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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.
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
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 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.
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
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
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.
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.
I started 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.
My only thing was I did put on a lot of weight, but then again I don't track my carbs like a lot of people because whatever my mother cooks is what I eat😂
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 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.
@@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
Corrections: 10:34 - That is Mike's late brother Ray, who had arms measured by Arthur Jones at close to 20". (Jones was fastidious with his measurements and notes and also checked stars of the time like Arnold, Oliva, etc.) Also, Mentzer was not into meth. Mike allegedly used amphetamines to the point he was hospitalized. Trained with him a couple of times "back in the day". Most of his information came from Arthur Jones, who actually had exercise physiologists, if I recall, on payroll. Can also share some other info having been at Gold's re the Mentzers training and Casey Viator, an absolute beast.
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
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
@@TheBatugan77literally just think about it. Is it easier to do 14 reps of lateral raise instead of 13, or is it easier to jump from 20-25 pound dumbbells for your lateral raise? Literally just use thinking
@@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.
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 UA-cam content if the answer is simple and right in front of your face. Yeah, RP is overly dismissive with this video.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
"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.
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%).
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?? 🤷♂️
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
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.
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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?
Thanks for covering the video, I’ve recently became sort of a fanboy of Mike’s philosophy and to me the best thing he’s taught me is how important recovery is. There’s still learning room for learning new updated information & criticism of course, so thank you & definitely go over the other video!
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.
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.
Yeah I'm gonna give this a go. I could definitely tell that I'd get weaker actually if I train daily. But after a week off I'm max strength. It's just a bit sad because working out is kinda nice you know. Sometimes I'm like ah crap I already worked out I can't just do another right now but I want to
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?
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.
He was a pioneer my friend in the wide spread of bodybuilding methods and standards. He was talking to people 40 years ago. Your critique is based on a science that has been developed for 40 years. Criticizing Mezler is like Criticising Colombus ideas about long distance sea voyages, while being a captain of modern ships
One thing is these old timer body’s are unreal. I don’t get why they look so much better. The quality and proportions are so on point. Non of that pregnant belly stuff crazy
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.
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 :)
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.
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.
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 :)
how is that going for you? I just started yesterday with the ideal routine.
7 місяців тому+1
@@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
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.
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
@@baronmeduseI thought all your comments were critiquing things Mike got wrong, per the other 80 comments on this page. This one is just being a troll. Why waste the effort being an @ss?
You asked, I answer: review, review, review the other half of the video, and review the other lifters. I'm 4 or 5 posts into this channel now and loving it. Keep it coming please because it's both entertaining and I am genuinely thinking and learning from the commentary.
I’m a 61 year old male who has been working out for 40 years - always natty. I’ve been doing HIT for the last 10 years and even now, I’m still making gains and getting personal bests for all range of lifts. I do one workout every 4 or 5 days, 30 mins max per workout, and even the (natty) 20 and 30 year olds wonder how I do it. The best thing is I have no injuries, ever; I spend very little time in the gym so am able to concentrate on my businesses and home life; and if I miss a session due to work or illness I never worry about it. HIT frees you up but gives you the best workout in much less time. Just do it and you’ll see what I mean.
@19:37 “if you guys want us to review different … philosophies”. I know this isn’t what you meant, but I’d love to get Dr.Mike’s thoughts on Stoicism and The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.. I feel like he’s got something to say about it
I accidentally did mike mentzer routine due to extreme fatigue, and then got exposed to his routine later. am sticking to it, it delivers results, u feel good and strong. I do a full body routine once every 72 to 96 hours. Its the best. It takes around 40 minutes. bulking and cutting is only decided by calorie in and out from here on for me. im right now cutting.
Mr America heart has said some of it is outdated but the principles are still strong. Keep what works discard what don’t in my opinion. Great video love your channel
Gonna have to defend Mike here. I've been working since I was 17 and im 28 now. My strength has gone up a lot, I've gotten more compliments from my friends on how I've grown, I feel like I have more energy in the gym and overall my joints feel better as well
I do a combination of PPL RP Periodization mesocycles with some HIT principles. Main one being two working sets 1 RIR third /Top set is to failure. Recovery has been optimal, strength and size increasing. Finally found a program that's working well for me.
Would love it if you did part 2 of this, and/or even a series of reviews on 80s weightlifting videos in general. I have a deep spiritual need to see more of those 80s hairstyles, gym fashions, & facial hair (which also happen to be my guesses of what Dr. Mike is addicted to).
