Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty Tips

Training Tips

Overtraining's "Other" Problems--Posted 11/3/08

While it is well known to natural, non-steroid bodybuilders that overtraining quickly results in overuse atrophy, i.e., the loss of strength and size, there are other problems associated with volume training. Because exercise is a form of stress, too much of it conducted too often leads to a decided weakening of the immune system. This is why bodybuilders and athletes are notorious for suffering numerous bouts of flu and colds through the year. The constant drain on the body's resources can result in mental problems, too. (Remember: man is an indivisible entity of mind and body.) Just this morning, I received an e-mail from a bodybuilder whose physician indicated that his severe (almost suicidal) depression was the direct result of chronic, gross overtraining. The doctor's prescription? Mike Mentzer's Heavy Duty, high-intensity training, as it allows for systemic (including nervous system) recovery between workouts. And who said that doctors know nothing about exercise?
The Most Productive--Posted 11/3/08

Considering the scale of valid, scientific training knowledge that does exist, it's curious that more do not avail themselves of it. One would think that even those who are skeptical that less than one hour of training a week is all that is required for optimal progress, might at least consider the possibility. For those immune to the blandishments of logical theory, there is ample evidence - the success of myself, Ray Mentzer, Dorian Yates, Casey Viator, Aaron Baker, David Dearth, Roland Kickinger and my thousands of clients - that high-intensity training does produce worthwhile results. Even if high-intensity training yielded only the same results as volume training, it wouldn't be valid to say that they were equally productive. Obviously the one that involved less actual training time would be the most productive.
Attention Exercise Scientists--Posted 11/3/08

I suggest that all sincere exercise scientists read the following statement, which was made by Vert Mooney, MD, "Accurate measurement of muscle strength must be done in an isolated static manner. This method of testing allows for the identification and correction of gravity and other sources of non-muscular torque, and it also eliminates the movement artifacts of impact forces and friction. Static testing allows for a true maximal measure of voluntary effort and accurately co-relates position and torque.

"The dose of effective therapeutic exercise can be determined by measuring starting functional ability (strength, range-of-motion and endurance) accurately. The goal is to prescribe a specific dose of exercise that will elicit a predictable, measurable response." (From the Introduction to "The Lumbar Spine, the Cervical Spine and the Knee," by Arthur Jones.) Dr. Mooney is professor of Orthopaedic Surgery at the University of California School of Medicine, San Diego.
The Case of Doctor Boctor----Posted 9/29/08
Several years ago, one of my clients--a psychotherapist--sent me one of his patients to train. This woman was a medical doctor who had endured a lifelong fear of engaging in athletics, or any activity that involved more than the slightest exertion. Her first few workouts, she was visibly shaken when attempting to lift even one plate on any of the Nautilus machines. Eventually I was successful in increasing her strength until she could perform reps with two or three plates on most of the machines, although she simply refused to go anywhere near failure. While she was always working submaximally, it was also true that she had overcome her fear of exertion considerably. I was not satisfied, however. I wanted her to train closer to failure and have no fear of the experience. So, I hit upon a plan.
At the point where she was willing to perform a few reps with 30 pounds on the Nautilus Curl, I sought to trick her, so to speak. During one workout involving that exercise, I had her cease the set before her usual "failure" point, and asked her to hold on for a moment. I lurched behind the machine to the weight stack, and quickly placed the pin in the 80 pound mark. Then I helped her bring the movement arms into the fully contracted position, and authoritatively told her to "hold" the weight in that position. She did so with greater ease than I would've suspected; in fact, after 10-12 seconds of conversing while holding the 80 pounds statically in the fully contracted position, she started exerting herself more than usual, more than when doing full range movemements. It was then that I took the handles from her and placed the weight on the floor. At that point, I suggested she walk around to the back of the machine and see for herself how much weight she had been working to hold. She was astonished to say the least. "You see, Doctor Boctor (her real name), as fearful as you have been in lifting a mere 30 pounds, you held, with considerable effort, almost three times that weight, 80 pounds, in the fully contracted position." This knowledge and experience helped the good doctor overcome her fear of engaging in heavy physical exertion even further.
Attention Personal Trainers!--Posted 9/29/08
It is particularly important for trainers to understand the importance of negative training, as they will inevitably have clients who are so weak that they can't perform even one rep on certain exercises, exercises in addition to the Dip and Chin. I've had frail females, for instance, who couldn't perform even one rep with one plate on the Nautilus Overhead Press. After three or four workouts of doing this exercise in negative only fashion, they were soon performing full range reps with one or more plates.
Believe It or Not: He Gained 19 Pounds of Muscle in 30 Days!--Posted 9/29/08
Not long before my experience with Doctor Boctor, I had received a phone call from an elderly woman in France. She explained that she had listened to three audio taped interviews I had done with a muscle magazine publisher; and that she was very impressed with both my training philosophy along with my philosophy of life. She was one of Europe's best known artists who, unsurprisingly, possessed a keen interest in all of philosophy. (Aesthetics, or art, is a branch of philosophy.)
These tapes had an enormous impact on her; such that she trusted me enough to have her 20 year old grandson spend one month in Venice, California for the express purpose of my personally supervising his training.
Upon his arrival at Gold's Gym for his first workout, Frederick Munthe weighed 160 pounds at 6'2." The goal of this young man was not to be a bodybuilder, but to add enough lean muscle mass so he could become a fashion model. (A bodyweight of 160 pounds at 6'2" apparently presented too slight of an appearance, even for male fashion models.) At that juncture, approximately five years ago, I was training people for 20-30 minutes three times a week; and that's how I trained Frederick.
He gained in strength and size every workout for 12 workouts, spanning exactly one month. We met at Gold's Gym his last day in America, right before his departure to the airport to go home to France. He weighed 179 pounds that day; and much to his delight. At one point, I pinched an area of Frederick's waist to see if he had gained much fat. As linear and low in bodyfat as he was to begin with, it would have been relatively easy to detect any appreciable fat increase. When I told him that I thought there might be a slight increase in bodyfat, he responded rather pithily, "Come on, Mike, you're trying too hard to be objective. You know damned well that I am just as lean now as I was a month ago."
Frederick's gain of 19 pounds of muscle in one month represents the greatest one-month increase of any client I've ever had. Such gains are possible to many for whom building muscle seems an elusive prospect. With a properly conducted Heavy Duty, high-intensity training program, however, your chances of achieving similar results are greatest.
Calf Training: You Don't Put Out a Fire With Gasoline--Posted 8/11/08
Very often, one hears it said that the calves are "stubborn" muscles because we walk, run and climb stairs, etc.; therefore, they need more work, more sets and more days per week. Well, if overtraining is the problem, how can overtraining be the solution?
Doing more work for the calves would be something akin to trying to put a fire out with gasoline.
What the calves require is not more work, but a radical departure from the type of work they are accustomed to; namely, one set of very high-intensity calf raises to failure no more than once a week. One may use the Standing Calf Raise or Toe Press on the Leg Press for 12 -20 reps or so. Perform the Seated Calf Raise only periodically, as it doesn't work the actual calf, or gastrocnemius, but the underlying soleous muscle. (While sitting in a chair normally, place the tip of one of your index fingers into the belly of the gasctocnemius, then do a calf raise, go up on your toes, and you'll see that the gastrocnemius doesn't contract. The legs must be straight and knees locked, for the gastrocnemius to be involved.)
Mike Mentzer

