The original Mentzer Heavy duty workout

[Howard]

Me and many others used this workout routine (and basic low cal diet) in the 1980's.
http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/heavy-duty-mike-mentzers-most-productive-routine/
Here it is with Mike's comments.

[oldtimer1]

I was a Mike Mentzer fan back in the day. I had great success in my youth training similar to him. I think I still have everything he ever wrote in my basement.

Mike started with volume then after meeting Viator and reading what Arthur Jones use to write he switched to heavy duty high intensity. He won the Mr. America with this whole body routine.

This was his exact work out. A whole body routine done three times a week. After the 1976 he went to a split routine.

Nautilus leg extensions 1 x 12 super set with leg press
Nautilus leg press 1 x 12

squats 1 x 12
Nautilus leg curl 2 x 8

calf raise 3 x 12

Nautilus pullover for one or two cycles super set with {reverse grip pull downs}
Low cable rows 2 x 8

Nautilus double chest 2 super sets for 8 reps. (machine had a flying type pec deck and then a bench press station where your hands faced each other.)

Nautilus double shoulder one or 2 cycles. (machine had a delt lateral section then a pressing part) 8 reps

Nautilus bicep 3 sets
Nautilus tricep 1 set
Nautilus weighted dip on Nautilus multi machine for one set.

situps

He weighed 209 for the contest. He said the workout took one hour.

After this contest he went to a split routine. One day was thighs, chest and tricep. The other was back, delt and bicep. He started doing work out one on Monday and workout two on Tuesday. Took Wednesday off. Then Thursday work out one and Friday workout two. Weekends off.

After awhile he felt he wasn't recuperating and did a workout from his split every other day. Saving his off days for cardio. Yes, he did do cardio during his best years but was firmly against it when he stopped competing.

Influenced I believe by Mr. Florida Frank Calta he started a rotation with his split. While not using calender days I will use them for the purpose of explanation. Monday he would use workout one of his split of thighs, chest and tricep. On Wednesday he would use workout two of his split of back, delt and bicep.  Friday would come around and he was back to thighs, chest and tricep. He would train three days a week. The next week he would rotate. Monday would be back, delt and bicep. Wednesday would be now thighs, chest and tricep. Every body part would get hit either two times a week or once. Of course there is over lap. He said he made his best gains and this is what he did for the last Olympia try. He roughly did 6 to 3 sets a body part. Some who have trained in a gym with him have said he used a lot more sets but were they all work sets or were warm up sets included?


When he retired and after coming back from drug addiction and mental illness he got really radical in his training thoughts. He proposed workouts that he never did during his competition days. They were incredibly brief followed by 5 or more days off.

[TestDummy]

Me and many others used this workout routine (and basic low cal diet) in the 1980's.
http://www.ironmanmagazine.com/heavy-duty-mike-mentzers-most-productive-routine/
Here it is with Mike's comments.
I got in my best contest shape doing this.

Hey Howard, you got any pictures of from back in the day?

[Thong Maniac]

I was a Mike Mentzer fan back in the day. I had great success in my youth training similar to him. I think I still have everything he ever wrote in my basement.

Mike started with volume then after meeting Viator and reading what Arthur Jones use to write he switched to heavy duty high intensity. He won the Mr. America with this whole body routine.

This was his exact work out. A whole body routine done three times a week. After the 1976 he went to a split routine.

Nautilus leg extensions 1 x 12 super set with leg press
Nautilus leg press 1 x 12

squats 1 x 12
Nautilus leg curl 2 x 8

calf raise 3 x 12

Nautilus pullover for one or two cycles super set with {reverse grip pull downs}
Low cable rows 2 x 8

Nautilus double chest 2 super sets for 8 reps. (machine had a flying type pec deck and then a bench press station where your hands faced each other.)

Nautilus double shoulder one or 2 cycles. (machine had a delt lateral section then a pressing part) 8 reps

Nautilus bicep 3 sets
Nautilus tricep 1 set
Nautilus weighted dip on Nautilus multi machine for one set.

situps

He weighed 209 for the contest. He said the workout took one hour.

After this contest he went to a split routine. One day was thighs, chest and tricep. The other was back, delt and bicep. He started doing work out one on Monday and workout two on Tuesday. Took Wednesday off. Then Thursday work out one and Friday workout two. Weekends off.

