Masters Training Course
Mike Mentzer's High Intensity Workout and his training ideas:
ALSO KNOW AS HIT (High Intensity Training).
Mike Mentzer's training
theory is well described in his book, "High Intensity Training",
printed in 2003 and very well written by Mike and John Little.
You would be well served to read this book. It really makes you
think. He backs up his training ideas with a lot of medical evidence.
The crux of his workout theory is: train super hard, and briefly--the
more advanced you get the less you train (as you make inroads into
your limited recovery ability)--and then you REST. A minimum 4-6
days and up to 14 days between workouts to allow maximum recovery.
Upward progress is constant as you simply rest more and train harder,
workout by workout.
In the book Mentzer
states: I f you stop making progress stop training for 2 weeks and
resume again. The idea is to recuperate, from intense training and
always return to the gym stronger. A never ending upward spiral
of success as long as you can induce a maximum contraction on the
muscle as that is the trigger (and the only trigger according to
Mike) to make the muscle grow, and then REST to allow that growth
to take place. Got it?
It sounds very scientific
and and makes sense. The harder you work the more you rest. Sounds
logical. And I can agree on that point but unfortunently not on
much else.
The body doesn't work that way.
Mike gives us tomes
of empirical, evidence to back up his claims. Yet I can tell you
from years of experience, that truthfully, the body does not respond
that way to exercise.
Mike is one of my favorite
bodybuilders. I have read almost every article and every book he
has written. I have trained using one set only to failure (and beyond)
on 9 exercises for almost a year. Here is what I learned: I got
very strong on those exercises. Very strong. I didn't grow. I got
hurt a lot (and so did my partner).
Yes the sad fact is I
didn't get any bigger and weighed the same. Yes I could leg curl
nearly 60lbs more than the year before, but I was no bigger. Zip.
Nothing. Nada.
Injuries
I got hurt. A lot. High
intensity as described by Mike is very dangerous. Pushing yourself
super hard is bad for you. I don't care how much you rest between
training sessions.
How bad is bad? Let me
tell you: I was doing negative only training and tore my shoulder
out of the socket. I was leg pressing and was pushing so hard with
so much weight I broke bones in my ankle. I puked quite often during
my training and I blacked out once during a set. I trained very
hard. We would tie our hands to the lat pull (on every set so you
couldn't lose your grip and quit) with 6 foot boxing straps and
pulled till our arms nearly popped out of the sockets! And finally
during one set of mega squats I ruptured my stomach wall and had
to visit the hospital for an operation. And this is not the entire
list of injuries!
The fact is as you become
advanced (strong) you can push yourself beyond your limits very
easily. You can and will, injure yourself. Pushing yourself too
hard, too often, is not good for you.
THE SET THING.
The moment I returned
to multiple sets training (which I did to see what might happen)
with less intensity (let's call it normal intensity or hard work)
I grew. I'll never forget it. The evidence was irrefutable. One
set to failure may make you stronger, but it does not build a physique,
and it's dangerous. And resting weeks between workouts is no way
to become strong and fit. Though I have to admit I never have tried
taking weeks off between workouts unless I was very hurt or sick.
Yes, I was stronger
from the one set stuff as I stated earlier, (I gained what I usually
gain in strength training) and using that strength in multiple set
training was a plus, but NOT TILL I RETURNED to MULTIPLE NORMAL
SETS without training ot all out failure--did I start to hypertrophy
again. Maybe it's the blood flow. Maybe it's the high and low reps,
maybe it's the frequency, maybe the cenetral nervous system recovers
better when you are not training to failure all the time--maybe
it's all of it! All I can tell you is --it works.
It's possible, in fact
very easy, to get hurt doing things like negatives and forced
reps and rest pause techniques,especially if you train like that
ALL the time (instead of very infrequently
using high intensity, as I suggest---week 3 of your monthly cycle
during phase 3 of your yearly training--maxing only once a year.)
Mike has the athlete maxing out all the time and beyond!
It's not good for you unless your joints
and tendons are made of steel.
The body isn't meant
to do "forced reps", or all negative reps with a weight
you can't normally lift (there is a reason you can't lift it--it's
too heavy!). It damages your tendons, it puts you at risk.
And if you do it for several high intensity workouts in a row, maxing
out at every workout on every exercise--YOU WILL BECOME INJURED.
Mike says you won't get
hurt. You just need to rest more. I don't care how much REST you
take. 4 days, 14 days (even worse) walk in that gym and start maxing
out every workout and you're finished. In
no time you will be injured. I would bet money on it. Then you can
really rest as you wait to grow new tendons.
Let's just say that you
didn't get hurt? Would it work? Nope. 2 reasons: One: You need more
frequent exercise to get into good shape for one thing. Once a week
training (for 12 minutes to an hour) or less is not enough time,
training wise, to produce a fit healthy muscular body. I will admit
one hour of training a week can have marvelous benefits and it works
to build size, however to become Mr. America it is not enough training.You
need weights at least twice a week (training hard and progressively)
and more to really progress, and you need to do some sort of aerobics
and ab work. The second thing is you can't kill yourself year round
in the gym.It just doesn't work. Your central nervous system and
glands are overloaded from constant high stress. You must work hard
enough to improve, and progression means adding small amounts of
wieght to the bar on a consistent basis. You don't have to train
to failure to get stronger or 2 one or two more reps each week.
