better than a close grip; is four sets of five exercises better than five sets of four exercises; is three days on and one day off better than one day on and one day off; or, are partial reps better than full range reps?" (From Chapter One of my book, Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body.)
Mike Mentzer
Fundamental vs. Derivatives
The details mentioned in the previous HIT are not totally without import; they are actually "derivatives" - (based on and derived from) - which only have relevance when understood in the context of the fundamentals from which they were derived. What's the difference, for instance, whether a bodybuilder does four sets of five exercises or five sets of four, if he hasn't grasped the cardinal fundamental of exercise science -- the fact that a high-intensity training stress, i.e, training to a point of failure, is an absolute, objective requirement for stimulating growth and, therefore, none of his sets is triggering the growth mechanism into motion? Or, not cognizant of the crucial importance of properly regulating the volume and frequency of his workouts because of the body's strictly limited capacity for tolerating the "wear and tear" of high-intensity training stresses, he becomes so grossly overtained that, even if he were "stimulating" any growth, the overtraining would prevent his body from "producing" growth.
Mike Mentzer
Something To Think About
How central a role does genetics figure in bodybuilding? The answer is, perhaps, best illustrated in the following anecdote. Invariably, during the question and answer portion of every seminar that I've ever conducted, a skeptic will ask, "But, Mr. Mentzer, if Heavy Duty training is truly the one valid, scientific approach to training, how do you account for the success of men like Arnold and Lee Haney?" To which, my stock reply is, "If you wanted to learn the most effective method for developing an optimum suntan, would you ask someone of negroid heritage?" The point being, of course, that while there are those born with the best tan possible (negroid), others swelter on beaches in the summer to obtain a moderate skin burnishing, and yet others will never tan, i.e., albinos.
In bodybuilding, there are the genetically blessed. i.e., those with a strong inherited predisposition for having/developing large muscles; the genetically accursed, i.e., those who will never achieve more than a minuscule of muscular development no matter how they train or eat; and everything in between those extremes. Willy-nilly, nothing - no amount of teeth-gnashing, hand-wringing, hair-pulling or howling in the void - will alter the fundamental fact that any given individual's genetic programming in this regard is absolutely fixed; and, within the context of existing scientific knowledge, cannot be changed. While everyone has the capacity to improve upon his existing muscular development, such can be done only within a "fixed" range. Or, in other words: no one with inherited physical traits similar to Woody Allen can do anything to alter his genetic programming so as to extend the range of his potential such that he could develop a Mr. Olympia physique.
Mike Mentzer
One Last Point On Genetics
(One's standards, whether explicitly or implicitly held, will determine his attitude on the issue of genetic endowment. In one sense, from one perspective, all healthy enough to engage in bodybuilding activity at all, to any degree, are "blessed." When one of my training clients made a habit of complaining about her calves being too high, her biceps being too short, her genetics being "rotten," I finally put a stop to it. I told her that if she persisted I would personally walk her to the strand on Venice Beach and introduce her to an acquaintance of mine, named Jerome, who makes his living dancing on the stubs that should have been his legs, collecting money from the passers-by in a tin cup set by his side because he was born without arms as well.)
Mike Mentzer
A Full, Relevant Context
The biochemical-hormonal factors involved in muscle growth are numerous and complex, the entirety of which is not known. (Such knowledge is not a practical necessity for the bodybuilder. What is crucial is that he understands the proper application of the fundamental principles of exercise; which represent the ultimate physiologic expression of all of the biochemical-hormonal factors.)
What is known is that the biochemicals involved must be present in a certain ratio to influence optimal results from exercise. An abundance of one will not cause the others to work more effectively. For instance, a massive increase in either GH or testosterone will not result in significant potentiation of the other; but, in all cases, increased cortisol will have a negative affect.
