Putting Mike Mentzers HIT to the test

[Ron Schwarz]

Not necessarily. You can make impressive gains in size and still be quite weak for your weight. Gyms are full of these guys. They're huge but they struggle to dip or chin-up their own body weight.

Yes, because they are FAT and/or they focus only on benches and curls and never do any back work. I have yet to meet a 220lb guy who is rock hard muscle who can't do chins/dips with their own bodyweight.

It's quite simple really.

Yes, it is. Dr. Ken Leistner:

“I am fond of telling doubting trainees that it’s just a matter of always adding weight to the bar, adding another repetition, If you could get to the point where you’re squatting 400 lbs for 20 reps, stiff-legged deadlifting 400 lbs for 15 reps, curling 200 for 10 reps, pressing 200 for 10 reps, doing 10 dips with 300 lbs around your waist, and chinning with 100 pounds, don’t you think you would be big - I mean awfully big? And strong? Obviously!”

Those who think strength gains are primarily due to an increase in muscle size are sadly mistaken.

Work for strength, and size will follow. It isn't complicated.

[DRush]

I tend to agree with Ron on this one. Ive never seen anyone who is decently muscular not being able to lift a significan amount of weight. Dominik can you give examples of these individuels who who are small muscle wise but lift heavy weight?Now onto the muscle now site.Now I take offense to sites like this that although he doesnt claim to be an expert he does so to me by taking your money for a service. My take on experts is this:No ones an expert, they just know more than you, so get informed. Plus that muscle now site he really needs to update and make his pics more realistic. Take his pic for example, first he has a pic of him I guess at age 9(he says 15 but he is pulling your leg by a long shot) then him in his mid 20 a little on the hefty side, then him ripped up the same year I assume. Well even if I never touched a weight, my body definatly would have grown from age 9 to my mid 20s. Plus you have to look at the people who post their pics on his site. Now this is my opinion here but none of them look like they put on size because if you see their before pic you can see they are carrying a bit of bodyfat, and the after pic is a pic of them looking ripped,basically looks like they just cleaned up their diet and routine and probably eliminated all the bench presses and curls they were doing. Now this is not a bad thing at all but you have to read the section where he it says MUSCLE NOW WILL TEACH YOU...... under the golden stars.It says some of the things I have read in the Mentzer HIT book. here is a cut and paste of that:

MuscleNOW Will Teach You...(in other words what you could teach yourself)

Why longer training sessions actually diminish results.

MENTZER HIT ALSO SAYS THIS

The MOST EFFECTIVE exercises for each muscle group -- common "shaping movements" actually DETRACT FROM MUSCLE SIZE!

HIT TRAINING DOES NOT PUSH SINGLE JOINT EXCERSISES,ANYWAY ONLY YOUR GENETICS WILL DETERMINE YOUR MUSCLE SHAPE NOT AT WHAT ANGLE OR WHAT EXCERCISE YOU USE(ANOTHER THING NOTED IN THE MENTZER BOOK)


Why varying grips are necessary for complete muscular development.

VARYING GRIPS ARE MENTIONED IN THE MENTZER BOOK AS NOT IMPORTANT. I PUT THIS ON PAR WITH USING CERTAIN EXCERSISES TO SHAPE



The proper speed at which to perform positive and negative reps and why it matters.

THE WHOLE MENTZER HIT IS BASED ON THE 4 SEC NEGATIVE


Why performing a large number of exercises for a particular muscle group is a TOTAL WASTE OF TIME.

SOUNDS LIKE HIT TO ME


EXACTLY when and how to monitor progress.

I THOUGHT HE SAID" If You Cannot Measure New Muscle Gains
Or Fat Loss EVERY SINGLE WEEK,
Then You MUST Change Your Routine"


Why volume based programs (large sets, many exercises, etc) are a waste of time.
SOUNDS LIKE HE IS TALKING ABOUT HIT TO ME

Why each muscle group requires LESS exercise to produce MORE muscle! SOUNDS LIKE HIT AGAIN

Now I didnt cut and past the whole thing, but most of that section makes it seem like he is going to tell you some secret hints and tips no one but he knows,most of that section can be researched for nothing.
Here are some of my tips(and they wont cost you anything) to get your muscle building efforts up weather you use HVT or HIT:

1: Use multijoint excercises
2: Eat clean, and eat every 3 hours
3: Drink water at least a gallon a day.
4: Be in and out of the gym in under 30 minutes
5: Get plenty of sleep and rest between workouts( between 48- 72hrs)
6: Dont blame your halt and or slow gains in progress on your genetics, blame it on yourself and refer to the before mentioned tips.

And most of all KISS, Keep it simple stupid, dont read into the magazines and supplements to deep and the new routines that come out every month in Muscle and fitness.

[Dominik]

Work for strength, and size will follow. It isn't complicated.

It's a very narrow view. If you are only trying to build some size, it's not necessary to train with the emphasis on building strength. Strength will come as a result of your weight training, but not at the rate it would if you trained for strength. Training for strength also involves taking greater risks. Are you suggesting everyone should be training close to their max?