Mentzer's Advice to Dorian Yates - and YOU!--Posted 8/11/08
"Most bodybuilders are only dimly aware that overtraining means something negative. It is, in fact, the worst training mistake they can make. Especially you, Dorian, considering your prodigious strength and size, must be willing to regulate the volume and frequency of your training. The question you should be asking yourself is not how much exercise do I need, but how little do I require.
I understand you pride yourself on being a radical individualist. Well, then, to hell with what others have thought or done. More muscle is what you're after, not approval from the pack! Break with tradition intellectually and physically. Work with these ideas, and set a new and higher standard of bodybuilding excellence. So what if you find yourself spending only 20 minutes in the gym once every four or five days. Become the first Mr. Olympia to improve dramatically on an already heavily muscled physique. Be the first Mr. Olympia to reach the upper limit allowed by his genetic potential."
Your Exercise Rx: A Narrow Therapeutic Window--Posted 8/11/08

In medicine, the first thing researchers must do is establish the identity of the chemical compound, or drug, that will induce the desired physical effect. Once that is accomplished, they must then discover how much (the dose) and how often (dosing frequency), i.e., the "narrow therapeutic window," to give the individual. Just the right amount will produce a positive effect; anymore, a negative effect.

That very principle from medical theory carries over and has direct application to exercise theory. In bodybuilding, the first thing was to establish the identity, or nature, of the training stress that would induce growth stimulation; namely, high-intensity, anaerobic activity. That done, the next step was to discover the volume, or dose, and the frequency; again, the narrow therapeutic window. Just the right amount in terms of volume and frequency produces a positive effect; anymore, a negative effect.

As M. Doug McGuff, MD, and President of Ultimate Exercise, Inc., states, "You wouldn't take any medicine if it didn't come with a correct dose and dosing frequency; why should you expect anything less from your exercise Rx?"

