Customer Reviews

High-Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way

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Let me start by saying that it is impossible to do this book justice in such a brief review, although I will do my best.

This is without doubt the best book I have read on weight training/body building, and I have read a lot.

The book provides a detailed explanation of what exactly is meant by High Intensity training. Mike explains the theories behind High Intensity/Low Volume exercise, providing sound logical reasoning and common sense explanations as to why HIT is by far the best way to train.

Throughout the book you are encouraged to think for yourself, rather than just take the author at his word, and apply his theories to your existing program and its results and how the theories of HIT apply.

Detailed workouts are listed, including all the information needed like:

Exercise selection.
Number of sets.
Target Reps.
Rep Speed.
Rest period between sets.
Workout frequency.

Each of the above is explained diligently, and an explanation is given for why a particular route is recommended.

The book also encourages you to analyse your results and explains what to do if you stop getting consistent strength increases.

I myself started using Mikes HIT regime a year ago now (having purchased another one of his books) and in the past year I have had the best strength and size increases since I started training 8 years ago. Believe it or not since starting HIT I have been stronger on every exercise, every workout for the last year!

However the other book that I read by Mike was much briefer and left some unanswered questions in my mind. This, much more comprehensive, book has answered all those nagging questions and provided me with a much deeper insight into the science of HIT.

Although the amount of training required with conventional methods never really caused me a problem (I would have trained 7 days a week if it provided the best results) Mike regime provides you with more than adequate rest time, and means that by the time I come to a work out I am so full of energy I feel like putting the weight through the roof.

If you are into weight training/bodybuilding stop wasting time with all of the ridiculous, un scientific workouts listed in the current "Muscle Mags" doing the rounds and base your training on the sound principles of HIT and watch your strength/size sky rocket.

As many of you will know Mike sadly passed away in 2001, so rest in peace Mike, and thanks for leaving us such a great legacy.

There's a reason why High Intensity Training has pretty much fallen by the wayside. The number of people doing HIT is in decline. If you visit Cyberpump, the website dedicated to HIT training, the number of members who no longer do HIT apppears to be steadily increasing. Stuart McRobert's Hardgainer Magazine (the bible of low volume high intensity training) is even ceasing publication

Why is this? Well, it's because HIT does not work well as a long term training methodology. After a relatively brief period of time all the training to failure and beyond burns you out. And you often reach a point where you need more volume.

It doesn't have to be a lot of volume, ala Arnold. But, it needs to be more than your one set to failure routine.

I've lifted for close to thirty years with good success and no significant problems, and I've tried every method. Anything will work for a couple of months. You can't comment on how effective Mentzer's methods are unless they've worked for a year or more.

There are no original ideas in Mentzer's work. It's all recycled Nautilus/Arthur Jones stuff. Why Mentzer is held in such esteem is beyond me. All he did is take Jones's stuff and declare that it was still too much volume , and water it down.

The problem wasn't that it was too much volume, it was that every set went to failure. If you don't go to failure all the time you don't fry your nervous system, you can do more volume, you gain mass and strenth better, and you can make progress longer.

If you do very low volume and high intensity you will gain for a few months and hit a wall. When you hit the wall, the Mentzer/HIT crowd will tell you you must be doing too much, even though you're hardly doing anything all ready.

This idea that muscles take weeks to recover from weight training is just plain and simple physiologically wrong. It will lead you to train in a way that in the long run will not be productive, and you may become frustrated and give up.

About 90% of people give up weight training because they don't get the results they expect. Books like this one are a big part of the problem.

Use these methods for a short term cycle, like 6 weeks or so, every once in a while, to change things up a bit. But, this is not going to be a long term way of training for most people.

Even Dorian Yates, who some of the other reviewers talk about, only used these methods for a few weeks before going back to his old methods. Yates used to make fun of Mentzer for saying that Yates trained with Mentzers methods, because it really wasn't true.

I trained inconsistently for about 13 years from the age of 18 to the age of 31. I used the usual volume approach which is taught in the bodybuilding magazines and most of the bodybuilding books. At the age of 32 I finally decided to get serious about training. I found that I reached a plataeu after about 1 1/2 years of steady training in which I hardly missed a single workout. I was eating well and doing the things that the bodybuilding magazines teach (i.e. multiple sets per exercise, multiple exercises per bodypart, 60 to 90 seconds of rest between sets, ect.) yet my strength virtually ceased to make any progress. I was at a complete loss when I decided to look up Clarence Bass on the Internet. He is a well known bodybuilding author. He suggested Mike Mentzer and his training methods to all those seriously interested in making continued progress in bodybuilding. After trying Mike Mentzer's training methods for 6 months, I am convinced that this is the best way to train. I am now back on the road to continued gains in strength and muscular size. I would reccomend Dorian Yates also as a source of information (you can order his books thru this web site). Yates won 6 Mr. Olympia's using the Mike Mentzer high intensity system.

its another great book by the legendary mike mentzer.his advice is full of logic and his is the only rational voice in bodybuilding.
a reviewer with a stupid name showed his dismay at the picture showing mentzer reading a newspaper.it shows the usual concrete bound mentality that scoffs at any mention of the terms logic,reason or philosophy in a bodybuilding magazine or anywhere.he again whines that it is no big deal reading descartes or kant.well,mike didn't read to showoff his erudition the way scumbags like u do.and what does the comparison with arnold's stupid degree mean.with the current low standards in academia any fool can get a degree.how in the hell can u compare a business degree to philosophy.philosophy is the most abstract subject there is and MBA means just that:master of bull and advice.the reviewer is completely unaware of mike's revolutionary contributions to exercise science.so what that he didn't have a phd.neither did plato or aristotle.i have a masters degree in philosophy(cum laude),but i know it's worth.it belongs in a dustbin along with your stupid,cynical review.