Mike Mentzer
Quantity vs. Quality of Effort
Where does one launch an investigation aimed at discovering the type of effort responsible for stimulating growth? The most likely place to start is by looking at one of the more readily observed qualities of the things that exists in reality; namely, quantity. The growth stimulus cannot be directly related to quantity of exercise effort or bodybuilders would see better and better results for every additional hour they spent training.
Since it obviously is not the quantity of effort that's important, there is but one place left to look - the quality, or intensity, of the effort. If a person could curl a 100 pound barbell for 10 reps to failure which rep would be more productive in terms of stimulating an increase in strength and size, the first, the least intense, or the last, the most intense? Obviously it is the last. Do you see where it stands to reason that if the last rep is better than the first, it will be better than the second, third, fourth and so on? That is irrefutable proof that it is the quality of the effort, not the quantity, which is responsible for growth stimulation. Quantity of effort is important only for building endurance, not strength and muscle mass. Don't confuse training long with training hard. Training hard, intensely, is what is required to build muscle mass.
Mike Mentzer
Reserve Ability
Executing that last, almost impossible, rep causes the body to dip into its reserve ability. Since it only has a small amount of this reserve to draw upon before depletion occurs, the body protects itself from future assaults upon its reserves by enlarging upon its existing ability through the compensatory build-up of more muscle mass.
Only high-intensity effort can force the body to resort to its reserve ability sufficiently to stimulate an adaptive response in the form of a muscle mass increase. Repeating tasks that are within your existing capacity do nothing to stimulate growth, there's no need. Ending a set before failure, just because an arbitrary number of reps have been completed simply will not induce growth.
Mike Mentzer
A Second Set?
On occasion, I will have a phone client ask, "Mike, you make such a big deal about doing only one set per exercise. Would it really matter if I did a second set?" Having stimulated the growth mechanism by going to failure on the first set it is neither necessary nor desirable to do a second set; not just a waste of time, but counterproductive. Going from one set to two is not just a mistake: it is the biggest mistake possible because going from one set to two represents the biggest increase possible. It is not merely a linear increase of one unit; it represents a 100 percent increase in the volume of exercise; which is a negative factor.
Mike Mentzer
Look Deeper
I find it curious that the great majority of bodybuilders, knowing that overtraining means something decidedly negative, never look into the issue more seriously. The term is always used in a negative context. In fact, try using the concept in a positive light, and you'll quickly realize it's impossible. By definition, overtraining means performing any more exercise than is required in terms of both volume and frequency than is minimally required to stimulate growth.
Mike Mentzer
Survival: The First Requisite
Nature does not allow living creatures to be inactive. In all levels of biology, inactivity means death. Life is growing. When not moving forward, it falls backward. We survive, then, only so long as we advance. Humankind evolved through continuous struggle and effort. Since man is distinguished from all other creatures because he has a mind - a conceptual faculty - he will only get the best out of himself when employing his rational/critical faculty to focus on the future, that is, to achieve goals. The individual who wants to evolve mentally and physically, therefore, must be willing to exert continuous effort.
Mike Mentzer
Special Tip for Lagging Body Parts
For some, even one set for certain body parts may prove more than the individual can tolerate or even need. For instance, over the years, I have had training clients, who informed me at the start that they couldn't stimulate growth in their calves, whether they were training them with 12 sets three times a week or just one set once a week. They took my advice, acknowledging the possibility that even one set may be too much, then ceased training their calves entirely. These individuals reported to me on a regular basis, claiming calf increases of 3/4" to 1 1/2" in several months.
Similarly, I've had clients who gained quite well overall with their greatest circumference increase in the neck. These examples prove the reality of "indirect effect", i.e., when growth is stimulated in one muscle, growth is stimulated through the entire musculature - though to a lesser degree; and the larger the muscle being worked, the greater the degree of indirect effect.
The calf increases reported above were likely the result of the effect provided by Leg Presses, Squats and Deadlifts; with those experiencing tremendous increases in their neck being the indirect result of growth stimulation induced by Shrugs and Deadlifts.
Conclusion: If you have a lagging body part, stop training that part entirely for a few weeks, then resume training with a lesser number of sets, or, with calves and neck, stop training them entirely.