Mike Mentzer
Individual Exercise Stress Tolerance--Posted 7/23/08

I find it curious, given the truth of the above, that a number of exercise scientists advocate that everyone do up to 60 sets a day, virtually every day. Individual exercise stress tolerance is a genetically determined trait; and like all such traits is expressed across a broad continuum. The most readily observed genetic trait is height; where you have midgets at one extreme, and giants at the other. With regard to intelligence, there are literal morons at one end and super-geniuses at the other. In the area of individual sunlight stress tolerance, there are light-skinned people who tolerate very little high-intensity sunlight stress and dark-skinned people who tolerate a lot more. The same is true with individual exercise stress tolerance: with those at one extreme who tolerate very, very little intense exercise stress and those at the other end who tolerate more. This is one of the major flaws in the volume (over) training approach: their failure to account for individual differences in exercise stress tolerance.

Mike Mentzer
Inducing Muscular Hypertrophy--Posted 7/23/08

In the field of bodybuilding/exercise science, the idea is not to inject a chemical compound to induce muscular hypertrophy. Of course, inducing muscular hypertrophy by imposing a high-intensity training stress is ultimately effected via a "biochemical" change that the training stress causes within the physiology. It is conceivable that, in the near future, researchers could isolate and identify the biochemistry of growth stimulation; then develop a chemical, or drug, that would be injected into the human being to induce muscle growth beyond normal levels, all without requiring a training stress - unlike steroids, which do facilitate protein synthesis, but require training to be optimally effective.

Mike Mentzer
A Fundamental Error--Posted 7/23/08

Most bodybuilders make a single mistake, a fundamental error, which is largely responsible for all their other mistakes: They fail to take cognizance of the fact that bodybuilding is a part of exercise science; which flows from medical science. And that science is an exact- and an exacting - discipline which absolutely requires that man use a specific, rigorous method of thought (logic) to gain precise knowledge of reality - (the one reality we all live in, the one where "what goes up, must come down" and 2+2=4) - so that he may successfully achieve his goals.

Mike Mentzer
Universal Principles--Posted 4/29/08

Medical science - and exercise science - is based on an understanding of the universality of the principles of human physiology. While this last statement may seem redundant to some, considering the near-universal confusion concerning the fact that "there is and can be only one valid theory of productive bodybuilding exercise," such tautology is necessary. It is precisely this fact: That, birth defects and genetic anomalies notwithstanding, the principles of human anatomy and physiology are universal, or applicable to all members of the species; which renders the sciences of medicine and exercise viable intellectual disciplines. To refute the validity of any one of these theoretical sciences, one would have to marshal irrefutable evidence that humans exist who do not possess an animal's anatomy and physiology - nor a rational faculty. Don't hold your breath whilst searching for such a creature.

Mike Mentzer
To Stress the Point One More Step--Posted 4/29/08

If you were to find yourself in the jungle tomorrow, and you happened upon a voodoo witch doctor, he'd have close to a zero percent success rate with his patients. Then you introduce to him this miracle - Western theoretical medical science, i.e., logical diagnostic procedure, sterile technique, surgery, analgesics and antibiotics, etc. All of a sudden, the witch doctor's success rate skyrockets off the charts.

To say that there is no one valid theory, or that all approaches have merit, is tantamount to stating that the intellectual method of the voodoo witch doctor is as likely to correct a brain aneurysm as would that of a neuro-surgeon. Obviously, there is a life-and-death difference between the application of true ideas and false ideas. In bodybuilding, the difference between the application of true and false ideas is: Actualize you full muscular potential in a relatively short period - or, fail to ever achieve it.

Mike Mentzer
The Absolutism of Reality--Posted 4/29/08

If you abdicate the responsibility of learning the nature of your consciousness, your means of survival, then you can never control it; thus, you unknowingly deliver yourself into the power of those who wish you the worst - whether he's trying to sell you a used wig, an erroneous training theory, or that evil theory of politics known as socialism. Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed. The absolutism of reality dictates how you must guide your training efforts to successfully develop larger muscles, and the absolutism of reason determines how you must direct your thinking so as to achieve intellectual success - truth and knowledge; and the greatest power possible to man - certainty!

Mike Mentzer
The Big Picture--Posted 2/26/08

Many bodybuilders apparently don't understand that the big picture in bodybuilding involves two elements of equal value, literally 50-50, not 60-40 or 70-30 - but 50-50.

There's no gain saying that the workout itself is important, it's only 50 percent of the big picture. The second element, not one scintilla less important than the workout, is the rest period between workouts. And here's why. The workout understand doesn't actually "produce" muscular growth; it serves merely to "stimulate" the body's growth mechanism into motion. It is the body itself - of course - that produces the growth, but ONLY if left undisturbed during a sufficient rest period. If you don't rest enough, you don't grow enough - if at all!