It's a very inflexible approach to suggest (paraphrasing) "to get big, train for strength and the size will come." They're two separate goals. There are many guys out there building great BB physiques who aren't using a lot of weight compared to powerlifters, typically training around 8-12 reps, and higher. Watch some of the poundages used in pro BB training videos. There are bodybuilders with more size than Johnnie Jackson who don't come anywhere near the poundages he trains with.

The majority of athletes for example are looking to gain maximal strength with a minimal increase in body weight (from hypertrophy). This requires a very different approach to what the typical bodybuilder is doing. You know I'm not suggesting training for strength is a bad idea--I'm saying not everyone has to make it a priority to gain size and build a great physique.

[Dominik]

I tend to agree with Ron on this one. Ive never seen anyone who is decently muscular not being able to lift a significan amount of weight. Dominik can you give examples of these individuels who who are small muscle wise but lift heavy weight?

Sure, how about Lamar Gant? He deadlifted 683 at a weight of 132lbs. That's over 5 times his body weight. Freaky, yes, but there are many examples of powerlifters lifting over 3 times their body weight under 200lbs. Compare that to the typical bodybuilder who has plenty of muscle mass.

And let's not forget many of them don't count calories or obsess over body fat like bodybuilders do, so trimmed down even further you'd be even more surprised at what they're lifting in relation to their body weight and overall muscularity.

In other words, strength is only partly related to muscle size. The rest is neural.

[Ron Schwarz]

Originally Posted by Ron Schwarz
"Work for strength, and size will follow. It isn't complicated."

It's a very narrow view. If you are only trying to build some size, it's not necessary to train with the emphasis on building strength.

Why do some people try to make things more complicated then they really are?

If you can bench 200lbs for 10 reps, and months later you can bench 250lbs for 10 reps, you are *stronger*. PERIOD. You will also be bigger.

Strength will come as a result of your weight training, but not at the rate it would if you trained for strength. Training for strength also involves taking greater risks. Are you suggesting everyone should be training close to their max?

Perhaps this is the confusion: define "strength". I think you feel that it is measured by your 1RM only. See the e.g., above.

Powerlifters MUST use low reps (but they don't do so very often) to train the neural aspects that are involved when you do a *1RM*. A 1RM is also a SKILL.

Since the majority of people do not compete as powerlifters, they have no need of low reps (1-3). They have no need to see if they are "stronger" by demonstrating it through a 1RM. They can do easily by seeing how much they can use for a higher rep scheme.

For e.g., as per above, seeing how much you can bench for 10 reps.

As far as how strong pro bodybuilders are, watch the poundages that Yates uses in his video. Arnold was also quite strong, and in fact, built up the *majority* of his mass when he was quite young doing very heavy lifting. Read "Education of a Bodybuilder". He didn't use puny weights and even competed in a strongmantype competition before he came to the US.

Great powerlifters also tend to have great proportions, so in fact, they are not doing as much work to do let's say a bench press. A guy with short arms has less work to do to bench press a weight than a guy who is 6'2" with long lanky arms.

Let me use another e.g.. Remember Andre the Giant? Think he would have won any powerlifting contests? Not likely. But he could sure as hell rip your limbs off if he felt like it.

[NJNPC]

Great thread... I currently use Mentzers Heavy Heavy Duty I routine that he prescribed to Dorian Yates in 92 only without prexhaust. I always do the compound first then the isolation, not a super set. This has been the most productive routine I have ever used. 3 days a week, 1 set to failure on each exercise... You get super strong and are still able to recover.

[BB2K]

Great thread... I currently use Mentzers Heavy Heavy Duty I routine that he prescribed to Dorian Yates in 92 only without prexhaust. I always do the compound first then the isolation, not a super set. This has been the most productive routine I have ever used. 3 days a week, 1 set to failure on each exercise... You get super strong and are still able to recover.

Is this the correct book?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-BODYBUILDING...ayphotohosting

I want to make sure I get the right book and info, do i really need the book or can i just copy the workout? I would assume I would need the book. I am excited to try this form of lifting, I too have little time for the gym but really want to pack on some muscle. I hope to compete in 2006. Do you think this book and style of training is best for off season or pre contest or both? Can it help someone prepare for a show?

[NJNPC]

It definately will make a difference. I dont believe that there should be a big change in yuor training off season to precontest, the heavy training that built the muscle will keep the muscle when dieting. I'll paste the routine

Heavy Duty: The One Set—and the Mentzer-Yates HIT Sessions

by John Little

How many sets should a bodybuilder perform when the goal is to build maximum muscle mass? A quick look at the history of our sport shows that people have developed massive muscles from all sorts of training protocols. The legendary John Grimek made great gains when performing three to six sets per bodypart, Steve Reeves made his best gains performing nine sets per bodypart, Bill Pearl did up to 30 sets per bodypart, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Frank Zane were 20-sets-per-bodypart men, while Lee Haney made his best gains on roughly 12 sets per bodypart. In reviewing those figures, one might conclude that performing multiple sets is the key to massive muscles, which is precisely what most bodybuilders and bodybuilding writers have concluded. That paradigm was challenged in 1992, however, when Mike Mentzer successfully tested a one-set-per-exercise protocol that led to Dorian Yates’ winning the Mr. Olympia title.