Mike Mentzer
As the Body Changes, Training Requirements Change:
Sticking Points are NOT Inevitable!
Very often an individual's progress ceases entirely because he failed to account for a very important consideration: that during periods of physical-muscular progress the body is not static, it is in a process of change; and that as the body changes training requirements change. (This was only touched upon briefly in Heavy Duty I; but elaborated thoroughly in Heavy Duty II.) In fact, this is the most important issue in bodybuilding science once the fundamentals of intensity, volume and frequency are grasped.
A properly conducted bodybuilding program is essentially a strength training program. Or, in other words, if one wants to grow larger he must grow stronger. When someone starts to argue with me on this point, I say, "What is one supposed to do to grow larger, get weaker? As one grows stronger, i.e., as the weights grow progressively greater, the stresses on the body become progressively greater; and must be compensated for. (This is the conceptual link that high-intensity theorists have been missing; and which explains their inability to answer the question of sticking points.)
Perhaps the easiest way to understand this phenomenon is to observe the stresses on your body when performing a warm-up set of Squats compared to those experienced during the actual workout set to failure. On the heavier workout set, you immediately recognize the much greater stress on the bones compared to that with the warm-up set; then the much greater demands on the cardio-respiratory system, and so forth. (Not available to conscious awareness are the physiologic-metabolic stresses.) Now simply extrapolate that into the situation over time, as you lift progressively greater weights workout to workout.
As the stresses grow progressively greater, they will eventually reach a critical point such that they constitute overtraining. The first symptom will be a slow down in progress; and if the individual continues with the same volume and frequency protocol, the stresses will continue to increase until there is a complete cessation of progress, typically referred to as a "sticking point." One need not ever experience a slow down in progress, let alone a sticking point, if he bears in mind all the while that as the weights grow progressively greater so do the stresses; and he must do certain specific things to compensate for them.
Within two to three weeks upon embarking on a Heavy Duty, high-intensity training program, a bodybuilder should begin inserting an extra rest day or even two at random beyond the suggested every fourth day workout so that he's compensating for the increasing stresses; and, then, with increasing regularity until he is training but once every five days with an extra rest day or two added beyond that.
To quell any fear about the progressive reduction of training frequency, consider this. An individual making progress training once every fourth day, i.e., whose body is overcompensating--(i.e., growing stronger and larger)--cannot lose anything by taking a further day or two of rest. If his body is overcompensating on day four, how is it that he would decompensate on day five or six? So, while there is no risk of a negative, no threat of a loss, by inserting an extra day or two of rest, there is the actuality of a positive; which is - with the extra rest day(s) you have that much greater certainty that enough time has elapsed between workouts to allow the body sufficient opportunity to complete both the recovery and the growth processes. The implication here is that if the individual trains again before the body's growth production process is completed, it will be short-circuited; and less than 100 units of possible progress realized.
Once the individual is training once every seven days, I suggest a reduction in the volume of training as outlined in my new book Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body. Reduced volume will necessitate switching from the Suggested Workout #1 to the Consolidation Program. With a consolidation routine, there is a decided shift in emphasis to predominately compound exercises, i.e., ones that involve multiple muscle groups, such as Squats, Dips and Deadlifts, etc. A workout program consisting of compound exercises still works all of the major muscle groups, but with fewer total sets, making for a minimal inroad into recovery ability. (Ideally, growth would be stimulated with zero sets; then none of the body's limited recovery ability would be used for recovery, it would all be used for growth production; and you'd grow so fast as to stagger the imagination. At this juncture, however, no one knows how to stimulate growth with zero sets.)
Following the above advice, you'll never hit a sticking point; you will experience unbreached progress with your training. As I have written before: if scientists can send a man to the moon and bring him back safely each time, we should be able to succeed with every one of our missions to the gym here on earth. Building bigger muscles should be a cake walk compared to moon walk.
Mike Mentzer