If he were still alive, and if he was truly scientific minded, he would have to look at the current research on frequency and volume and concede that he was wrong about the whole single working set gimmick.
@jimjambananaslam3596 its not about single workouts, it was more about hitting the muscles in sucha. Way through heavy duty training that volume and frequency would definitely have to be reduced due to putting muscles under such stress
I love this! I'm a resistance training newbie at 43 years old - about 16 months into it (and addicted) - and this commentary is both reinforcing what my great coach has been programming, allowing me to say "yeah, I know that, that makes sense", and it's giving me some new thing to think about in terms of goals.
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.
I follow Mentzer's training methodology. I have to admit his methods are a bit too low volume, add a bit more volume in the right places and you have the perfect most efficient workout program
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
My conspiracy theory is that nobody who likes Mike Mentzer doesn't actually does the 'one set is all you need' philosophy and they definitely don't take 4-5 days of rest afterwards. It's more about following this guy who was a bodybuilder and a smart guy who provided some arguments for his training methods and makes people feel strong for going to failure. But nobody actually follows what he said to the letter
HIT is "effective" and is quite effective for the amount of time actually spent in the gym, but it is not the most effective method per unit of absolute time passing. It's great if you literally have 2 hours a week to work out and need to squeeze in as much stimulus as possible within that limited time frame. But as soon as you have time to hit the same muscle group even twice a week, it's better to take a more sensible approach. As such, I've got my core full body workout rountines of Squat/Rows/Bench and DL/Pulldowns/OHP. I follow a pretty standard 3x5-12 rep routine, 2x a week for these exercises. But if I've got juice in the tank and 5 minutes at the end of a workout, hell yell I'll blast out a 1-set beyond failure HIT isolation exercise.
I'm doing his method from his last book right now. I'm loving the intensity, but I am definitely recovering faster than I thought and will up the frequency. I'm enjoying the experience but will definitely make adjustments.
In reading a couple of books about Heavy Duty Training, the 4-5 days of rest isn’t applicable to every person. Mike actually states this in some of his interviews. Some people can recover faster from exercise than others so his form of high intensity training should be modified depending on how each individual feels. Watching reels or tik tok clips don’t give people all the information. I would implore anyone interested in HIT to read Mike Mentzer’s and John Little’s books to learn more about how to train to your individual needs.
@@joshmoronstein These days I regularly find myself thinking "Why am I the asshole for pointing out how unintelligible people are, and they're not assholes for making me read what they said ten times trying to understand it just because they're lazy?".
So in order to dismiss all the heavy duty intensity principles you just rely on some studies that compared people doing 1 set vs multiple sets… are you sure that the group doing 1 set were actually going to fail at max intensity? I’m sure not.
Well There was a Study from 2016 from a german Instituten that they proofed that HIT was better at muscle gain compard to a 3xRep: So he kinda talks bullshit because this is what the conclusion said: "To conclude, the results of this study suggest significant muscular performance gains can be produced using either a 'High Intensity Training' style (HIT) or 'Body-building' style (3ST) RT approach. However, muscular performance gains may be greater when using HIT, therefore we recommend HIT for maximising muscular performance gains over a 10 week period."
@@Snake369 I'm sure you haven't tried a heavy duty program in yourself. I've tried both approaches so I don't need that nay study tell me what's better: I know it. When you do 1 set, high intensity and long recovery time, your muscular gains are insane. You can continue doing several sets or even become vegan if you wish, but heavy duty and carnivore is what it works.
Hey Mike, I love the videos! As a german, I’d love to see your input to some ideas of the training of Markus Rühl :). For a long time I thought Mike Mentzers methods were great, but like you explained it doesnt go along with todays science in every point, so thank you for clearing that up!
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
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@@C0d0pshe must be really poor if he spends even his pants money on lambos
Mike is definitely addicted to twinks I mean Twinkies
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.
Have you done a video on Dante Trudel’s DC Training Theory?
I’d love to see Dr. Mike review Tom Platz and his leg days. Would be funny to see what he thinks about Tom being hypnotized in the gym too
+1
I think Tom’s training is designed specifically for his mental illness and thus works perfectly 😂
Tom Platz has super good genetics (and PEDs) for legs. I don't think our leg days will be like Tom's even on a good day.