For many months Mentzer had theorized that one set to failure was sufficient to stimulate maximum gains in muscle mass. The bodybuilding community looked down its collective nose at Mentzer and his proposition. After all, Ellington Darden, Ph.D., had advanced that same notion (which he had learned from Nautilus pioneer Arthur Jones) in several bodybuilding books throughout the ’80s, but Darden’s publications, while enjoying solid sales among Nautilus aficionados, caused nary a ripple in the waters of professional bodybuilding.

Mentzer’s proposition was somewhat different from the good doctor’s, however, for whereas Darden recommended workouts that were upward of 20 sets in length, Mentzer had refined the application to the point where his clients were performing no more than five to seven sets total in a split routine, with each workout covering two to three bodyparts—and never more than one set of each exercise. Rumor had it that Yates was performing that type of workout under Mentzer’s watchful eye.

That was incredible—if true—for never before in the history of bodybuilding had a superadvanced bodybuilder, let alone a top Mr. Olympia contender, trained with a mere one-set-per-exercise protocol in an attempt to gain more muscle mass. In fact, in bodybuilding circles it was equal to the resurrection of Christ—a miracle! While the more liberal bodybuilders conceded that one set to failure could be seen as a practical approach for beginners, whose bodies were not accustomed to the rigors of bodybuilding training, they were skeptical as to how it could yield meaningful results for a seasoned bodybuilder. The conservative bodybuilders, having long since closed their minds to alternative modes of training, dismissed it outright as a yarn propagated to test their gullibility.

Although I was living in Canada at the time, I had heard about the Yates-Mentzer get-together. Enough bodybuilders in Gold’s Gym, Venice, California, had actually witnessed the event, and more than a few of them had begun talking about it. Gold’s Gym being, as its moniker states, “the mecca of bodybuilding,” it wasn’t long before word of the Mentzer-Yates experiment began to circulate through gyms around the world (when a barbell plate is dropped in Venice, it’s heard in Cairo).

I decided to call Mentzer and inquire about the rumor. I was highly intrigued. Anytime two bodybuilding legends get together to train, it’s newsworthy, and given that the sport is highly competitive, it seldom, if ever, happened that a bodybuilding luminary would publicly submit to the training methods of another luminary. After all, it might seal off a potential avenue of revenue for one champion—in the form of his training methods—in favor of the other’s. Even though Yates was just a Mr. Olympia competitor at that point, the buzz already had him pegged as the man to watch. I dialed the number, and Mr. Heavy Duty picked up the phone. After some preliminary banter, I asked him about the workout he had put Dorian through and what his impressions were of the young lion. Mike related that they had met at Gold’s Gym, Venice, where Mentzer conducted his personal-training business. Yates, having been a fan of Mentzer’s during the latter’s competitive days, had approached him to talk training.

“I’d noticed that Dorian had increased his sets and reps of late,” Mentzer recollected, “and, quite frankly, he hadn’t made any progress.”

Yates evidently conceded that it was so, and the two high-intensity advocates began comparing notes on their training experiences. Mentzer relayed his opinion that Yates was training too often and then offered the following suggestion: “I’ll put you through a biceps workout that will consist of only one set, but that one set will do more for your biceps than all the rest of the exercises, sets and reps you’ve done for the past year.”

Yates was by no means an amateur. He had already built himself up to absolutely behemoth proportions, weighing a rock-solid 275 pounds during the off-season, and he’d just come off a second-place finish at the ’91 Mr. Olympia. I mention that to correct a misperception that Mentzer’s guidance was directly responsible for all of the muscle that layered Yates’ physique, a rumor that Mentzer had denied repeatedly to me over the years.

Yates was obviously no slouch in the bodybuilding department, but he had nothing to lose by spending an hour or so with his hero. Plus, he knew that he wanted to progress more than his current training methods seemed to be allowing. He agreed that he would put his skepticism about one set to failure aside and try out Mentzer’s radical training protocol. The two men made their way to the back of Gold’s Gym, where the Nautilus Multi-Biceps machine was located.

Mentzer had Yates position himself in the machine and perform a brief warmup set to get the blood flowing into the biceps, preparing them for the assault that was to follow. Under Mentzer’s supervision, Yates launched into his set of curls with a ferocity that is seldom witnessed in a commercial gymnasium. Anticipating Yates’ immense strength, Mentzer had placed the selector pin at the bottom of the machine’s weight stack to ensure that Dorian would hit failure before he got to eight reps.

Yates performed each repetition in true Heavy Duty high-intensity fashion, taking three seconds to complete the concentric, or lifting, phase, pausing for one to two seconds in the fully contracted position and then taking four seconds in the eccentric, or lowering, phase. That continued until he hit failure at around seven repetitions, at which point Mentzer assisted him in performing two forced reps, each with some added negative pressure coming from Mentzer’ pushing down on the weight stack. Yates’ biceps were screaming and swollen almost beyond recognition, but the set wasn’t finished. Mentzer pinned an additional 25 pounds to the weight stack, lifted the arm of the machine up to the top and had Yates grab it and hold it in the fully contracted position for 15 seconds. As Mentzer called out the seconds, the weight stack began inching downward, the fibers in Yates’ biceps growing more and more fatigued until, finally, they could no longer sustain the contraction.