Mike Mentzer
Special Tip for Lagging Body Parts
For some, even one set for certain body parts may prove more than the individual can tolerate or even need. For instance, over the years, I have had training clients, who informed me at the start that they couldn't stimulate growth in their calves, whether they were training them with 12 sets three times a week or just one set once a week. They took my advice, acknowledging the possibility that even one set may be too much, then ceased training their calves entirely. These individuals reported to me on a regular basis, claiming calf increases of 3/4" to 1 1/2" in several months.
Similarly, I've had clients who gained quite well overall with their greatest circumference increase in the neck. These examples prove the reality of "indirect effect", i.e., when growth is stimulated in one muscle, growth is stimulated through the entire musculature - though to a lesser degree; and the larger the muscle being worked, the greater the degree of indirect effect.
The calf increases reported above were likely the result of the effect provided by Leg Presses, Squats and Deadlifts; with those experiencing tremendous increases in their neck being the indirect result of growth stimulation induced by Shrugs and Deadlifts.
Conclusion: If you have a lagging body part, stop training that part entirely for a few weeks, then resume training with a lesser number of sets, or, with calves and neck, stop training them entirely.
Mike Mentzer
As the Body Changes, Training Requirements Change:
Sticking Points are NOT Inevitable!
Very often an individual's progress ceases entirely because he failed to account for a very important consideration: that during periods of physical-muscular progress the body is not static, it is in a process of change; and that as the body changes training requirements change. (This was only touched upon briefly in Heavy Duty I; but elaborated thoroughly in Heavy Duty II.) In fact, this is the most important issue in bodybuilding science once the fundamentals of intensity, volume and frequency are grasped.
A properly conducted bodybuilding program is essentially a strength training program. Or, in other words, if one wants to grow larger he must grow stronger. When someone starts to argue with me on this point, I say, "What is one supposed to do to grow larger, get weaker? As one grows stronger, i.e., as the weights grow progressively greater, the stresses on the body become progressively greater; and must be compensated for. (This is the conceptual link that high-intensity theorists have been missing; and which explains their inability to answer the question of sticking points.)
Perhaps the easiest way to understand this phenomenon is to observe the stresses on your body when performing a warm-up set of Squats compared to those experienced during the actual workout set to failure. On the heavier workout set, you immediately recognize the much greater stress on the bones compared to that with the warm-up set; then the much greater demands on the cardio-respiratory system, and so forth. (Not available to conscious awareness are the physiologic-metabolic stresses.) Now simply extrapolate that into the situation over time, as you lift progressively greater weights workout to workout.
As the stresses grow progressively greater, they will eventually reach a critical point such that they constitute overtraining. The first symptom will be a slow down in progress; and if the individual continues with the same volume and frequency protocol, the stresses will continue to increase until there is a complete cessation of progress, typically referred to as a "sticking point." One need not ever experience a slow down in progress, let alone a sticking point, if he bears in mind all the while that as the weights grow progressively greater so do the stresses; and he must do certain specific things to compensate for them.
Within two to three weeks upon embarking on a Heavy Duty, high-intensity training program, a bodybuilder should begin inserting an extra rest day or even two at random beyond the suggested every fourth day workout so that he's compensating for the increasing stresses; and, then, with increasing regularity until he is training but once every five days with an extra rest day or two added beyond that.
To quell any fear about the progressive reduction of training frequency, consider this. An individual making progress training once every fourth day, i.e., whose body is overcompensating--(i.e., growing stronger and larger)--cannot lose anything by taking a further day or two of rest. If his body is overcompensating on day four, how is it that he would decompensate on day five or six? So, while there is no risk of a negative, no threat of a loss, by inserting an extra day or two of rest, there is the actuality of a positive; which is - with the extra rest day(s) you have that much greater certainty that enough time has elapsed between workouts to allow the body sufficient opportunity to complete both the recovery and the growth processes. The implication here is that if the individual trains again before the body's growth production process is completed, it will be short-circuited; and less than 100 units of possible progress realized.
Once the individual is training once every seven days, I suggest a reduction in the volume of training as outlined in my new book Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body. Reduced volume will necessitate switching from the Suggested Workout #1 to the Consolidation Program. With a consolidation routine, there is a decided shift in emphasis to predominately compound exercises, i.e., ones that involve multiple muscle groups, such as Squats, Dips and Deadlifts, etc. A workout program consisting of compound exercises still works all of the major muscle groups, but with fewer total sets, making for a minimal inroad into recovery ability. (Ideally, growth would be stimulated with zero sets; then none of the body's limited recovery ability would be used for recovery, it would all be used for growth production; and you'd grow so fast as to stagger the imagination. At this juncture, however, no one knows how to stimulate growth with zero sets.)
Following the above advice, you'll never hit a sticking point; you will experience unbreached progress with your training. As I have written before: if scientists can send a man to the moon and bring him back safely each time, we should be able to succeed with every one of our missions to the gym here on earth. Building bigger muscles should be a cake walk compared to moon walk.

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