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
that was probably a quite meaningful workout for him, way better than finding a weight he could do that insane planned volume with@@TheBobes
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.
This doesn't just apply bodybuilding, but sports in general.
@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.
It’s because most guys wanna do less work lmao
@@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 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 bro
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.
You probably look soft and fluffy, watery though.
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.
Are u natty?
Can you elaborate on this: 3 days a week 1 set a body part 4-5 exercises? Thank you
@@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
Anyone who compares heavy leg extensions as a measurable goal, is a dumb novice idiot 😂
I think a lot of this is dudes just overtrain in general, and cutting back allows better recovery regardless of the programs used
You definitely should do part two. It's really cool to see those old and new paradigms collide!
Yes!!!
Absolutely love it
Fr
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
@@libertarianpunk8558 💀 💀
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.
Arnold selling recovery/protein..
Mentzer is telling people to destroy their bodies.
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.
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.
He died like he trained, in a singular way.
His ideas? Science back then showed he was wrong. He knew it. And what ideas? He is talking like what he says is fact when it was complete bullshit.
Exactly. People act like he didnt have a time machine so hes a charlatan. Mike was the goat
I started 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.
Exactly
My only thing was I did put on a lot of weight, but then again I don't track my carbs like a lot of people because whatever my mother cooks is what I eat😂
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. 💪💪💪
How was mike as a person ?
Would he have recommended low volume for a beginner?
@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!
@Mantastic-ho3vm come on man answer
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.
The comments tell me someone somewhere has gone wrong on the science because it's the same for me 1h every 5 days and my strength is better then ever
Y'all sound like bots
me too, bro. Me too!
@@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
@@Felled-angel So all of science is wrong becasue you've heard some personal anecdotes? Do you see the problem with this?
I'm gonna need to digest this video over the course of my 14 day recovery period...
Im up to exercising once per month and i just call it Hitt
I’m growing more than ever training once a year. Boy was I wrong for training 5 days a week.
@@executiveinvestmentsyes you were wrong
@@evernew23 You're right. I do 6 times a week. I'm the only one who is right.
@@robbertag808 no not necessary
Corrections: 10:34 - That is Mike's late brother Ray, who had arms measured by Arthur Jones at close to 20". (Jones was fastidious with his measurements and notes and also checked stars of the time like Arnold, Oliva, etc.) Also, Mentzer was not into meth. Mike allegedly used amphetamines to the point he was hospitalized. Trained with him a couple of times "back in the day". Most of his information came from Arthur Jones, who actually had exercise physiologists, if I recall, on payroll. Can also share some other info having been at Gold's re the Mentzers training and Casey Viator, an absolute beast.
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 lol
@@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.”
@@marcpjoynerLike Edison, Mike stole his ideas from others and used them to profit
@@BennyParcherone sentence in and you’re already lying 😂 do you know the difference between methamphetamines and amphetamines which Menzter was prescribed lmao
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
You can also just put less weight on the bar and then you can continue adding reps no problem.
though one could argue that in the example he gave it would have been wiser to multiply 1.23 by the number of reps
@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
It’s all about finding that sweet spot between intensity, volume, and recovery.
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.
There's no way you can over train on hit. It's severely lacking in volume which is half its problem
Take a week off of training after 6 weeks and deload to 75% max poundages the first week back.
Then push hard for another 6 weeks, repeat.
@MealTeam6 Which comes from overtraining.
he sent a book to a colored? boy, what a radical.
how is HIT training outdated but lifting every day 5 or 6 times a week is not???
So they can continue to sell you stuff
Because 1 works a lot better than the other, not that difficult to understand
@@chadingram6390 which one works for you?
@@chadingram6390 Does it really?
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.
The fitness industry is going to have a field day with this one 💀
facts💀
They were having an anneurysm over the Sam Sulek one 💀and it wasnt harsh at all
So take scientific advice from 30yrs ago because it's Mike Mentzer, or take the updated version of science?
Yeah because no one 30 years ago knew what they were doing 🙄@josegarcia9650
They kinda knew, now we know a bit more.
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.
Isnt that more of an issue of you not listening to your own body?
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.
@@JordanAlbert-fu9jz So in other words, you weren't training hard, and weren't recovering properly
seems you are lazy and hate working out.. pick up chess then
Not outdated but expandable / adjustable
Sexy Flanders was ahead of his time and for sure today we know a few things better!