As soon as the weight stack was lowered, Yates let out a growl and immediately began massaging his biceps. After a brief break Mentzer had Yates repeat the exercise for his other arm, and the workout was done.

“Dorian called me the next day,” Mentzer recalled of the historic moment, “and said, ‘You won’t believe this, but my arms are bigger this morning than they were yesterday!’ Then it hit him again, and he said, ‘I’ve grown from only one workout! I’ve grown from only one set! I want you to put me through a series of workouts just like that for the rest of my bodyparts so I can train this way when I go back to England!”

[NJNPC]

Back to the Gym

The next day Yates and Mentzer met again at Gold’s, where Mentzer explained the fundamentals of his new approach to training in greater detail. I say new approach because Mentzer had not always advocated one-set training. In fact, during his competitive days he typically performed four to five sets per bodypart—which, in an era when most of the top champions were performing more than 20, was just as shocking as the one-set-to-failure theory. Over time Mentzer recognized that even two to four sets might have been overkill. He once commented to me that “the one major training mistake I made was that, despite having been the arch advocate of less training, I was still overtraining; i.e., training too long and too frequently.”

Mentzer had learned a lot about the science of exercise since his competitive days and had used Gold’s Gym as his laboratory to test his various hypotheses. His clients were now training but once every four to seven days for about 12 minutes per workout, and none was using more than one set per exercise or more than three exercises—maximum—per bodypart. He shared that information with Yates and then outlined a similar program that would allow Dorian to stimulate maximum muscle growth while giving him ample recovery time. That, Mentzer believed, would better Yates’ chances of winning the ’92 Mr. Olympia contest, allowing him to come in bigger and more muscular.

“I set up a program for Dorian that would have him training no more than three days per week,” Mentzer said. “I don’t mean a three-on/one-off type of program, which is both unnecessary and actually counterproductive, but a workout regimen that would have him in the gym only three days per week—Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I split the routine into chest, shoulders and triceps on Monday; back and biceps on Wednesday and legs by themselves on Friday. All other days were rest days.”

Monday: Chest, Delts and Triceps

Mentzer started Yates by training his chest, a routine that consisted of one set of dumbbell flyes to failure followed immediately by one set of incline barbell presses to failure. That was it for Yates’ chest: two sets—or roughly two minutes’ worth of direct chest work. Then they moved on to shoulders, with Yates performing one set to failure on the Nautilus lateral raise machine followed by one set to failure on the Nautilus rear-deltoid machine. Again, it was a total of two sets lasting about one minute each.

For triceps it was equally basic and brief. “Dorian told me that he was having some problems with his elbows,” said Mentzer, “so I had him forgo dips, an exercise I normally recommend for triceps. Instead, I had him do one set to failure of two different exercises: the Nautilus Multi-Triceps machine followed by cable pushdowns. That was it. He was finished for the day.” Yates returned to his hotel and prepared for his next workout 48 hours later.

Wednesday: Back and Biceps

The Wednesday workout saw Mentzer and Yates getting together at noon. After a brief warmup Mentzer had Yates sit in the Nautilus pullover machine, where Dorian strapped himself in and, again under Mentzer’s strict supervision, performed 15 repetitions with the entire weight stack. With no rest whatsoever Yates was rushed over to the lat pulldown machine, which had been loaded with 300 pounds in anticipation of his arrival. Yates, who was perhaps the strongest competitive bodybuilder of all time, then proceeded to startle the assembled crowd at Gold’s Gym—who, prior to witnessing this Heavy Duty workout, thought they’d seen everything in the way of training—by performing seven reps with the poundage. After a very brief rest, during which Yates barely had time to catch his breath, he was hustled off to the Hammer Strength row machine, where he unilaterally performed seven reps with 165 pounds.

“I remember the crowd was all around at that point,” Mentzer recalled, “and what they were seeing was the real thing! This was not a fellow who would disappoint his fans by curling 25-pound dumbbells while covered in baby oil and spandex. This was a Heavy Duty bodybuilder in the purest sense of the term! Dorian put forth so much effort that the 275-pound monster was shaking from his head to his toes and grunting like a bear trying to make those last reps.”

It’s rumored that the whole gym stopped to watch Yates perform his next exercise: Hammer Strength machine shrugs with 800 pounds, all the weight the machine could accommodate. He would shrug that mammoth weight not once, not twice, but 14 times, with Mentzer encouraging him on each repetition.

“I was telling him with each rep, ‘This is for the Olympia, Dorian! This next rep is worth a million dollars to you!’” Mentzer related with a laugh. “This guy was highly motivated to succeed. He would have to be in order to have trained that intensely.”