You have to work hard, or at least exert yourself, but you don't
have to kill yourself to make progress.
Training to failure each
time you lift is like running a sprint 100% till you drop each time
you run. It's not practical or needed to improve. Training with
all out intensity all the time can be very detrimental. You overload
your body (and mind) and you can't recover any more, growth stops
and you will probably shrink, you "go stale" as it were.
The body has a defense mechanism that after a few weeks of high
stress, kicks in and basically shuts itself down. I have seen it
over and over in my own life and in other trainers. Classic
signs of being stale beside being weak are: You
can't sleep, feel nervous, no appetite, tired, and usually you may
get a cold or flu as well. It's your bodies way of slowing you down
one way or another.
Athletes that go to the
Olympics to run for example, don't run fast all year round. They
build up to it. They peak themselves. They train and run a little
faster each month and then at the Olympics they give 100%. Then
back off and do it again next year, with a new training cycle It's
the best way to prepare to be your best. No one runs the 4 minute
mile every day. You build up to it, do it, then back off. To run
a 4 minute mile every day would be impossible, even if you rested
2 weeks between runs you would still find yourself slowing down.
The body can only run at maximum for a short time then it needs
down time to attempt that pace again. You can't stay at a peak.
It's very difficult and prone to injury (after all, now you are
at your physical limits) as you ride the razors edge.
Mike's theory is based
on hard work and then rest. This is the basic idea behind conventional
training as well, however you max out very infrequently ( using
conventional training ) and the work is carried out over a year's
time.
Mike completely discounts
periodization and that is the major flaw in his training theory
(besides way too much rest between training sessions). You simply
can't kill yourself all the time in the gym. The nervous system
and endocrine systems can only take a few weeks of this, at best,
and then you go VERY VERY STALE. So even if your elbows and shoulders
don't get ripped from doing negative benches your nervous system
will overload very quickly from constant high intensity training.
Remember I am not knocking
Mike Mentzer. Mike was a great guy. His books are very informative
and influenced me to train both harder and for less time. I just
can't get behind the entire High Intensity Training (HIT) training
program. For me, and others, it was a dead end.
Mike Mentzer's High Intensity Workout and his training ideas:
ALSO KNOW AS HIT (High Intensity Training).
Mike Mentzer's training
theory is well described in his book, "High Intensity Training",
printed in 2003 and very well written by Mike and John Little.
You would be well served to read this book. It really makes you
think. He backs up his training ideas with a lot of medical evidence.
The crux of his workout theory is: train super hard, and briefly--the
more advanced you get the less you train (as you make inroads into
your limited recovery ability)--and then you REST. A minimum 4-6
days and up to 14 days between workouts to allow maximum recovery.
Upward progress is constant as you simply rest more and train harder,
workout by workout.
In the book Mentzer
states: I f you stop making progress stop training for 2 weeks and
resume again. The idea is to recuperate, from intense training and
always return to the gym stronger. A never ending upward spiral
of success as long as you can induce a maximum contraction on the
muscle as that is the trigger (and the only trigger according to
Mike) to make the muscle grow, and then REST to allow that growth
to take place. Got it?
It sounds very scientific
and and makes sense. The harder you work the more you rest. Sounds
logical. And I can agree on that point but unfortunently not on
much else.
The body doesn't work that way.
Mike gives us tomes
of empirical, evidence to back up his claims. Yet I can tell you
from years of experience, that truthfully, the body does not respond
that way to exercise.
Mike is one of my favorite
bodybuilders. I have read almost every article and every book he
has written. I have trained using one set only to failure (and beyond)
on 9 exercises for almost a year. Here is what I learned: I got
very strong on those exercises. Very strong. I didn't grow. I got
hurt a lot (and so did my partner).
Yes the sad fact is I
didn't get any bigger and weighed the same. Yes I could leg curl
nearly 60lbs more than the year before, but I was no bigger. Zip.
Nothing. Nada.
Injuries
I got hurt. A lot. High
intensity as described by Mike is very dangerous. Pushing yourself
super hard is bad for you. I don't care how much you rest between
training sessions.
How bad is bad? Let me
tell you: I was doing negative only training and tore my shoulder
out of the socket. I was leg pressing and was pushing so hard with
so much weight I broke bones in my ankle. I puked quite often during
my training and I blacked out once during a set. I trained very
hard. We would tie our hands to the lat pull (on every set so you
couldn't lose your grip and quit) with 6 foot boxing straps and
pulled till our arms nearly popped out of the sockets! And finally
during one set of mega squats I ruptured my stomach wall and had
to visit the hospital for an operation. And this is not the entire
list of injuries!