Sexy Flanders haha…
isnt that what outdated is u idiot
Sexy flanders 😂
😂😂 "hommerrr"
stupid Sexy Flander!
It’ll never be outdated it works for me.
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
BOOM. Nailed it.
Doubt it, show me true gains through true hiit. Most of the muscle you build is soft and not detailed or hard
@@JspekRex😂😂 Ur a clown
@@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.
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.
Mikes videos feel like a warm hug to my soul
Which Mike? Lol.
😂
@@FridaysJanKenPon the handsome bald one
lol gay
Are we not gonna talk about that sick slide transition at 2:29? Man was truly an innovator in all aspects
Thats a High Intensity Transition taken to failure
Innovator or what? Hit was invented by Arthur jones in the first place. Mentzer was a fraud.
lmao@@jonathanmoncada3177
I hope you are joking, because it was a nice joke 😂😂
wtf was the transition lmao
I’ve been doing mikes system and my body has changed so much it’s crazy and I’ve been lifting since I was 16 🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️
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.
@@dannyg1252 oil does nothing
@@lmlimpoismyour a moron
@@lmlimpoism why does it exist then?
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.
That's fair for large muscle groups. For small and isolated like shoulders, calves, biceps, forearms is preferable to add reps
@@EVR1ALwhy
@@ottolindemark6082
Because. That's why.
Depends on the muscle and rep range and how advanced you are, but yes this is often easier
@@TheBatugan77literally just think about it. Is it easier to do 14 reps of lateral raise instead of 13, or is it easier to jump from 20-25 pound dumbbells for your lateral raise?
Literally just use thinking
That damn clip of Kyriakos training grip...We are not worthy. Holy. Hell.
Mike mentzer had a better physique than Arnold Schwarzenegger .
But somehow he still don’t know what he’s talking about. Crazy world we living in.
Where are his 7 olympias then ? 😂
@@Augustiinfrantzpopularity contest. That's life. If you don't know, you better.
@@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.
@@AugustiinfrantzMaurice?
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.
MIKE WASN'T A PAGAN AND WOULDN'T KNEEL TO THAT DARKNESS SO THEY ,TO THIS DAY ATTACK HIM FOR EXPOSING A BETTER SYSTEM.
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.
💯💯💯
Mike was not comprehended until to this day and died because of his meth addiction
They stolen his work entirely
Because you can’t produce reams and reams of UA-cam content if the answer is simple and right in front of your face. Yeah, RP is overly dismissive with this video.
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.
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.
@Mantastic-ho3vm cope and cope
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.
lol. Mike never did 1 set to failure. He grew his body with volume training like everyone else.
@@executiveinvestments AND frequency, given he built his physique doing full body 3/4 times a week
@@papaspaulding yep. His one set bullshit was a scam he used to promote his personal training business. Mike, do as I say not as I do, fraud Mentzer.
@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.
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.
All wrong by the way. Post physique to back up your claim.
@@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.
@@Rob-qn6odhow so? lol post what logical fallacy
@@int0thew1nd Very simple. Post your physique in a vid or on your YT avatar. Let's see these "amazing" gains from hit.
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
Exactly lol either do it and don't complain or quit and don't complain lol.
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.
"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.
14:16 I really liked the mathematical explanation of why sometimes it’s better to add weight than reps.
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%).
You can also just do higher reps with less weight. Going from 20 to 21 reps for example, is only a 5% increase.
@@davidnordqvist5749 yeah he was talking about lower reps and higher weight
depends on the weight you are using for the repetitions
I follow mentzers approach but with cardio. I go hard one day then rest for a year. I don't wanna overtrain.
U know how hard it would be to overtrain ,u won’t get good body if u train one day (I really can’t tell if ur joking)
@@KnightofNarnia185 I was joking lol
@@KnightofNarnia185 rocks for brains over here
@@sweets7714 dickhead for brains over here.
Dr. Mike the kind of guy that loves upsetting as many diehard fanbases as possible
Athlean X is gearing up for war rn
And I am here for it!!
Yep...and riding on other's people fame...........
PATHETIC LITTLE "MAN" !!
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?? 🤷♂️
@@danInRealife
You sound like a real loser, danny.
It is a known fact that listening to Rammstein during your workouts increases muscle hypertrophy by 69,420%
Thanks! I did not know that.
🤘🤘🤘
Du....du hast....+25lbs on a deadlift
Du hast mega muscles?