Yes, Mentzer's way is more efficient, with shorter workouts and longer time off, but the results soon plateau,(as with -any- method), and this way is really difficult to tough out during those times. Many trainees have had great strength improvement without the muscle they hoped for, and of course , Mike was on steroids when he looked good. Athletes will still have to spend tons of time on metabolic conditioning,(strength-endurance). So: It's not the best for building tissue, not the best for plateau jumping, not the best for athletes, and (although good for strength), not explosive, so not good for strength in competitive lifts. What is it good for? : A 'shot in the arm' for guys are screwed up from over-training,(Mentzer is the product of much volume before discovering this method). and guys without much time. Any system properly executed will keep injuries to a minimum, BUT it's worthwhile to note that Dorian Yates is probably the most injured top physique star ever. If the top exponent of a method can't keep form well enough to avoid injury, can you?

Hello.
Thank you for reading my review.

This book is informative and most people entering the "iron game" will find it helpful.

I don't think the late, great, Mike Mentzer controlled the content of the book too much, however.

Unfortunately, the author goes off on how Mr. Mentzer was black-balled because he did not participate in the scam that is and was the "mainstream" bodybuilding market. This group recommends almost every unproven supplement, and features training articles written by genetic freaks that ingest steroids, human growth hormone, diuretics, fat burners, etc. (Some even have column discussing drug "stacks"). With all of those drugs, an athlete can train far more frequently and longer than a drug free individual. That is a fact.

Mr. Mentzer stepped outside this groupthink and said that you don't need to train as freqeuntly or for as long as other athletes in his era were. Mr. Little implies that this cost Mentzer the opportunity to reach the upper echelon of the sport. He provides no evidence for this insidous charge, and then proceeds to condemn most of the other pro athletes of his generation. Mr. Little even shows a picture of Mr. Mentzer reading a newspaper with a caption that describes how Mr. Mentzer reads to stay informed about things outside of the gym! What is that??
Further, he talks about Mentzer reading Kant and Descartes. So. I read those books and I'm not particularly intelligent. Helpful, interesting and even enjoyable, yes, but reading philosophy doesn't make you smarter than someone else. The not-too-subtle implication was that the other elite bodybuilders of Mentzer's era were stupid. Are you kidding me?? During their pro careers, Arnold got his business degree and became a very successful real-estate investor, Franco Columbo became a doctor, and Serge Nubret was a successful actor in France. (Rent or purchase Pumping Iron for more information. Mike Katz was a school teacher and great father).

Also, Mr. Little talks about Mentzer's good looks and how that was a first for a professional bodybuilder. ??? Nubret was a legend for his appearance, and Arnold and Franco were pretty handsome, too.

As for the traing information. It's all widely already known: You should not train longer than an hour in each session, because you cease producing growth hormone after that. You should only work a body part no more than twice a week. Smaller muscles require less sets that larger muscles. Slow execution on each exercise. Arnold, Franco, and all of the other greats trained more, but it worked! Of course the average person can't train like a professional, but this is common sense. I can't throw a baseball for nine innings at 95+ m.p.h. like Roger Clemens, either.

Avail yourself of the copious amount of information on the Internet, magazines, the library, and of course Amazon.com to assist you. Also, ask other bodybuilders questions. Most people are honored when someone seeks out their opinions.

Thank you again for reading my review.

R.I.P. Mr. Mentzer

This is the best book on bodybuilding that I've read. Dorian Yates, arguably the best bodybuilder in history, was influenced by Mike Mentzer. Mentzer (and Yates also) stress doing fewer sets per exercise / body part but with maximum intensity. Also, he stresses the importance of leaving more time for recovery and only working each muscle group once every 5 or 6 days. This actually goes against the arbitrary beliefs and practices of many traditional bodybuilders who trained each muscle group two or even three times a week and did many sets for each exercise. The book explains everything you need to know and is well written.

I was first introduced to the concept of high intensity training by Mike's articles in Iron Man magazine in the early 90's. For the first time ever, I began to see consistent, noticable improvements on a workout to workout basis, initially gaining over 25 pounds of muscle over a period of only a few months. I eventually became certified as a personal trainer by the SuperSlow Exercise Guild, who also advocate a high intensity training (HIT) protocol similar to Mike's, the only major difference being the use of a slower rep cadence which provides for a lower risk of injuries. Having trained hundreds of clients using HIT since 1994, I can say with absolute confidence that it is by far the safest, most productive, and most time efficient way to train. Whatever is in second place is so far behind as to not even be in the running.