That one set of shrugs ended Yates’ back training for the day. The workout had consisted of three exercises for his lats performed for one set each—or roughly three minutes of direct training stimulation—followed by one set of shrugs. It was now time to revisit the Nautilus Multi-Biceps machine, the same exercise that had started the whole one-set series of workouts. Again, Mentzer had Yates perform one set to failure.

“Dorian’s biceps were so pumped, they were cramping up, so I had him shake it off and then lift the weight up again and hold it in the fully contracted position for an additional 15 seconds before lowering slowly back to the fully extended position,” Mentzer recalled. “Normally, that would be all I’d have a client do for biceps, but I also put Dorian on a 90 degree preacher bench to do one set of preachers superstrict. He went to failure on that one, too, with a weight of 150 pounds. When he hit failure, I had him do three or four half reps and, to let you know how whipped his biceps were at that point, each half rep took him four seconds to complete. Needless to say, his biceps had had it for the day!

[NJNPC]

Friday: Legs

The next day was a rest day, but Mentzer and Yates were back in the gym again that Friday to work Yates’ legs with another Heavy Duty workout. Mentzer started him off on the Nautilus leg extension machine doing one set to failure, which came at rep number 15. With no rest and the seat cranked as far forward as it would go to ensure a greater range of motion, Yates then proceeded to blast the hell out of his thighs with another 15 reps on the Nautilus Compound Leg Press. “He was using the stack on this exercise,” Mentzer related, “and his quads were swollen up like balloons after he finished it.”

After a very brief rest Yates walked over to the squat rack, where he shouldered a barbell and performed seven ultrastrict reps with a whopping 540 pounds. “And that was after he had hit failure on both the leg extensions and the leg presses,” Mentzer recollected enthusiastically, “Dorian is phenomenally strong!”

The routine continued with one set to failure on two exercises—leg curls and stiff-legged deadlifts—for the glutes and hamstrings and then concluded with two sets of calf raises.

“Dorian was always keen to get back into the gym for his next workout,” Mentzer said, “and when he returned home to England, he was positive that less is better in terms of training for muscle mass. He realized that he had gotten so big with high-intensity training before, and that to get even bigger, he had to increase the intensity of his training, which, as we all know by now, can only be done by decreasing the number of sets you do in any given workout.”’

Mentzer then condensed his training system into two propositions:

“Over the past two years I’ve trained more than 200 people, and I’ve discovered some very important things about building muscle mass. Success on this front boils down to two things: overtraining and knowing when to change routines. On the issue of overtraining, one set more than the least amount required to stimulate growth is overtraining—that is, it’s counterproductive—and the least amount required is, obviously, one set. There should never be an impasse to progress. My clients don’t progress slowly, and they don’t have stale periods. They progress from workout to workout—just as Dorian Yates is doing.”

Ironically, while Mentzer quite liked Dorian and obviously thought he had tremendous potential, he confided to me many years after the fact that at the time he was training him, he honestly didn’t think Yates would win the ’92 Mr. Olympia contest.

“I didn’t think he had the kind of physique they were looking for,” Mentzer admitted. “That plus his association with me I thought would have caused some political problems. But then I hadn’t taken into account that the contest was being held in Europe, and I know how the fans are over there about real muscle.”

History Is Made

The rest, as the popular saying goes, is history. Yates would use the training principles Mentzer advocated, pack on even more muscle and win the ’92 Mr. Olympia contest in a cakewalk. When word trickled back to Mentzer in the United States, he was happy—and, again, surprised.

“You know it’s curious because Dorian is kind of a low-key guy,” Mentzer said. “He never said that much about our workouts to me. Even when he left here many months ago, I talked to him until I was blue in the face—almost like I’m doing to you now—but he’s the kind of guy who doesn’t really respond much, so you don’t really know if it’s clicking. Then the next thing I hear, the guy wins the Mr. Olympia and he’s telling all the interviewers that he did take my advice and he did cut back to one set per exercise and it really did work. I was delighted. I honestly didn’t think that he would win.”

Back in Gold’s Gym

Mentzer was also undeniably pleased to have his unique approach to bodybuilding training espoused by Mr. Olympia. Conversely, it seemed obvious to me that Yates was just as impressed with Mentzer’s methods, for when I went into Gold’s Gym a year after their famous get-together, he was hard at work training chest and biceps under Mentzer’s supervision. I watched the pair closely, wanting to see for myself what kind of intensity a bona fide Mr. Olympia winner was capable of generating, and, fortuitously, I happened to have my camera with me.

I noted that one set to failure was employed but with something that made me smile: partial repetitions and static holds performed at the end of Dorian’s regular sets. Yates’ strength had obviously skyrocketed, as it now required no less than three spotters, including Mentzer, to assist in lifting the incredibly heavy weights he was using into the fully contracted position of the exercise for him to hold statically. Yates used not only the entire weight stack on the incline-press machine but also four additional 45-pound plates.