20 years of working out only to Rammstein here.
I approve this meassage👍🏻
Mike was the goat and ahead of his time in so many of his methods... uncrowned Olimpia winner for sure. Rest in peace legend.
💯👌
@@GladiousMSR yeah for a while now lol
I'm old and I was a Mike fan because he was BIG...and successful..obviously. What he did WORKS. I'll just believe him thank you very much
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
Dorian just dispelled that myth. Mike did not train him. Dorian did his own thing. There's a new interview up with him stating that.
@@anabolicbodybuildinggive me the link
@@ClashergodClashergod Did Mike Mentzer Train Dorian Yates?
ua-cam.com/video/s4HZtKqw8Jk/v-deo.html
Did Mike Mentzer Train Dorian Yates?
ua-cam.com/video/s4HZtKqw8Jk/v-deo.html
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’m following Metzer’s training method. I did 1 set of curls today, and now I’ll rest 7 months before doing curls again
7 months not enough that overtraining !
I usually wait a year. And holy shit I’m growing more than ever now.
BRO 7 YEARS AT LEAST
You win the internet today.
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 love this path you guys are going on. As a gym nerd myself it’s so satisfying seeing you critiquing these guys.
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
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.
Yet none of the so called testimonials provide any evidence to back up their dubious claims. The hit cult are full of delusional clowns.
I'm 47 following Mike training routine I'm happy with that and I learnt more
Great for you hope you keep training consistently.💪
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.
Correct.
thanks for the clarification
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.
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
Agree.
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
@@beantea5592That just means you're not using heavy enough weight if you're able to dropset to infinity within 30 mins
Thanks!
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.
which mike?
@@ganktWizowski.
You didn't take Enough time to gain
3:13
LOOL that side by side comparison of younger Mike and Kiriakos is just fire!
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.
@@sword-and-shield great words. Finish your training feeling strong not spent. Longetivity is definitely important
@@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.
@@Artaxerxes. If you do not spent you do not gain, simple as that. How much you give out is proportional of how much you will be given back.
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.
What his his method?
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?
@@dannykay3598 going to the gym and lifting weights
Thanks for covering the video, I’ve recently became sort of a fanboy of Mike’s philosophy and to me the best thing he’s taught me is how important recovery is. There’s still learning room for learning new updated information & criticism of course, so thank you & definitely go over the other video!
RP has been "slaying sacred cows" 🐄 and I'm all "here for it"
The problem with a lot of Mikes' ideas was that he simply didn't live in a time with as advanced knowledge as we have now.
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.
@@Matt34677almost anything works when your a pro bodybuilder and your genetics are in the 1% of the 1%
@@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.
But he knew enough then but just chose to be dismissive for the sake of being contrary to sell his books and programs.
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.
Yeah I'm gonna give this a go. I could definitely tell that I'd get weaker actually if I train daily. But after a week off I'm max strength. It's just a bit sad because working out is kinda nice you know. Sometimes I'm like ah crap I already worked out I can't just do another right now but I want to
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?
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.
He was a pioneer my friend in the wide spread of bodybuilding methods and standards.
He was talking to people 40 years ago. Your critique is based on a science that has been developed for 40 years.
Criticizing Mezler is like Criticising Colombus ideas about long distance sea voyages, while being a captain of modern ships
One thing is these old timer body’s are unreal. I don’t get why they look so much better. The quality and proportions are so on point. Non of that pregnant belly stuff crazy
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.
This is the video I've been waiting for for so long. I'm so excited to see the angry comments from people who've been lifting for 3 months
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”
@@brennand933
Nobody says that lmao you utterly autistic orangutan
@@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 :)
@@baronmedusefacts. I have trained for 2 years. Did mike’s style for the last 3 months. Saw a significant improvement. Will stick to it
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.
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.
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 :)
I'd love to have a teacher like him
Love that you're covering this. I'm still wondering why there's this sudden resurgence of Mentzer.
Honestly I think it's because people want quick and easy fixes. Ice baths! Just one intense set and you're done!
@@BrofUJuabsolutely this.
Ice baths are real, especially if injuries are in the equation. But yeah, most are lazy and impatient. Cheers. @@BrofUJu
@@BrofUJu easy?
A lot of people will use any excuse to spend as little time as possible in the gym.
Im sticking with Mike Mentzers method and no one else
how is that going for you? I just started yesterday with the ideal routine.
