Don’t make Mentzer’s Mistake

Don’t make Mentzer’s Mistake #highintensitytraining #mikementzer #dorianyates

[jesseseonza]

Dorian took it to another level. That back. Upper and lower.
The Dorian row. Dude making his own exercise rendition of the row.

[SlingshotMustang]

I'm an otr trucker (I'm gone from M-F every week) so naturally my only times I can train are Friday nights when I get home from work, and Saturdays and Sundays. Initially I thought this would be a disadvantage (back when I still believed in higher volume/frequency) but I've come to realize that it's actually perfect. I train each muscle group only once every 7 days. Friday nights are my leg day, Saturdays are my chest/tri day, and Sundays are my back/bi/shoulder day. I do few sets per exercise (typically 2-3) but at very high intensity and using a weight that I can get only 7-8 reps of going to absolute failure (using a spotter on bench press, but typically going at it alone for everything else). Whenever I'm able to get 10 reps in my first set on any exercise, I bump it up 10 lbs for the next session, and I apply this method to every muscle group and every exercise. It works amazingly well. When I hit chest hard on Saturdays, my entire chest is absolutely trashed clear through Wednesday and I can even sometimes still feel soreness on Thursday. But by the time Saturday rolls around again, my chest is 100% recovered and ready to be destroyed again. The 7-day wait really is ideal, I can't even imagine going back to hitting chest twice per week, it wouldn't even make sense unless I lowered the intensity, that's the only way I'd be able to recover in just a couple days. Which tells me that everyone who works chest 2-3 times a week (or any other muscle for that matter) is simply using nowhere near high intensity, because if they were, they'd need 5-7 days to recover properly, not just 2-3.

I've only been back into weightlifting for a little over a year now (but I did lift a lot in my younger years, so my muscles did grow a bit faster due to "muscle memory"). I'm 34 now, when I first got back into lifting last year I only weighed 153 and I was using just 135 as my workout weight on bench press. In just about 13 months, my body weight is now up to 178 and my workout weight on bench press is now 225 (I just did it yesterday for 8 reps). I literally put on 25 lbs in a year, and my bmi is virtually unchanged, so almost all of that weight is muscle. All natural too, no PEDs. Just lifting with high intensity, 7-day recovery periods, taking creatine, and eating 160 grams of protein a day. It's really not that hard to experience growth like this in this time frame, the only reason most people don't attain it is simply because they either A) don't push hard enough in their lifts, or B) they overtrain and don't allow enough time for recovery. I don't believe ANYONE has an excuse for not benching 225 (not as a 1-rep-max, I mean for multiple reps) by the end of their first year. Remember, I'm a trucker, which is THE most sedentary job on earth, and I don't even eat healthy (being on the road, my only options are usually nasty fast food) and yet I'm STILL able to get absolutely jacked and maintain a 15-16% bmi. Which means if a guy has a typical 9-5 job and the ability to go to the grocery store every day and eat quality foods and get better rest than I do, he will be at an even greater advantage than a guy like me who's a trucker. So there really is no excuse not to get built like a brick house...if a 34-yr-old trucker can do it in one year, then a 24-yr-old dude who has more time and better nutrition, should certainly be able to do it in one year as well.

[ItsMrDon]

my advice to anyone is to learn ur own body. we arent machines that are all the same. everyone is different and needs different things for the most optimal growth. amount of rest required will differ from person to person and can change over time for anyone. try different things and see how ur body reacts. then take the things that work the best and stick to those consistently and u will get a great body

[yoshit]

I do zero reps. Workout zero days. I'm making better progress than ever

[saltycracker]

Many people here do not understand what Mentzer is trying to say because he only tells half the story. He tells us to train less, but forgets to tell that we should also tren more.

[hdvictoryford]

Being 73 and an advocate of MM HIT training. If you have not read his book, read it and start growing. It will take some getting used to, however it is worth the effort. You feel better, look better, and for the most part you will be injury free. On most days I am in and out of the gym in 25 min or less. And even at 73, 6'3" and 190. My waist is still a 34, chest 46. MM has taught me how to gain. And with over 200 customers who also have made good progress with HIT, you need to at least try this system. It works!

[sinisavincic]

The biggest thing I've learned from all of this is that most of us just aren't working out hard enough. I went from being a guy that was in the gym 5-6 times a week happily to a guy that dreads his 2-3 workouts per week. This is all because of the intensity of my workouts. You have to get to the point that you dread going through the workout because it is hell but in the end you are rewarded so much freedom to do whatever you want outside of the gym

[regprofant]

I am 80 years old and I agree with intensity and low frequency as at my age recovering ability is poor at best

[christianthechristian]

He's right about his methodology in most ways. I like free weight over machines though.

[SA-sroq]

Sounds like a real clever guy and soooo well spoken 👍👍

[paulmarshall]

Discover and do what works for you, under your specific circumstances.

[laggymax]

Makes sense why Tom Platz could only squat once every 2 weeks.

[c.galindo]

Progress in your physical abilities can be felt and learned from not just performing the exercises properly and in a certain routine made up to your physical capabilities but by listening to your body through the mind muscle connection and understanding how much you can partake in your exercises and how frequently you should perform the tasks

[notthatinnocent]

1:02
INfrequent training, NOT frequent. That is a huge misquote

[EquityCall]

I worked out once last year, and I'm still growing.

[Wirt]

I lowered how often I train and how long, from training 2-3 hours a day every day to 30 min 3x a week, I am gaining size faster than ever

[iamkoopa]

I do 1 set every couple of months. Got hella gains in my belly

[SibzelChebst]

I was a firm believer in training every muscle group once per week. It wasn't until I got old enough that I COULDN"T do the heavy training anymore that I switch to lower weight higher rep work. I switched to training each muscle group three times per week, and my muscle gains have never been better. So to each their own.

[mariuscatalin]

muscle grows when it heals, you need to give it reason to heal without causing too much damage
imagine the first few weeks when you began training and you will know how much progress you made due to increased need to heal

[_Sam]

HIT works just as well as any other routine if you are consistent with it. The disadvantage of HIT is that it is a heavy mental load, real HIT and being consistent in it is only reserved for a few.