Against Mike Mentzer's High Intensity Workout - Masters Training Course

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.

How to Gain Weight with Just One Exercise - How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet | How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet

How to Gain Weight with Just One Exercise - How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet | How to Build Muscle | Strength Training Workouts | Mass Gain Diet

When people ask me how to gain weight the first thing I ask them is if they do deadlifts. If you are trying to get big but aren’t including deadlifts in your program you are wasting your time. There is simply no more effective mass building exercise than the deadlift.

From your neck to your calves, nearly every muscle in your body gets activated and receives a powerful growth stimulus from deadlifts.

Not only is the deadlift the most effective mass building exercise there is but it is also the most basic ,and has the greatest carryover to the real world. There aren’t many times in life where you would lie down on your back and press a weight up over your chest like you would during a bench press. But hardly a day goes by when you don’t bend down and pick something up off the floor. And that is what you do when you deadlift. So it trains you for real life situations and helps to prevent the oh-so-common lower back problems that plague hundreds of thousands of adults due to incredible weakness.
But the bottom line for all skinny guys and aspiring mass monsters is that if you want to know how to gain weight, you gotta learn how to deadlift.

Although the deadlift works the entire body from head to toe, it is especially effective at building huge traps, upper back muscles, spinal erectors, glutes, hamstrings and forearms. Plenty of puffed up bodybuilders have the big pecs and biceps but a deadlifter stands out from the crowd,  looking powerful and intimidating with the mountainous traps and thick, ruggedly muscled upper and lower back.

To perform a proper deadlift, stand directly over the bar with your shins nearly touching it and feet approximately 8-14 inches apart. Squat down by breaking at the hips and pushing your glutes back. Keep your back tightly arched, chest up and head in line with your spine. Your upper body should be at a 45 degree angle in relation to the ground. Grab the bar with a vice grip and begin to pull up and back. As the bar passes your knees, drive your hips forward powerfully, push your chest out and pull your shoulders back to lockout the weight.

When you lower the weight, be sure to begin by pushing your glutes back before you squat down. After the bar clears you knees, squat down while maintaining a tight arch in your lower back, allow the weights to touch the floor and repeat.

One mistake many beginners make when deadlifting is they try and control the eccentric or lowering portion of the exercise. This leads to injuries. Stay tight and lower the weights quickly but under control.  You will often see even advanced lifters drop a deadlift quite quickly and loudly between reps. This is because they know the danger associated with a slow deadlift. Treat a set as a bunch of singles until your form is tight enough to do touch and go reps.

Also, be sure to always deadlift with bare feet. If this doesn’t fly with the gym owner, go with deadlift slippers or Chuck Taylors; but never running sneakers.

Remember- a lot of deadlifts lead to huge, muscular physiques. If there was only one thing I could teach you about how to gain weight that would be it. Now get to the gym and start pulling some big weights.

For more information on how to gain weight and build muscle rapidly click HERE.

MAX Contraction Training – 180 Degree Health

MAX Contraction Training – 180 Degree Health

Posted May 14th, 2012

 505 126  8  

In the modern world, people are looking for more and more efficient ways to exercise.  My own life is pretty atypical, but I’m spending time at my mom’s house right now so this week I can totally relate.  I mean, with my mom’s large television in front of me I too can scarcely find time for anything.  Even sleep!  I mean, I just had to watch the Nuggets lose to the Lakers the other day, even though I hate basketball, and could care less about either team.  But I had to watch something after a busy day of watching every single golf shot of Round 2 in the Player’s tournament, another sport and tournament I care nothing about.

I wish I was joking.  Oh, wait a second.  This post will have to wait until later.  Skip Bayless and Stephen A. Smith are talking about Tim Tebow’s dog…

Okay I’m back.  Looks like Tebow changed the name of his dog from Bronco to Bronx.  What were we talking about?  Oh yeah exercise. And by exercise, I mean actually doing something physically.  Not just watching other people do it on youtube.  Or watching people play sports on tv.  Or reading about exercise, heh heh.