The protocol I observed that day had Dorian performing a very heavy set to failure and then holding the resistance in a position of full contraction. Yates’ gritted his teeth and summoned all the energy he could muster to keep that weight from coming down. His forearms bulged as he gripped the handles of the machine, and his pecs looked as if they were about to explode through his sweatshirt! When the weight finally came down, Mentzer quickly reduced the poundage and lifted the movement arm of the machine so that Yates could again hold the weight in the fully contracted position. Sweat was now pouring freely down Dorian’s face, and his arms shook until he could no longer contract against the resistance, at which point he lowered the weight (rather quickly) and massaged his now swollen chest. “Nice job!” Mentzer said as he slapped Yates on the back. “Now let’s hit the biceps!”

Mentzer then proceeded to put Yates through one set for the biceps, again finishing with static holds in the fully contracted position. At the conclusion of the workout Yates’ biceps were quivering but pumped at least an inch and a half—and he seemed quite pleased as a result.

“Mike and John,” he said, beckoning to us, “I want to show you something.” Yates gestured for us to accompany him into the posing room at the back of Gold’s. Mentzer and I followed him, me with camera in hand to shoot the effect of the workout he’d just completed. Yates stripped off his sweats and hit several poses under the watchful eye of Mentzer, who just stood there with his arms folded over his chest, smiling. The muscle that Yates put on display in that back room that day was nothing short of mind-blowing.

“There’s the ’93 Mr. Olympia right there!” Mike said prophetically. It was obvious to all three of us that if Dorian was making that type of progress, he could go on winning the Mr. Olympia title for as long as he wanted.

Make no mistake, it was Yates who did the work and Yates who deserved all the credit for his Mr. Olympia victories. After all, when he returned to England, which is where his real contest preparations took place, he was his own trainer. It must also be pointed out, however, that it was Mentzer’s approach that Yates employed to stimulate his muscles into such incredible growth. He might well have won the Mr. Olympia had he trained without Mike’s Heavy Duty method. All we know is that he chose to do otherwise, and the results of his decision are now a matter of record.

I should mention that Mentzer further refined and evolved the Heavy Duty workout protocol that he prescribed for Yates, reducing the sets and spacing the workouts further apart. In ’92, however, this program worked like a charm for the majority of those Mike trained on it. Even so, it should not be taken as representing his final word on Heavy Duty high-intensity training protocol.

Does one set to failure work? One look at the photographs accompanying this article should answer that question categorically. Will one set to failure work for you? That’s the real question and one that can only be answered in retrospect. Who knows? You may only be one set away from the greatest muscular gains of your bodybuilding career. IM

[BB2K]

thanks for the article bro. Very motivational. Did you click on the link i posted? Is this the book to get? I looked up Mike Mentzer and got several videos and 3 or 4 books, which explains the exercises and the myth behind it all? I found an article on this site that gives the workout but it is a little different than what was stated in the article above. Basicly do 1 warm up set then 1 exercise to failure and go heavy as you can, aim for 8 to 15 reps? Shoulders get 3 exercises, 1 for each head right? I have elbow trouble to, will dips aggrevate this? Are squats really needed? I have bad knees and squats hurt my back and knees so can i just do leg presses?

[Ron Schwarz]

Thanks for posting that, quite an interesting read.

[DRush]

thanks for the article bro. Very motivational. Did you click on the link i posted? Is this the book to get? I looked up Mike Mentzer and got several videos and 3 or 4 books, which explains the exercises and the myth behind it all? I found an article on this site that gives the workout but it is a little different than what was stated in the article above. Basicly do 1 warm up set then 1 exercise to failure and go heavy as you can, aim for 8 to 15 reps? Shoulders get 3 exercises, 1 for each head right? I have elbow trouble to, will dips aggrevate this? Are squats really needed? I have bad knees and squats hurt my back and knees so can i just do leg presses?

No go to www.mikementzer.com and check out his books there its called Hight intensity training the Mike Mentzer way. plus they have his other books as well.

[BB2K]

wonderful, thanks. so this book has all the info huh? the workout and everything. wow, mike knew his stuff. i have tried power factor training before and got incredible results from it, but it was very hard work! i let a buddy use it and havent seen either since. maybe i could do a month of hit and a month of pft? Anyway, thanks for the help and all the wonderful info!

[NJNPC]

Is this the correct book?

http://cgi.ebay.com/NEW-BODYBUILDING...ayphotohosting

I want to make sure I get the right book and info, do i really need the book or can i just copy the workout? I would assume I would need the book. I am excited to try this form of lifting, I too have little time for the gym but really want to pack on some muscle. I hope to compete in 2006. Do you think this book and style of training is best for off season or pre contest or both? Can it help someone prepare for a show?

That is the DVD of ebay.. Go to Amazon.com and type in mike mentzer, get "High Intensity the Mike Mentzer Way" and the new book just tht was released "The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer"... The new book is awesome and its has the routine I just posted in it. Lots of good info and other routines.

[NJNPC]

thanks for the article bro. Very motivational. Did you click on the link i posted? Is this the book to get? I looked up Mike Mentzer and got several videos and 3 or 4 books, which explains the exercises and the myth behind it all? I found an article on this site that gives the workout but it is a little different than what was stated in the article above. Basicly do 1 warm up set then 1 exercise to failure and go heavy as you can, aim for 8 to 15 reps? Shoulders get 3 exercises, 1 for each head right? I have elbow trouble to, will dips aggrevate this? Are squats really needed? I have bad knees and squats hurt my back and knees so can i just do leg presses?

