MIKE MENTZER: “WHY THE LEGS NEED MORE REPS!” #mikementzer #gym #motivation #bodybuilding

To learn more about Mike Mentzer's teachings please visit:

In this video I dig into my Mentzer archive to examine why both Mike and Ray Mentzer believed that our leg muscles require high repetitions (at least twice the number that our upper body muscles need) to be thoroughly stimulated.

To see more of Mike Mentzer check out these videos by Wayne Gallasch of GMV:

[s.g.]

Tom Platz The Quadfather said the same thing. Rep out the legs

[dieu-mercilubini]

The muscles in the legs are designed for endurance unlike the upper body. The legs are so used to so much activity just from all the walking & running we do, which is also why lower body is so stubborn to grow. It makes sense to do more reps on lower body since they're built for endurance.

[yezzzsir]

I liked Arthur Jones's simple explanation he gave during his Nautilus speech, stating that the muscles in the Legs are inefficient and that the reason for their size is for our endurance.

[IvanDjuric]

This has been my experience too. 20 reps even more has given me the best results.

[McCarthy]

I never thought Id hear the words "more reps" come out of Mike Mentzer's mouth lmao

[ales]

High rep leg extensions to failure made my quads blow up, up to 20

[motorizedlifting]

"Where another repetition simply is not possible." That is where you gotta take it folks.

[jimkotantonis]

Tell that to Tom Platz …. He swears by high reps but he took his legs to absolute failure … the moment I moved from 6-12 reps all the way to 20 plus reps I made my best gains in my legs.

[lexjhz]

One thing I’ve been doing lately on my leg workouts is not resting at the top when doing, say, leg press. Don’t stop at the top, because you’re essentially resting. A lot of people do that. They’ll get 2-3 reps before failure and then they’ll stop at the top for 5-10 seconds before doing another rep. All you’re doing is just lengthening the amount of time to get to failure. As soon as you complete a rep, immediately do the next rep, and go until failure. It hurts a whole lot more.

[DrMatthewJelavic]

Ah, now it makes sense. Finally an answer. Thank you!

[DudeSilad]

I remember in the 80's me and my training partner decided to do squats till we dropped. I think we did them for 2hrs. No idea how many sets. I was young and stupid. But Jesus. The pain I had for a week was incredible. And my legs had noticeably grown. Never did it again. Nor would I. Over 35 years later and it still gives me the chills. I'm a low set high rep to failure these days

[Mobev]

Mike is a bad ass and continues being a badass in other worlds.

[Brandon___]

You continue to deliver John THANK YOU!

I had my own hypothesis on why the legs needed more reps but the Answered my qualm

[REALSALES]

Thank you, John Little for keeping Mike's spirit and training philosophies alive. I have made my best gains 💪 using his techniques. He was so far ahead of his time. Please update everyone on the biography you are writing ✍️ about Mike's life.

[JohnMurse]

Oh I’ve been searching for this answer! Thank you!

[derbar]

Thank you John for everything that you do.

[Thechronic-ndse]

My Mentzer leg day was on Friday night. Its truly separates the men from the boys. I can barley walk right now

[ABD]

One thing about HIT and heavy duty is experimentation and discovering what works best for you as an individual. Yes high intensity training to failure but try different rep ranges, frequency and even warm-up sets

[noahroad]

Wonderful and enlightening video. I’ve been working on higher reps over the last year. One reason is because I’m not naturally athletic.. so I’ve had to play around with different techniques. Mike Mentzer is an inspiration for me. R.i.P

[KASLtja]

Just did legs today.
Watching this from the floor.