After awhile he felt he wasn't recuperating and did a workout from his split every other day. Saving his off days for cardio. Yes, he did do cardio during his best years but was firmly against it when he stopped competing.

Influenced I believe by Mr. Florida Frank Calta he started a rotation with his split. While not using calender days I will use them for the purpose of explanation. Monday he would use workout one of his split of thighs, chest and tricep. On Wednesday he would use workout two of his split of back, delt and bicep.  Friday would come around and he was back to thighs, chest and tricep. He would train three days a week. The next week he would rotate. Monday would be back, delt and bicep. Wednesday would be now thighs, chest and tricep. Every body part would get hit either two times a week or once. Of course there is over lap. He said he made his best gains and this is what he did for the last Olympia try. He roughly did 6 to 3 sets a body part. Some who have trained in a gym with him have said he used a lot more sets but were they all work sets or were warm up sets included?


When he retired and after coming back from drug addiction and mental illness he got really radical in his training thoughts. He proposed workouts that he never did during his competition days. They were incredibly brief followed by 5 or more days off.

Kind of a confusing write up. Would like to see how this can be done in a real gym without nautilus crap.

So every single set is to failure?

[disco_stu]

mike's philosophy has one flaw, and its a biggie.

neurologically the stress by HIT is so extreme that it removes alot of energy available to recuperate muscularly.

it also removes the indisputable link between repetition and adaptation.

the biggest flaw is that most human beings cannot expend the amount of effort to yield the response claimed. and they certainly cant do it regularly.

there is no denying that p[hysiologically it makes sense, and works. psychologically people dont have the focus or the patience to apply it properly.

as for mixing it up- thats flawed also as you need a good 6 weeks on a rep pattern to get a combined muscular/neurological response that is adaptive.

and chaning from low to high reps is also flawed- like every 6 weeks change from low range to high..thats too much of a jump for a learned response..you end up adapting to the rep scheme just before you change it again, so dont get the benefits.

its been proven that mixing it up is best gotten when you chanhge the rep scheme in increments..say 6 reps for 6 weeks, then 8 for the next then 10, then 12 and so on, and then back down.

too many monkeys say cos they did a 50 rep set and they were really sore that it "works",, wrong, it just taxed you so much that you spent all your energy trying to inefficiently deal with a completely different rep scheme that you werent ready for. its like expecting growth from lifting bricks for a day when u normally dont lift bricks.

[keanu]

They have been posted numerous times and now are older then the crust on my mom's underwear.

Mike Mentzer's writings really impacted me. I lost years of progress following his methods.

[oldtimer1]

Kind of a confusing write up. Would like to see how this can be done in a real gym without nautilus crap.

So every single set is to failure?

Cliff notes for you.

1. He first started with volume.

2. Met Casey Viator and read Arthur Jones writings and went to HIT.

3. Start training whole body routines. Used a mix of Nautilus and conventional weights. Trained three days a week. This is how he trained when he won the Mr. America contest.

4. From here he went to a split training 4 days a week. Monday's split was legs,chest and triceps. Tuesday was Lat, delts, and biceps. Wednesday was off. Thursday was legs, chest and tricep. Fridays was lat, delts and biceps. Week ends off.

5. He felt he was getting exhausted training 4 days a week. He then rotated his split in the following manner. Monday was thighs, chest and triceps. Tuesday was off. Wednesday was back, delt and bicep. Thursday was off. Friday was thighs,chest and tricep. Weekends off. Now the next week he rotated so Monday began with back, delts and bicep. Tuesday off. Wednesday was now legs, chest and tricep. Thursday was off. Friday was back, delts and bicep.  He took the rotation for recuperation idea from Mr. Florida Frank Calta. This is how he trained for the 1980 Olympia.

6. During his competitive career he wrote many times about the running and biking he did for fat loss though after he retired he was against it.

7. After he retired from competition he came up with really brief routines that he never used. They had many days off between workouts. How convenient for a guy training people for pay.  

8. He would do a warm up set then one or two sets to failure. Used a mixture of Nautilus and conventional. Three to six sets a body part. This is what he did during his competitive career. At least this is what he stated in print and during his seminars.

Hope what I wrote is clearer.

On a side note the HIT community is filled with so many pseudo intellectuals that have a pompous condescending attitude toward anyone who dares to disagree with their version of the HIT religion.

[Rambone]

Cliff notes for you.