This is just the routine from Heavy Duty I. The one that DRush is doing is the one in Heavy Duty II and High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way. I have never tried it before that is why I got so excited to read this thread. DRush, please continue to post your results...

[splice]

hey d-rush hows the program going for ya still.

[LaggingBiceps]

Sure, how about Lamar Gant? He deadlifted 683 at a weight of 132lbs. That's over 5 times his body weight. Freaky, yes, but there are many examples of powerlifters lifting over 3 times their body weight under 200lbs. Compare that to the typical bodybuilder who has plenty of muscle mass.

And let's not forget many of them don't count calories or obsess over body fat like bodybuilders do, so trimmed down even further you'd be even more surprised at what they're lifting in relation to their body weight and overall muscularity.

In other words, strength is only partly related to muscle size. The rest is neural.

The PLer ate less than maintenance calories thats why he was small and didnt grow. If he eat a surplus of calories he would have blown up

[DRush]

hey d-rush hows the program going for ya still.

Its going , read the whole post my gains are listed

[NJNPC]

Its going , read the whole post my gains are listed

How do you do pre-exhaust in a crowded gym? Like I said about I always wanted give the routine your doing a shot, but the pre-exahust is almost impossible for me at my gym. Especially legs, the leg extension is in a different room then the leg press and squat rack. How is the pre-exhaust working for you?

[DRush]

How do you do pre-exhaust in a crowded gym? Like I said about I always wanted give the routine your doing a shot, but the pre-exahust is almost impossible for me at my gym. Especially legs, the leg extension is in a different room then the leg press and squat rack. How is the pre-exhaust working for you?

NJPC , that is an excellent question one I thought I would encounter when I started the program. Thing is I knew which days in my gym and at what times were the most crowded, and since Im working out once every 4 days or so, and I knew which workouts were comming up on that day I planned for it.

The pre exhaust works okay for me , I question it on the legs though as you do because the simple fact leg extensions are not leg presses, you know what I mean? If Im prexhausting the quad using leg extensions, some of the heads will still not be fully exhausted since leg presses work the legs a different way. But this is the thing I do and Mentrzer recommends this: On every excercise Do at least 2 sets warm up. For example I will give what I do on leg press. First I know from my last workout I did 18 45lb plates, so I figure I will be adding 2 25lbers on each side extra this week. So I go from there. I start off this way, 8 plates very light 4-5 reps, then 12 plates 4-5 reps, then Mentzer recommends the last set go pretty close to the target weight and just do 2 reps to get the feeling of the heavy weight. I do this with 16 plates, then I add the last 2 45lbs and the 25lbs and do my intense set, with the 4 sec negatives , 1 sec pause and 2 sec finish. Thats it, I dont consider the warmup set anything as I would never just throw all that weight on there for one set for safety purposes. On weather the pre exhaust works well or not?I dont know as of yet. If you havent already NJPC I would just go down to the local bookstore and just read the new Mentzer book, Im sure after a few pages you will most likly buy it if you havent already. I am going to post my latest workout as I just did my workout this past Saturday and there are updates.

[DRush]

Okay I overlooked to post this sooner but here are the results from Sat,

Workout #4

Legs and Abs

Leg extensions for pre exhaust:

previous best 185lb for 12 now did 195 for 12( and I could have did more, I felt really strong as I was exceding the 4 sec negative and holdingfor 2 sec on some reps)

Leg Press
Previous best 18 45lb plates for 16,now I just did 18 45lb plates + 2 25lbers for 12 reps( legs were fricken killing me, I am thinking this weight is just to heavy as am concerned about my knees as I always do. I dont know if I can go up anymore)

Standing calf raises

Previous best 195 for 13, now 205 for 13, ( this felt so good especially the last rep, it went so slow over 6 sec to fully contract as my calf were failing)

All sets done strict form, 4 sec negative,1 sec pause at contraction and 2 sec finish.

Also my weigh has gone up very little Im weighing when i wake up on an empty stomach 222-223. Calfs are up to a total of 1/2 inch bigger than when I started, Thighs are now over 27 inches, I measured 27 1/4 with the tape tight. One glaring thing I notice about my calfs is that I was hitting them from anywhere from 2 -4 times a week before, and they never grew, funny thing is now they are growing, first time in a looong time.

I am eating very Clean, this is a staple of my program. Here is an example of my daily intake:

Breakfast:8:30
2 cups skim, 1 or 2 scoops Muscle milk, 1 cup oats, sometimes add 2 teaspoons whipping cream if I use skim instead of 2 %.

