Mike Mentzer was Ahead of the Science

What we can learn from his Low volume, High Intensity approach

Mike Mentzer never received an academic degree, yet his level of self study and his years of application and assessment of results led to a training philosophy that would not be validated by the “science” until decades later.

In this article I want cover his original “Heavy Duty” philosophy on sets, reps, workouts, volume, and training frequency.

Mikes Heavy Duty training is too often shrouded in myth and the practical details of how he trained are rarely analyzed. People typically only know that he suggested “one set to failure” and not much beyond that.

Its my professional position that Mikes method is one of the most effective, logical, and adaptable for natural lifters (and enhanced lifters as well).

As a single article could not do Mike Mentzer justice, I’d encourage you to read more about him.

-For an autobiography, I would encourage all of you to read, the Wisdom of Mike Mentzer)

-This is a good summary article of Mike’s life

Before we get to the Training Content, lets establish some context for Mentzer

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Mike was an iconoclast who rattled the orthodoxy of the bodybuilding world with his low volume recommendations.

Arnold and the Muscle Beach gang espoused a daily, sometimes twice daily, high volume training style that demanded you bomb, blast, and blitz a muscle into submission with double digit sets, drop sets, super sets, and a barrage of reps every single workout.

Spending 2 hours in the gym daily was the requisite time to reach maximal muscular development.

Mentzer was the opposite of this.

An adherent of Arthur Jones High Intensity Training (which will be covered at a later time), Mentzer rose to fame on the basis of his dense, fantastically developed physique, his unique system of training (low volume, with very few sets), and his unparalleled intellect.

In an era when bodybuilding had embraced the “Beach Bro” image of muscular men having fun in the sun, partying when they werent training, and Arnold was the major star (from Pumping Iron), Mentzer was a stark contrast.

With his trademark spectacles, mustache, and a gift for articulation delivered in his forceful, nasal voice, Mentzer defied the popular stereotype of Bodybuilders being dumb meatheads.

(this interview from 1991 demonstrates his keen intelligence)

While he would later change his mind on training volume in the 1990s and began to recommend exceedingly low and infrequent training, his early recommendations align perfectly with the modern recommendations of training volume

Mike Mentzer’s Original Heavy Duty Recommendations on Sets, Reps, Workouts, Training Volume, and Frequency

For Sets

• Train each major muscle with 4-6 total sets per workout.

• Perform 1-2 sets to positive failure on each exercise. Contrary to popular belief, Mike did not prohibit anyone from doing two sets on some exercises, and did this himself regularly for some movements.

• If you are doing pre-exhaust supersets (an isolation exercise followed by compound), do one set of each. And repeat that no more than two times (a total of 4 sets).

• Keep warmups to a minimum. 1-3 sets of moderate reps with a light load should be sufficient.

  For Reps

• Mike himself preferred the 6-9 or 6-8 rep range for practically every exercise in his OWN training, but his professional recommendation were different

• He recommended training in the 6-10 rep range, with the highest being 12 reps per set. If you could do 12 reps, you needed to increase the weight at least 10-20% to take you back down to the 6-10 range.

• Be advised, 6-10 reps is a GUIDELINE. If a trainee wanted to train with higher reps, they could, but it was his opinion that this would make sets more cardiovascular and reaching cardiovascular fatigue would be more the limiting factor than muscular fatigue.

• This 6-10 range is heavy enough to stimulate the large type 2 fibers, accrue enough effective reps per sets, and facilitate progressive overload without the sets becoming overly cardiovascular.

  
  On Workouts

• Select productive exercises that place the muscle in a pre-stretched position, and allow for the greatest ROM (without causing injury)

• Select 1-3 exercises per muscle. Train each muscle with an appropriate number of exercises that train the muscles major anatomical functions.

• Both isolation and compound movements can and should be utilized. Most muscles require 2 to possibly 3 movements for sufficient stimulus.

• Machines and free weights are both effective and have their place in training. Do not be controlled by dogma when selecting exercises. The best exercises put mechanical tension on the target muscle and allow for proper biomechanics and muscular failure to be reached.

• Supersetting an isolation with compound movement is an effective way to achieve true muscular failure in a target muscle and not be limited by the weaker muscles in the kinetic chain (example, the back will fatigue before the legs do during squats, so do leg extensions and leg press first)
  

  On Training Volume

• Always start with the minimal effective volume, which in most of Mikes workouts was 2-6 sets per muscle, per workout.

• For those individuals with low recuperative ability, 1 set per exercise is recommended, with a minimum of exercises performed. Sets could be as low as 1-2 in a workout

• The total weekly volume of sets per muscle was typically in the 2-8 range, although it could be 8-12 if someone trained their entire body twice
  
  On Frequency

• Train each muscle 1-2x weekly. Rest at least 4-7 days before training a muscle again

• Total body routines can work for beginners, but half&half and bodypart splits are more advisable for advanced trainees, they will need more rest because of the much greater levels of fatigue.

• For the most advanced trainees, try training 4 times every 9-10 day, always resting a day between workouts. There are no hard and fast rules that a training week MUST be limited to 7 days.
  

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Lets analyze Mentzer’s most productive routine that he used for the 1980 Mr. Olympia

According to Mike, he would train 4 times every 9-10 days, repeating both workouts

In Workout 1, Mike performs

3 sets for quadriceps (leg extensions, leg press, and squat)

2 sets for glutes (leg press and squat)

2 sets for hamstrings (leg curls)

3 sets for calves (calf raise and toe press)

4 sets for chest (Flys or pec deck, incline press

4 sets for triceps (or 7-8 six sets, if you include the dips)

In Workout 2, Mike Performs

-6 sets for back

-4 sets for traps

-6 sets for deltoids

-3 sets for biceps

If we add up the sets, Mike did 4-12 total sets per muscle per 9-10 day training cycle

This lines up exactly with modern volume guidelines, which suggest 4 sets weekly is about the minimum need to make continuous strength and muscle gains

In Summary

Mentzer’s Heavy Duty philosophy is an effective way to train, adaptable in its principles, and its emphasis on recovery makes it adaptable to different schedules and lifestyle.

Any questions, feel free to leave comment.