HIT is not, as some reviewers have erroneously stated, conducive to injuries, so long as the exercises are performed properly - that is, using strict form and a smooth, controlled speed of movement. Lift the weights slowly and under strict control, and reverse direction smoothly, rather than simply swinging, bouncing or throwing them up and then allowing them to drop the way most people do in the gym. It isn't the amount of weight that causes injuries, but the manner in which one attempts to lift it. HIT is perfectly safe if the exercises are performed properly. Mike addresses this issue in the book.

HIT does happen to be the "be all, end all" of exercise. There can only be one best, one most efficient, one most effective means of accomplishing a particular goal, and where exercise is concerned, this is it. The principles of productive exercise are the same for all of us, it is merely the specifics that must be adjusted for individual differences, which is accounted for in HIT theory, and in Mike's books. Even if another training method produced similar results, if it required you to spend a greater amount of time in the gym it could still not be considered equal, since the return on investment would be lower. For those who's social lives revolve around the gym or who are stuck in their ways, this may take some getting used to. Personally, I'd rather spend only as much time in the gym as necessary to get the best results. The purpose of exercise is to improve the quality of your life, and NOT to be the center of it.

Get in the gym, train hard, then get out and enjoy your life.

This is the most thorough of all of Mike's books. It covers all of the principles of his Heavy Duty high intensity training system in detail, and provides routines and explanations of the performance of various exercises. There is a section with information specifically written for the competitive bodybuilder on peaking, definition and posing. Mike also discusses his views on motivation in the gym, which I believe many will benefit from.

This is the only bodybuilding book you will ever need! As I read this book I decided to highlight the most interesting areas and at the end I had highlighted almost the entire book! I have read at least 1,000 pages on bodybuiding and nutrition and what I read out of Mike Mentzer's book was more interesting and factual than all the other books I have read. After reading this book I decided to give it my all and after only 5 months of training I had gained 1 1/8 inches on my arms, almost 1 inch on my forearms, 3 inches on my chest and back, 1 3/8 inches on my neck, a loss of 1/2 inch on my waist, a 1 3/4 inch gain on my upper and lower thighs, and a 3/4 inch gain on my calves. This is truly remarkable and I urge anyone who wants to gain a lot muscle quickly, give Heavy Duty a try; what do you have to lose?

I have always been interested in Mike Mentzer's philosophy of training. I am currently not lifting, but I ahve used his methods in the past. It is easy to let others lead you to believe that this method does not work, but it does. Using the basic training principles laid out by Mike, I increased my bench press from 120lbs.x12 to 230lbs.x13 in 6 months. My chinups went from 120x15 on the pulldown machine to bodyweight +25lbs.x5 real chinups. All other exercises gained an impressive amount too. I was a beginner when I started, but was lifting more in 6 months than many hardcore gym members that had been lifting for years. Unfortunately, I had personal issues and quit lifting, but it woud be interesting to see where I would have been at in another 6 months. I did not follow Mike's principles exactly, but rather tailored them to my needs from the beginning, which is exactly what Mike wants you to do in the end. Be your own logical trainer. Lol, I didn't even train legs. Ya, I didn't know much then, but I would have likely made even better progress if I had properly trained legs by doing squats or leg presses. Deadlifts would also have been good. So, even with my poorly designed training program(lack of any leg and lower back training), with proper use of intensity, REST adjustment, and nutrition I still made great gains. This only proves the method even more in my opinion. There are several things though. Yuo do have to train with your utmost intensity. Every set I did controlled and smooth until I reached muscular failure and could not press the weight any more, at which point I tried to press the weight for several seconds after, straining with all my might to move it even an inch. That is hard training. It taxes your nervous system, and imposes large demands. High volume training is the saem way. you don't train as hard, ie. don't push to true failure and do multiple sets, but you end up doing too much work and taxing your system. Most people, when they start to slow down, or not progress, usually do the exact opposite of what they should. That is, they do more, and usually more often. Through my several years of off and on lifting, my records have consistently shown me that doing more has never helped and in the end I stagnated. Even when I knew to use Mike's principles, many times I didn't because I got pressured by gym buddies that what I was doing was wrong and for lazy people, and that I should train with them. Wrong. Everyone is their own, unique self, so every training program needs to be tailored to YOU. What's works for someone else, many times will not work for you. Why? Besides being different people and ahving different genetics, it is the fifference in your recovery ability. What someone else may be able to reover from in a day may take you 2-3. Your friend may be able to recover form a hard set of squats in 2-4 days. It may take you 5,6,7,8,9,10 or even more days. It all depends on your inate recovery ability. ANyway, this is why you should buy this book. The most imortant thing Mike ever taught was that you need to adjust how much exercise you do and how often you do it until you see good, consistent progress. As for the girl asking if this works for women. YES. Any method of trainig will work for women, just as it works for men. Btw, this isn't a forum.