1. He first started with volume.

2. Met Casey Viator and read Arthur Jones writings and went to HIT.

3. Start training whole body routines. Used a mix of Nautilus and conventional weights. Trained three days a week. This is how he trained when he won the Mr. America contest.

4. From here he went to a split training 4 days a week. Monday's split was legs,chest and triceps. Tuesday was Lat, delts, and biceps. Wednesday was off. Thursday was legs, chest and tricep. Fridays was lat, delts and biceps. Week ends off.

5. He felt he was getting exhausted training 4 days a week. He then rotated his split in the following manner. Monday was thighs, chest and triceps. Tuesday was off. Wednesday was back, delt and bicep. Thursday was off. Friday was thighs,chest and tricep. Weekends off. Now the next week he rotated so Monday began with back, delts and bicep. Tuesday off. Wednesday was now legs, chest and tricep. Thursday was off. Friday was back, delts and bicep.  He took the rotation for recuperation idea from Mr. Florida Frank Calta. This is how he trained for the 1980 Olympia.

6. During his competitive career he wrote many times about the running and biking he did for fat loss though after he retired he was against it.

7. After he retired from competition he came up with really brief routines that he never used. They had many days off between workouts. How convenient for a guy training people for pay.  

8. He would do a warm up set then one or two sets to failure. Used a mixture of Nautilus and conventional. Three to six sets a body part. This is what he did during his competitive career. At least this is what he stated in print and during his seminars.

Hope what I wrote is clearer.

On a side note the HIT community is filled with so many pseudo intellectuals that have a pompous condescending attitude toward anyone who dares to disagree with their version of the HIT religion.

Very true. There's a guy at my old gym who has turned into a know it all HIT based personal trainer and an outspoken atheist the past few years. Talk about a double whammy of fucking condescension

[BigRo]

you in vegas Rambone?

[Rambone]

you in vegas Rambone?

No sir. South Florida

[Thespritz0]

Hey Howard, you got any pictures of from back in the day?

^^
From 1978...

[Palpatine Q]

Hey Howard, you got any pictures of from back in the day?

Back in the mid 70s..to early 80s there were Nautilus/racquetball clubs.  They were pretty popular.

I went with my dad. They had the full Nautus circuit, and me and my dad did Mentzer's routine to the letter.

[Palpatine Q]

mike's philosophy has one flaw, and its a biggie.

neurologically the stress by HIT is so extreme that it removes alot of energy available to recuperate muscularly.

it also removes the indisputable link between repetition and adaptation.

the biggest flaw is that most human beings cannot expend the amount of effort to yield the response claimed. and they certainly cant do it regularly.

there is no denying that p[hysiologically it makes sense, and works. psychologically people dont have the focus or the patience to apply it properly.

as for mixing it up- thats flawed also as you need a good 6 weeks on a rep pattern to get a combined muscular/neurological response that is adaptive.

and chaning from low to high reps is also flawed- like every 6 weeks change from low range to high..thats too much of a jump for a learned response..you end up adapting to the rep scheme just before you change it again, so dont get the benefits.

its been proven that mixing it up is best gotten when you chanhge the rep scheme in increments..say 6 reps for 6 weeks, then 8 for the next then 10, then 12 and so on, and then back down.

too many monkeys say cos they did a 50 rep set and they were really sore that it "works",, wrong, it just taxed you so much that you spent all your energy trying to inefficiently deal with a completely different rep scheme that you werent ready for. its like expecting growth from lifting bricks for a day when u normally dont lift bricks.

Great post.  I feel the same exact way...HIIT is great on paper, doesnt translate

[Thespritz0]

Great post.  I feel the same exact way...HIIT is great on paper, doesnt translate

^^
VERY do-able, you just need 2 days off between workouts and HUGE amounts of timed-release vitamin-C to manage the delayed-onset-muscle-pain...

[Palpatine Q]

^^
VERY do-able, you just need 2 days off between workouts and HUGE amounts of timed-release vitamin-C to manage the delayed-onset-muscle-pain...

I agree, very do-able.

I just dont like it.  It assumes too much, as far as "intensity"

[funk51]

^^
From 1978...

this is what he looked like doing volume training as a teenager....

