I Trained the MIKE MENTZER Way for 30 Days

The secret to endless natural muscle growth? Well, Mike Mentzer training for one month led to some serious results! But were they good results? Watch the video for some in depth experience doing Mr. Mentzers 4 day routine.

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[Andyhikes]

I've been training like this for a year and i almost always get an extra rep or add a small amount of weight every workout. Gains haven't stopped.

[michaelthompson]

One month isn’t enough to test this workout, especially if you start it without a complete recovery period. That said I started getting the best results I’ve ever had since started this program. It still feels weird to have so much rest between workouts but I’ve gotten used to the idea that my muscles are growing the whole time.

[agnow]

I started Mentzer HIT and after 6 months I gained 12 pounds of solid muscle. I didn’t add any extra sets or rest pause reps. I also incorporated extra rest days as Mentzer suggested. I did EXACTLY as Mike Mentzer instructed. I will never go back to to conventional training 💪

[markinfranco]

They tempo and control are everything in this method. I’ve been trying it for the last few months and I would consider myself an advanced lifter. My chest is literally sore for 4 days after ONE super controlled set of flyes into push-ups. Nice video!

[mage]

it would be great if you tried out "mewing" for 30 days and see if there's any difference to the overall facial bone structure

[tonymonxana]

30days isn’t an effective time to see full results. I’ve been doing this style of training for a while. It works insanely well. But you need to really push yourself. Move past failure don’t stop when you have another rep left.

[jonw]

I swear this is the 4th time this year I do something or research it and within a day or 2 you release a video on it.
Great minds think alike.
I think I've always trained similar to him.
Do my reps, wait a few seconds and do more then wait a tiny bit and push out till failure especially as I lose my grip on pullups before muscular fatigue.

[athomestrength]

Hey, brother, I'm 54 and a retired competitive powerlifter. I had been doing the strict HIT training for 11 years and started noticing gains on my second month. Now I did modify the program a little. I did the warm up sets, then the main set picked a weight I could do for five reps strict and slow. Then immediately dropped the amount of weight by 50% and immediately ground out another 9 or 10 reps. Burnt to a crisp, my buddy & I sometimes had trouble driving home. I cycle that and Vince Gironda's 10X10 routine. Two months of HIT, then a week off. A month of 10X10 and back to HIT. Good luck man, nice video.

[camador]

Mentzer also emphasizes control and a rep tempo mostly to avoid using bad form and momentum. It makes a huge difference if you do the reps with more control and since your doing less makes the reps count that much more. Rep range suggested is 4 up 2 contraction and 4 down to emphasize all 3 phases of strength - concentric, static and negative. On lagging parts might want to add a assisted negative and hold as long as you can before you have to "controlled" lower the weight down.

[robithesir]

Mike Mentzer's HIT method is more of a philosophy than just another training workout. I've been doing it for roughly 3 months with a few tweeks here and there. I work out thrice in a week where I replace or add workouts, consider the functionality of my body and add partial reps to get the most out of my workouts. All this to say, Mike was kind of ahead of his time with this system of training. In a time where people go to the gym for 2-3 hours a day and perform high volume sessions, it gets in the way of life. Mike's approach is a more holistic one where the gym isn't your life but is a PART of life. In and out of the gym in under an hour, even 45 minutes where you've given it your all. After you get a day or 2 off where you live your life doing other things you enjoy instead of being consumed by the gym.

[Icemn]

I've been doing it Mike's way for about 3 months and I've getting stronger everywhere. I have a notably slow recovery time so twice a week has been working wonders so far.

[jameswilliamson]

I've been following the methods of Arthur Jones and Mike Mentzer for about two years and I have to say that listening to your body is the most important thing. Due to my age of 71, I definitely have to get enough rest between workouts. That said, I workout my total body every 4 to 5 days until my whole body fails. I'm collapsed and exhausted for 2 to 3 days afterwards. It's the same principle but applied to upper body, lower body and core which I alternate during the workout to give each muscle group some minutes to rest while I go to the next muscle group. Because I started out from a hospital bed and almost dying during the pandemic, at first I was working out every other day for only 45 minutes due to lack of stamina and it didn't take much to tire me out. As Mike said, as you become stronger, muscle growth will follow... not vice versa. And the bigger you are, the more deficit you can dig into your reserve. Now, just two years later, Mlmy results turn heads in any gym as this white haired dude rotates training stations with guys one third my age. So, you're on the right track and your lack of process isn't from the failure of Heavy Duty, High Intensity Training. It's because we're trying to teach ourselves this approach without the original coach by our side. Just remember, it's a principle, not a straight jacket and as Mike said to other body builders, more than once, "Feel free to experiment." PS. Just yesterday, I managed my first one arm, standing row of 50 kilograms. Just one rep on each side. 🎉

[dope.dialectics]

Active recovery days are so important my dude. Don't be afraid to go for a swim/ bike/ hike on a couple of those "off days." Your joints and surrounding tissue still need to be stimulated to promote growth. 💯

[makingcookingfixing]

SUMMARIZED TO SAVE TIME:

00:00 🏋️ *Mike Mentzer's training philosophy emphasizes training less, focusing on heavy-duty, high-intensity workouts to failure, and allowing ample rest for optimal muscle growth.*
02:33 🤔 *Initial workout challenges: In the first workout, the intensity of supersets led to unexpected fatigue, highlighting the importance of proper warm-up and exercise selection.*
04:47 🛌 *Emphasis on rest and recovery: Mentzer recommends at least four days of rest between workouts to allow for maximal muscle growth, which proved mentally challenging for the individual in the experiment.*
09:26 🤨 *Progress evaluation: After over two weeks, the individual observed a weight gain, but physical changes were not conclusive, prompting self-reflection on potential muscle loss and fat gain.*
14:01 ⏱️ *Overlooked tempo: Proper rep tempo, a critical component according to Mentzer, involves a four-second lift, two-second pause, and a four-second lowering. The individual adjusts their tempo for better muscle stimulation.*
18:20 🚫 *Minimizing strenuous activities: Mentzer's principle of maximizing recovery leads the individual to limit recreational activities on rest days and reconsider the role of cardio in the program.*
20:56 💪 *Mixed strength results: Strength tests indicate potential losses, possibly influenced by the shift from volume-style training to high-intensity training with extended rest periods.*
23:43 🤷 *Subjective approach: Reflecting on the experience, the individual suggests that a more subjective approach to rest days might have been beneficial, indicating the need for flexibility in applying Mentzer's principles.*

[krohnoz]

I train for 4 months the Mentzer style, sometimes i pause for 5 to 10 days between seasons...but i am stronger than ever before! I broke PR´s, get leaner and gained more muscles BUT every single season is pure carnage! It is not possible to train like this every single day! But you dont have to, i Love this kind of training!!!

[sycolv]

A big part of the controlled up and down is all about form, and it helps with not injuring yourself. Also, his 96-hour timeline was for much later into a career, 48 is where you should start.

[matthewfluckiger]

Hey man, I did this workout for 8 months, and I came to the exact same conclusion! I literally did the same stuff you did, rest pause, doing the exact recommended workout, everything with the same results. I think Mike Mentzer was really onto something but I think it is all more in principle. I discovered a lot with Mike’s workouts, however I think I must train much more frequently to get results I want. So that’s what I’m up to now. Hopefully combining Mike Mentzer’s principles and my own experience will yield the best results.

[jeremesmith]

Been doing Mentzer routines for about 4 months now and have noticed good gains.
I struggle with “till failure” everytime because I train alone and have limited gym equipment in the apartment I live in, but the gains and strength have slowly ticked up over time.
I’m happy with it! Just need to do more core work and adjust my calories down and I’ll achieve my final form 💪🏼

[ericwillett]

Dude, I hope you read this. Thirty days is not enough time to really notice any physiological or anatomical changes when it come to hypertrophy training, strength maybe a little when your young and at your peak testosterone levels. I’m 54 and have been training pretty much my whole life except for a couple times with injuries and feeling lazy but always got back into it after a little time off. I even did some competitive body building in my early and mid 20’s. Having said that, I just started becoming exposed to HIT Training during Covid lockdown when I was training at home in my home gym and couldn’t get to a gym. I decided to try it out and slowly backed off my volume training methods which I have done forever and after about 2-3 months I started noticing some muscle and strength gains again for the first time in a long time. I have diminished testosterone levels and if I can make gains In this program at 54 you could make amazing gains at your youthful age. The key is to know your body and modify it a bit for you. Even Mike modified from book one to book two of his HIT training program. I do two warm up sets of higher reps (15-20) very slow and controlled to warm up the joints and muscles then two working sets the first close to failure (maybe 1-2 reps in the tank) of close to 10 to 12 reps then the second to complete MOMENTARY failure with the last needing a spot to complete it, then I pause for 10-15 seconds drop down to the weight of the first working set and crank out as many as I can unassisted to failure again. For the bigger muscles like legs, back, chest, etc I drop down and do that again. Smaller muscles I’m done after the first drop set. I train MWF Push, pull, legs hitting each body part once a week It’s absolutely amazing for growth and strength. Key takeaways here, there’s a difference between momentary failure and complete failure, you have to have a good mind/muscle connection, which comes with maturity and lots of training, and as a nattie it is really easy to over train, I did it most of my life being natural. As a natty, you only need a couple of sets to complete failure once a week to make good gains. In my opinion, high-volume training is for professional athletes who are jacked on juice. You were starting to get it at the end of the 30 days, you need to stick with it for at least 60 to 90 days to start noticing a real difference. Mike talked about the difference between momentary and complete failure a lot. As soon as you actually start hitting complete failure and your muscles are toast and pumped to the max you will be sold on this program. The hard part for us gym rats is the downtime. Take up another hobby, I started playing guitar. I still do walking cardio several days a week, just not intense, I go for a brisk walk in the evening for about 3 miles, listening to audiobooks and educating myself even more. But I like to stay lean with good stamina for cardio vascular health the older I get. I might sacrifice a little bit of size in bulk with the extra cardio, but it’s worth it for me. I’m about 200 pounds at 15% body fat at 54 years old. Like Seth Feroce says, I just want to look good naked. Hope this helps.

[bradbassett]

Thats the key, being able to push hard enough to stimulate growth. You think you are training hard at first, but it takes time and there is a learning curve.