@@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
thats why you gona be smaller and weaker than the people around you. Wana feel good about yourself doing shitty workouts? Go champ...
@@kgorilla2 that's a load of shit im 18 years in and the ones who rest get bigger unless your on gear. muscle take 2 months to full repair
2 years is better xD my god you must be special. BONE TAKE 6-8 WEEKS but you must be right. Everybody is wrong and you are right :D
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.
Didn't win olympia with that score.
@@jamalkherry5296 I see. It was the 1978 Mr. Universe.
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
Jay Vincent is gonna love this. Thanks for the video, Dr. Mike.
Ah, you're in a club of people who know. You know people. Amazing.
@@baronmeduseI thought all your comments were critiquing things Mike got wrong, per the other 80 comments on this page. This one is just being a troll. Why waste the effort being an @ss?
@@bobboberson6664 I love donkeys.
You asked, I answer: review, review, review the other half of the video, and review the other lifters.
I'm 4 or 5 posts into this channel now and loving it. Keep it coming please because it's both entertaining and I am genuinely thinking and learning from the commentary.
I’m a 61 year old male who has been working out for 40 years - always natty. I’ve been doing HIT for the last 10 years and even now, I’m still making gains and getting personal bests for all range of lifts. I do one workout every 4 or 5 days, 30 mins max per workout, and even the (natty) 20 and 30 year olds wonder how I do it. The best thing is I have no injuries, ever; I spend very little time in the gym so am able to concentrate on my businesses and home life; and if I miss a session due to work or illness I never worry about it. HIT frees you up but gives you the best workout in much less time. Just do it and you’ll see what I mean.
Would like the critique of the second half. Let’s get with it
I am convinced my brain would explode if we got a hypertrophy debate between Dr Mike vs Paul Carter
Within 5 minutes paul would rage quit and block Mike on all social media
They did it together a couple of years ago on Revive Stronger.
Thx- I gotta go look this up@@SirFlashman-zv7ue
would love to see it as I am big HIT advocate as well
@@brennand933before blocking he would probably send threats in the DMs 😂
@19:37 “if you guys want us to review different … philosophies”. I know this isn’t what you meant, but I’d love to get Dr.Mike’s thoughts on Stoicism and The Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.. I feel like he’s got something to say about it
I accidentally did mike mentzer routine due to extreme fatigue, and then got exposed to his routine later. am sticking to it, it delivers results, u feel good and strong. I do a full body routine once every 72 to 96 hours. Its the best. It takes around 40 minutes. bulking and cutting is only decided by calorie in and out from here on for me. im right now cutting.
Would be interesting to see a breakdown from your perspective of different bodybuilding eras.
Mr America heart has said some of it is outdated but the principles are still strong. Keep what works discard what don’t in my opinion. Great video love your channel
Gonna have to defend Mike here. I've been working since I was 17 and im 28 now. My strength has gone up a lot, I've gotten more compliments from my friends on how I've grown, I feel like I have more energy in the gym and overall my joints feel better as well
Mike vs Mike! Loved this video. Super helpful to hear a fleshed out and nuanced appreciation as well as correction of Mentzer’s methodology
I do a combination of PPL RP Periodization mesocycles with some HIT principles. Main one being two working sets 1 RIR third /Top set is to failure. Recovery has been optimal, strength and size increasing. Finally found a program that's working well for me.
Would love it if you did part 2 of this, and/or even a series of reviews on 80s weightlifting videos in general. I have a deep spiritual need to see more of those 80s hairstyles, gym fashions, & facial hair (which also happen to be my guesses of what Dr. Mike is addicted to).
BETA MALE
Not outdated at all, Mike was the man who was the talking living practical phenom
If he were still alive, and if he was truly scientific minded, he would have to look at the current research on frequency and volume and concede that he was wrong about the whole single working set gimmick.
@jimjambananaslam3596 its not about single workouts, it was more about hitting the muscles in sucha. Way through heavy duty training that volume and frequency would definitely have to be reduced due to putting muscles under such stress
I love this!
I'm a resistance training newbie at 43 years old - about 16 months into it (and addicted) - and this commentary is both reinforcing what my great coach has been programming, allowing me to say "yeah, I know that, that makes sense", and it's giving me some new thing to think about in terms of goals.
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.
please share the routine
@@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.