12:00 lunch
1/2 cup brown rice, 1 medium sized chicken breast, 1 cup low salt spagetti sauce

3:00 break
1/2 cup brown rice, 1 medium sized chicken breast, 1 cup low salt spagetti sauce

6:00
1/2 cup brown rice, 1 medium sized chicken breast, 1 cup low salt spagetti sauce( sometimes substute rice for brocolli)

9:00
2 scoops muscle milk and either 1/2 or 1 cup oats in water for oatmeal

12:00 bedtime
Either 2 scoops muscle milk in water or skim or drink an EAS lite meal replacement

When I get up during the night I usually drink another low carb meal replacement and go back to bed

This has worked well for me and I always have very good energy. I usually substitute the rice for greens often and usually snack on apples between meals as I feel hungry after 2 hours. I also drink at least 1 gallon of water a day. Thanks all for reading.

[DRush]

Ok here is the latest update, Ill tell you first off It is still going good.This is from Thrusday morning

Here is what I did :

Workout #1
Incline flys Last workout 50s, I said last time I could have done more well I did this time 60s, and I still felt I could have done more. So what Im doing now is If I feel I can do more and miscalculate with the weights I just slow down the negatives even more to add intensity.

Incline Bench: Last workout 245 for 9 this workout 275 for 10, and the kicker is right after that set I threw on 315 and did some 15 sec negatives,talk about insane intensity. Like I said I did this workout on Thursday, Im still sore and its Sat night. I will definatly be taking at least a 5 day off minimum froim this workout. I havent been this sore since how I felt after my very first time working out.

Straight arms pulldowns :last workout 75lbs today same reps ( Im going to start using the nautilus pull over as this excercise seems awkward)

Palms up pulldowns: Last workout 185 this workout 195 for 6 reps. (Then immediatly afterward did a 15 second negative set with 215)

Dead lifts: last workout 275 for 8 this workout 315 for 7 ( I could have matched the reps of last maybe even bested them by one, but my grip let go before I did)

I am happy with the results of this week. Im still sore pretty good. The negatives really in my opinion kicked up the intesity a notch bigtime. Like I said I will be taking at a minimum 5 days off maybe more. Thanks all for reading.

[Killazer]

Sure theres a lot of 'big' guys, but a lot of those guys are also fat and really not in that great of shape - they just have large skeletons basically. Ive never seen a 'big' guy that also had a lot of solid muscle mass not lift considerably heavy weight. On the other hand I have seen a lot of soft 'big' guys lifting very puny weights.

Also if you can bench 200 now for reps then u bench 300 for reps with the same form, your muscles will be bigger no doubt about it. CNS adaptation only goes so far.

[Ron Schwarz]

Also if you can bench 200 now for reps then u bench 300 for reps with the same form, your muscles will be bigger no doubt about it.

This is so incredibly simple conceptually. I'm astounded that some people can't grasp it.

[Defiant1]

This is so incredibly simple conceptually. I'm astounded that some people can't grasp it.

Right!!

Therefore one must train for strength.

Therefore one must use the best system for strength.

Therefore, it would make sense to train like p-lifters and o-lifters.

Therefore doing HIT doesn't make sense, since most p-lifters and o-lifters DO NOT do HIT by a HUGE margin.

Any questions?

[Dominik]

This is so incredibly simple conceptually. I'm astounded that some people can't grasp it.

What you can't grasp is there are guys who stay in the same weight division in OL and PL but continue lifting more weight. Your ignorance toward the neural factors involved (because you are against using maximal loads) is embarrassing. Everyone else can see how much smaller powerlifters and Olympic lifters are throwing around weights that much larger bodybuilders clearly couldn't handle.

Your approach is akin to increasing the displacement of an engine in a car to generate more power where others would simply use forced induction. "Build bigger muscles and you'll lift more weight!" is the Schwarz mantra. So much for neuromuscular efficiency and relative strength in general. Newsflash: there are guys with less muscular mass than you who can lift a lot more than you can.

Try to understand this concept. I will say it again. Increases in strength are not all about muscular gains. Watch a beginner make gains in strength during those first few months of training. They don't look any different yet they're suddenly a lot stronger than they were on day one.

[Ron Schwarz]

Even though I can't see the content, I can see that there are posts written by the D-brothers in response to what I wrote. Once again, these guys follow me EVERYWHERE. Some might call this "stalking"...

[Defiant1]

Even though I can't see the content, I can see that there are posts written by the D-brothers in response to what I wrote. Once again, these guys follow me EVERYWHERE. Some might call this "stalking"...

Uhhh.....

Here's your "friendly HIT guy" just HELPING OUT.

Ron Schwarz=Rob Spector, used car salesman.

Ron promoting his site:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...91&postcount=3

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...55&postcount=5

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...00&postcount=5


http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...49&postcount=2

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...58&postcount=1

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpo...&postcount=268

[LostProphet]

Right!!

Therefore one must train for strength.

Therefore one must use the best system for strength.

Therefore, it would make sense to train like p-lifters and o-lifters.

Therefore doing HIT doesn't make sense, since most p-lifters and o-lifters DO NOT do HIT by a HUGE margin.

Any questions?

EXACTLY

If you are aiming for strength why not follow a non failure routine ??

HIT is not the most optimal routine for strength.....I've always found training to failure to be very bad for strength gains.

Therefore, if strength is your goal then you are barking up the wrong tree with HIT fella's. Westside, 5x5 etc would be far better suited to you.