Yes I’m making fun of our sedentary society, and myself for being part of it, but the modern human, ultimately, is looking for the greatest reward with the minimum amount of effort.  For everything – exercise included.

Looking at the big picture, we shouldn’t really be looking at exercise as something to spend as little time doing as possible.  If you are, your relationship with exercise is probably very disordered as discussed in this audio clip from long ago…

My concern with exercise, and the reason I discuss efficient ways to exercise, is the toll that it takes on the human body.  While we hear the praises of it based on statistical analysis (a flawed way of assessing whether something is good or bad – nothing can be filed into such black and white categories), exercise is very hard on a sick person’s body.  It can also prevent someone’s recovery from a suboptimal metabolism – the root of many health problems and the primary focus of 180DegreeHealth.

Mike Mentzer, a pioneer when it comes to the mindset of extracting the maximum amount of benefit from exercise while inflicting the least amount of damage (and possessor of quite a butt-tickler of a stache), constantly sought after ways to minimize the damage done to the body with exercise and maximize the ability to recover from hard exercise.  He was one of the first to truly think beyond the mind-numbing mindset of “exercise is good, so the more the merrier!”



“An ideal workout should… utilize a minimum of the body’s biochemical reserves… the routine must not be carried on so long or repeated so frequently that it depletes the body’s reserves in an attempt to compensate for the merely exhaustive effects of the workout with nothing leftover…” 
~Mike Mentzer

The two primary dangers of exercise (aside from injury) are intensity and duration.  It’s fair to say that the higher the intensity, the shorter the duration must be for the exercise to be safe, productive, and sustainable.  Likewise, the longer the duration, the lower the intensity must be.

Both high-intensity and long-duration exercises done at a much lower intensity have benefits.  What I like about low-intensity exercise is that it is enjoyable, you are typically doing a variety of activities in a variety of ranges of motion and moving your body physically for a large portion of the day (avoiding spending too much time sitting).  Recreational activities like sports, hiking, swimming, gardening, and similar things fit into this category.  But these activities probably aren’t going to have much of an impact on your overall physiology.

Let’s say you are in your 50’s and you are noticing your strength really declining quickly (my 50-something brother-in-law today told me he’s noticed that time off from exercise causes his strength to decrease much more quickly than it used to when he was younger).  Walking up stairs is getting really hard.  You have trouble just standing up from a chair.  You get worn out after 4 minutes of sex and have to switch positions.  You get winded just doing little things around the house, much less doing the things you used to.  Maybe your bone mass has decreased as well.

Crap, Ninja Warrior is on now.  I may have to postpone this post another day…

If you have some of those aforementioned issues, and you really want to get some of your youth and vitality back and slow down or even reverse part of the natural physical descent that takes place with aging…

High-intensity exercise of a short duration is generally much more effective than low-intensity exercise done for a long duration.  While a combination of both should probably be performed – there’s no doubt that you get more bang for your buck doing high-intensity exercise.  If you have trouble walking up the stairs, see how much easier it gets when you double your leg strength.  That may sound like a lofty goal, but it can be done, and be done, by most people, with a total of just a half hour of leg presses (spread out over several months).

That’s efficiency.  And the toll upon the body and the metabolism, as well as the total exposure to stress hormones (more or less the universal cause of degenerative disease), is small.
But generating intensity and truly performing productive muscular work that leads to big increases in strength requires some technique and some understanding.

We started out discussing Body By Science, a great primer on doing the most productive strength-training work with the least risk of injury or overtraining.  Each exercise is done at a slow tempo, taken to true muscular failure, and only repeated once.  1 set.  3-5 exercises. Once per week.  A 10-15 minute weekly time commitment.

We further discussed how to fatigue the muscle even more by really focusing on the negative portion of the exercise in a post on Eccentric Exercise.  The negative portion of an exercise – or where you are lowering the weight instead of raising it, tires long after you’ve reached total exhaustion on the positive phase of the exercise.  So exhausting the negative portion of the exercise is higher in intensity.
Today I thought it was worthy to bring up a couple of other major factors in achieving maximal intensity – or what you could consider maximum efficiency (most productivity in the least amount of time).