The fact is as you become
advanced (strong) you can push yourself beyond your limits very
easily. You can and will, injure yourself. Pushing yourself too
hard, too often, is not good for you.
THE SET THING.
The moment I returned
to multiple sets training (which I did to see what might happen)
with less intensity (let's call it normal intensity or hard work)
I grew. I'll never forget it. The evidence was irrefutable. One
set to failure may make you stronger, but it does not build a physique,
and it's dangerous. And resting weeks between workouts is no way
to become strong and fit. Though I have to admit I never have tried
taking weeks off between workouts unless I was very hurt or sick.
Yes, I was stronger
from the one set stuff as I stated earlier, (I gained what I usually
gain in strength training) and using that strength in multiple set
training was a plus, but NOT TILL I RETURNED to MULTIPLE NORMAL
SETS without training ot all out failure--did I start to hypertrophy
again. Maybe it's the blood flow. Maybe it's the high and low reps,
maybe it's the frequency, maybe the cenetral nervous system recovers
better when you are not training to failure all the time--maybe
it's all of it! All I can tell you is --it works.
It's possible, in fact
very easy, to get hurt doing things like negatives and forced
reps and rest pause techniques,especially if you train like that
ALL the time (instead of very infrequently
using high intensity, as I suggest---week 3 of your monthly cycle
during phase 3 of your yearly training--maxing only once a year.)
Mike has the athlete maxing out all the time and beyond!
It's not good for you unless your joints
and tendons are made of steel.
The body isn't meant
to do "forced reps", or all negative reps with a weight
you can't normally lift (there is a reason you can't lift it--it's
too heavy!). It damages your tendons, it puts you at risk.
And if you do it for several high intensity workouts in a row, maxing
out at every workout on every exercise--YOU WILL BECOME INJURED.
Mike says you won't get
hurt. You just need to rest more. I don't care how much REST you
take. 4 days, 14 days (even worse) walk in that gym and start maxing
out every workout and you're finished. In
no time you will be injured. I would bet money on it. Then you can
really rest as you wait to grow new tendons.
Let's just say that you
didn't get hurt? Would it work? Nope. 2 reasons: One: You need more
frequent exercise to get into good shape for one thing. Once a week
training (for 12 minutes to an hour) or less is not enough time,
training wise, to produce a fit healthy muscular body. I will admit
one hour of training a week can have marvelous benefits and it works
to build size, however to become Mr. America it is not enough training.You
need weights at least twice a week (training hard and progressively)
and more to really progress, and you need to do some sort of aerobics
and ab work. The second thing is you can't kill yourself year round
in the gym.It just doesn't work. Your central nervous system and
glands are overloaded from constant high stress. You must work hard
enough to improve, and progression means adding small amounts of
wieght to the bar on a consistent basis. You don't have to train
to failure to get stronger or 2 one or two more reps each week.
You have to work hard, or at least exert yourself, but you don't
have to kill yourself to make progress.
Training to failure each
time you lift is like running a sprint 100% till you drop each time
you run. It's not practical or needed to improve. Training with
all out intensity all the time can be very detrimental. You overload
your body (and mind) and you can't recover any more, growth stops
and you will probably shrink, you "go stale" as it were.
The body has a defense mechanism that after a few weeks of high
stress, kicks in and basically shuts itself down. I have seen it
over and over in my own life and in other trainers. Classic
signs of being stale beside being weak are: You
can't sleep, feel nervous, no appetite, tired, and usually you may
get a cold or flu as well. It's your bodies way of slowing you down
one way or another.
Athletes that go to the
Olympics to run for example, don't run fast all year round. They
build up to it. They peak themselves. They train and run a little
faster each month and then at the Olympics they give 100%. Then
back off and do it again next year, with a new training cycle It's
the best way to prepare to be your best. No one runs the 4 minute
mile every day. You build up to it, do it, then back off. To run
a 4 minute mile every day would be impossible, even if you rested
2 weeks between runs you would still find yourself slowing down.
The body can only run at maximum for a short time then it needs
down time to attempt that pace again. You can't stay at a peak.
It's very difficult and prone to injury (after all, now you are
at your physical limits) as you ride the razors edge.
Mike's theory is based
on hard work and then rest. This is the basic idea behind conventional
training as well, however you max out very infrequently ( using
conventional training ) and the work is carried out over a year's
time.
Mike completely discounts
periodization and that is the major flaw in his training theory
(besides way too much rest between training sessions). You simply
can't kill yourself all the time in the gym. The nervous system
and endocrine systems can only take a few weeks of this, at best,
and then you go VERY VERY STALE. So even if your elbows and shoulders
don't get ripped from doing negative benches your nervous system
will overload very quickly from constant high intensity training.
Remember I am not knocking
Mike Mentzer. Mike was a great guy. His books are very informative
and influenced me to train both harder and for less time. I just
can't get behind the entire High Intensity Training (HIT) training
program. For me, and others, it was a dead end.