I follow Mentzer's training methodology. I have to admit his methods are a bit too low volume, add a bit more volume in the right places and you have the perfect most efficient workout program
The negative should be slower
@@DanBlabbers4 seconds each way 🤙
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
Yes for the second part, please!
My conspiracy theory is that nobody who likes Mike Mentzer doesn't actually does the 'one set is all you need' philosophy and they definitely don't take 4-5 days of rest afterwards. It's more about following this guy who was a bodybuilder and a smart guy who provided some arguments for his training methods and makes people feel strong for going to failure. But nobody actually follows what he said to the letter
Nobody doesn't actually does, holy hell.
HIT is "effective" and is quite effective for the amount of time actually spent in the gym, but it is not the most effective method per unit of absolute time passing.
It's great if you literally have 2 hours a week to work out and need to squeeze in as much stimulus as possible within that limited time frame.
But as soon as you have time to hit the same muscle group even twice a week, it's better to take a more sensible approach.
As such, I've got my core full body workout rountines of Squat/Rows/Bench and DL/Pulldowns/OHP. I follow a pretty standard 3x5-12 rep routine, 2x a week for these exercises.
But if I've got juice in the tank and 5 minutes at the end of a workout, hell yell I'll blast out a 1-set beyond failure HIT isolation exercise.
I'm doing his method from his last book right now. I'm loving the intensity, but I am definitely recovering faster than I thought and will up the frequency. I'm enjoying the experience but will definitely make adjustments.
In reading a couple of books about Heavy Duty Training, the 4-5 days of rest isn’t applicable to every person. Mike actually states this in some of his interviews. Some people can recover faster from exercise than others so his form of high intensity training should be modified depending on how each individual feels. Watching reels or tik tok clips don’t give people all the information. I would implore anyone interested in HIT to read Mike Mentzer’s and John Little’s books to learn more about how to train to your individual needs.
@@joshmoronstein These days I regularly find myself thinking "Why am I the asshole for pointing out how unintelligible people are, and they're not assholes for making me read what they said ten times trying to understand it just because they're lazy?".
So in order to dismiss all the heavy duty intensity principles you just rely on some studies that compared people doing 1 set vs multiple sets… are you sure that the group doing 1 set were actually going to fail at max intensity? I’m sure not.
trust the science bro!!!
Well There was a Study from 2016 from a german Instituten that they proofed that HIT was better at muscle gain compard to a 3xRep: So he kinda talks bullshit because this is what the conclusion said: "To conclude, the results of this study suggest significant muscular performance gains can be produced using either a 'High Intensity Training' style (HIT) or 'Body-building' style (3ST) RT approach. However, muscular performance gains may be greater when using HIT, therefore we recommend HIT for maximising muscular performance gains over a 10 week period."
@@Snake369 I'm sure you haven't tried a heavy duty program in yourself. I've tried both approaches so I don't need that nay study tell me what's better: I know it. When you do 1 set, high intensity and long recovery time, your muscular gains are insane. You can continue doing several sets or even become vegan if you wish, but heavy duty and carnivore is what it works.
@@DanielFernandez-h3l😂😂😂😂HIT has been tested and it has dismal results. I've never seen a single person who's done hit have big legs. 1 set yh?.
@@Kayden123-ci4tr Have you heard about Dorian Yates? He won 6 consecutive Mr.Olympia following the heavy duty method....
I’ve made a tremendous amount of progress by following Mikes philosophy/routine.
Great advice Mike. Balanced critique of Mentzer as well as some appreciation too. Love it! Need part 2!
Please do part two! I'll watch and upvote!
finally the whole video
Mentzer is about as close to an ideal physique as I've ever seen. He looked good. Not freakish, not entirely unattainable...just great.
His physique is unattainable for naturals but he still has good advice.
No and no.
In fact , Mike Mentzer changed a lot of his toughts after this photographed video maybe you can check his newer seminars or read his latest books
Hey Mike, I love the videos! As a german, I’d love to see your input to some ideas of the training of Markus Rühl :). For a long time I thought Mike Mentzers methods were great, but like you explained it doesnt go along with todays science in every point, so thank you for clearing that up!
The devil hates when you give away the secrets for free
best comment
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
@@DominicRomero-r3twow great info while this clown tries to make jokes while he look like he does 😅
@@DominicRomero-r3tagreed 100%
@user-nb8th3lt7f Not to mention fat bloated and on chemical.
That was an extraordinarily extravagant way of describing how to spend 30 minutes in the changing room.