Co-author of Body By Science and close personal of friend of the late Mike Mentzer, John Little has also created MAX Contraction, yet another type of high-efficiency, high-intensity exercise.  It too, is a good form of exercise that is safe, effective, and very time efficient.  I haven’t read his book on the subject, but I assume from what I know that this type of exercise tries to capitalize on two basic fundamentals…

1)      Fatiguing your muscle in the strongest range of motion
2)      Fatiguing your static strength (holding the weight in place – neither up nor down)

With each basic movement – such as pushing let’s say, you have parts of the motion where you are stronger and parts of the movement where you are weaker.  If you are doing a pushup, it’s much harder to go from the floor to the halfway point than it is from the 2/3 point to a full plank position where your elbows are locked out.  You are stronger at the top of the movement than the bottom or middle range.  If you are doing regular repetitions, you must stop when the weakest link has become fatigued.  Yet you have lots of juice left in the stronger portions of the movement.  So you haven’t achieved full exhaustion.

The premise of MAX Contraction is holding weight in the strongest portion of any given exercise and exhausting your muscle in its strongest range – which takes it to a deeper level of exhaustion.  We will definitely discuss this deeper in future posts on the topic of exercise, as this principle can be used to develop tremendous strength and muscle density with minimal muscle growth (for those desiring that, and I suspect from a health and metabolism standpoint, creating greater muscle density and strength rather than mass is probably superior).

Likewise when you reach muscular failure pushing a weight, you still have strength to hold that weight in place for 10 seconds or longer.  This is your static strength, and it is greater.  So if you go until your static strength fails, you’ve taken your muscle to a greater level of challenge.  MAX Contraction takes advantage of these two simple principles to subject your muscle to a much greater challenge than just doing a regular repetition until you can’t perform any more.  This won’t trigger swollen muscles developed through sarcoplasmic hypertrophy like traditional weight training.  But it may have a superior impact on strength and metabolic health with less hormonal damage or taxation on your recuperative abilities than typical muscle-building training.

Anyway, the training is discussed in this really good interview and demonstration of the exercise.  If you are like me, and spend twice as much time watching exercise than actually performing it (and by twice I mean like 26 times), you should enjoy it.  (Embedding is disabled for this badboy, so you’ll have to watch it on youtube).

http://youtu.be/ViMeLXZslys

I wouldn’t do this type of exercise exclusively, but just be conscious about your static strength and how to take your muscle to a higher level of exhaustion by going to the point in your exercises where your static strength fails.  I often do a static contraction or two into my workouts, or just work it in as sort of a finishing move.  My favorite static hold of late has been doing holds with chin-ups – like what they made chicks do back in P.E.  I hold it as long as possible with my chin above the bar, and then try my best to perform a slow negative after my static strength reaches failure.  It’s tough, and an amazing exercise for the abdominals as well.  It’s much tougher than it sounds!

A quick summary of how the exercise is performed…
1)      Load up an exercise with a heavier amount than normal.
2)      Move the weight, with or without assistance, into the position where your strength is greatest.
3)      Hold it as long as you possibly can  – the more weight you use, the shorter that time frame will be, and heavier is better for strength development… Both John Little and his colleague Pete Sisco recommend using a weight that causes you to reach failure in just 5 seconds.

A single set with 4-8 exercises once per week, with minimal rest in between exercises, makes for the exact kind of exercise I’m talking about – high-intensity with very short duration.  Efficient, safe, and very productive.  If you are looking at maximum reward with minimum time commitment and minimum drain on your health and vitality – in other words, the most sustainable and productive long-term exercise, the concepts in MAX Contraction, Pete Sisco’s Train Smart and similar exercise movements like Body By Science may be of great help to you.

Okay, gotta go now.  There’s cycling on tv.  So I must now spend another many hours watching something I don’t care about.  Hope it’s over before Dancing with the Stars begins.  Modern life is so time-consuming!