[Julio Ceasar]

mike's philosophy has one flaw, and its a biggie.

neurologically the stress by HIT is so extreme that it removes alot of energy available to recuperate muscularly.

it also removes the indisputable link between repetition and adaptation.

the biggest flaw is that most human beings cannot expend the amount of effort to yield the response claimed. and they certainly cant do it regularly.

there is no denying that p[hysiologically it makes sense, and works. psychologically people dont have the focus or the patience to apply it properly.

as for mixing it up- thats flawed also as you need a good 6 weeks on a rep pattern to get a combined muscular/neurological response that is adaptive.

and chaning from low to high reps is also flawed- like every 6 weeks change from low range to high..thats too much of a jump for a learned response..you end up adapting to the rep scheme just before you change it again, so dont get the benefits.

its been proven that mixing it up is best gotten when you chanhge the rep scheme in increments..say 6 reps for 6 weeks, then 8 for the next then 10, then 12 and so on, and then back down.

too many monkeys say cos they did a 50 rep set and they were really sore that it "works",, wrong, it just taxed you so much that you spent all your energy trying to inefficiently deal with a completely different rep scheme that you werent ready for. its like expecting growth from lifting bricks for a day when u normally dont lift bricks.

Micke can shew up his philosofy in his dead ass! 99% drugs made his body, not his workout! Same for arnold, same for columbo, same for all other jackheads in the bizznes. I bet they couldent make 6month of drugfree workout, dosent have willpower or mental stability! Fucktards, all of them!

[OlympiaGym]

There's no special routine it's just all about marketing

[OlympiaGym]

this is what he looked like doing volume training as a teenager....

Great white man genetics for bodybuilding

[keanu]

    On paper Heavy Duty sounded great. I remember reading a few long articles and thinking I had in my hands life changing material. Mike comes off as an intellectual, a man that has seen and done it all. In the end Heavy Duty does not work for most. Mike's claims of clients gaining 30 lbs of muscles in 4 months is pure bullshit. It was all business.

    Jones realized that most people were lazy and wanted muscles in minutes. He designed expensive machines and was trying to open up his Nautilus clubs worldwide starting in the States. He wanted people in and out quickly who were only there a couple of times a week. Less attendance, more members, less wear and tear on the machines. He had Viator and Mentzer endorsing him. Invited Arnold, Franco, Sergio, Boyer, and a bunch of other famous muscle guys. In the end, the top guys stuck to volume. Viator who didn't train Heavy Duty ever (he sneaked in volume), and Mentzer who burnt out quickly training this way were the only two left. Boyer’s body went to crap training this way.

    I have met many arrogant HIT know it all types. Most look like pencil necks much like Jones himself. They spew about science and intensity but can never explain why volume training works much better for almost everybody.  Incidently both Mentzer and Viator died young.

[OlympiaGym]

Do gyms even have Nautilus machines anymore?

[keanu]

Jones' kid started Hammer Strength which is all over the place.  

[_bruce_]

Mentzer was the shit - crazy how he looked even at a younger age.

Tried the HIT stuff for some time and I think that a high volume light/medium weight regime is way healthier and adds more "swole".
HIT is simply mouth watering when you go through Mentzer's books and imagine the stratospheric gains that "will" be made "once you crack it up".

Mentzer is basically Isaac Asimov for bodybuilders.

[The Abdominal Snoman]

All these guys used volume to build there base. And when they got older, they got lazier and came up with assorted workouts where they want others to believe built their body. In essence trying to re-write history of what it really took to build their bodies. See it everyday today. The Cutlers of the world using hardly any real weight and working out on machines using boatloads of drugs telling people that their working out harder today then they ever did. These mentally ill delusional older dudes like Kamali thinking they look better and bigger today because he weighs more on the scale...When it's the drugs and the calories that are keeping the scale up and the delusional mind not understanding what the mirror is really showing them...

[Ronnie Rep]

Back in 78 before I moved to S.FL. I was was training at Main Line Nautilus in Bryn Mawr PA. It was and still is owned by Roger Schwab. He was friends with Mike Mentzer very tight with John Balik and Arthur Jones. He was also an Olympia judge in the 8o's.  He would put me and my buddy through the Nautilus circuit. He introduced me to single set and exercise training. I was all of about 145 pounds, it kicked my ass made me somewhat stronger, but never really worked for me as far as packing on any kind of size. I moved to S. FL. shortly after that joined a real gym and trained and ate my ass off. Came back about a year later to visit I was 180. He had finally put some free weights in the place. I was doing some benches in his place telling him I put on all this size with free weights. He told me to keep it down he didn't want the other members to hear what I was saying, he was still pushing his Nautilus workouts to all of his members and clients.