The Heavy Duty workout routine

Mike Menzer he was a Golden Age bodybuilder famous for his use of heavy training system which helped him add muscle mass and compete with some of the greatest bodybuilders of the time, even clashing with them Arnold Schwarzenegger to 1980 Mister Olympia competition. This heavy training system used high intensity training, which Mentzer had taken from Arthur Jones and turned into his heavy system. With Mentzer’s new system, the reps went down, the weights got heavier, and the sets got a lot harder.

Over forty years later, Mentzers training is re-emerging and once again becoming popular with young gym-goers. So what exactly was Mike Mentzer’s training like?

Mike Mentzers training philosophy

While Arthur Jones claimed a set of 20 repetitions per exercise, Mike Mentzer’s training concluded that the ideal rep range was 6-8. However, in the last repetition you would reach the absolute muscle failure, and it didn’t stop there. Mike Mentzer’s training involved going beyond failure (a philosophy also espoused by Tom Platz), using forced reps, negative reps, rest breaks, and pre-exhaustion supersets. What do these terms mean?

Term	Sense
Forced repetitions	A spotter helps shift the weight for more reps
Negative representations	A spotter helps on the positive halves of the reps, then the lifter slowly lowers the weight for approximately 6 seconds
Re-Pause	After you hit failure, rest for 15 seconds, then do one more rep. Mentzer would repeat this process for another 4-6 reps
Pre-exhaust superset	Perform a set of isolation exercises before a set of compound exercises for the same body part without resting.

It is important to note that Mike Mentzer trained with at least one training partner in each session who would spot him and help assist him when he reached failure. Usually, Mentzer’s partner was his brother, Ray, who won the Mr. America in 1979.

Another key part of Mike Mentzer’s training is the low volume. Yes, the high intensity workout routine didn’t involve high volume at all, as it was claimed that if you were actually training at high intensity you wouldn’t need high volume. Mike Mentzers trains only 3-6 work sets per body part (supersets count as two sets) and typically only 1-2 heating set with lighter weight.

Another thing about Mike Mentzer’s training that may shock you is the frequency of training, he only trained three days a week. Heavy Duty training required you to work your body parts twice every 8-9 days whereas most bodybuilders will work each muscle group twice every 5-7 days. Mentzer wrote for people who were skeptical of low volume, your child’s subconscious is telling you that more is better. In some cases, that’s true. More money is better than less. But you can’t take this principle and blindly apply it to exercise and expect to get something out of it.

Mike Mentzers Workout Routine

Now that you’ve seen the philosophy of the workout, let’s take a look at Mike Mentzer’s actual workout routine. Mentzer split his training into two workouts, Workout A and Workout B. Let’s take a look at each.

Workout A (Legs, Chest and Triceps)

Exercise	Tax	Representatives
Leg Extension (superset with leg press)	2 sets of each	6-8
Squat	1	6-8
Leg curl	2	6-8
Standing calf raise	2	6-8
Calf press	1	6-8
Fly with dumbbells or Pec Deck	2	6-8
Inclined barbell press	2	6-8
Sauces	2	6-8
Pushdown (again superset with dips)	1 set of each	6-8
Lying triceps extension	2	6-8

Workout B (back, traps, shoulders, biceps)

Exercise	Tax	Representatives
Machine Pulldown (ss with narrow grip Underhand Pulldown)	2 of each	6-8
Row with barbell	2	6-8
Machine Shrug (ss with Upright Row)	2 sets of each	6-8
Lateral lateral raises (ss with machine shoulder press)	2 sets of each	6-8
Handlebar or side rear machine	2	6-8
Standing barbell curl	1	6-8
Concentrated dumbbell curl	2	6-8

While that may not sound like much, Mentzer trained to brutalize absolutely every muscle he trained. The Heavy Duty training method involved walking out of the gym with absolutely nothing in the tank, which meant that the muscle could no longer take the stress.

Has anyone else used the Mentzers workout?

Mike Mentzer was a phenomenon, even winning the heavyweight division of the 1979 Mr. Olympia (Frank Zane won the general classification). But in 1980, Mentzer released two Heavy Duty booklets detailing his training, and through his seminars, articles, and other forms of exposition, his training philosophy was becoming widely popular. Other bodybuilders began training like Mike Mentzer, but eventually reverted to a more moderate training pattern.

Then came the 1980 Olympia, where Mentzer took a controversial fifth place, and subsequently retired. Sadly, Mike Mentzer passed away in 2001 at the age of 49, but not without leaving a legacy.

Maybe you’ve heard of it Dorian Yates, 6-time Mr. Olympia winner, also considered the original mass monster. Yates changed the bodybuilding game with the size he carried. As for his training, Dorian Yates has followed the training of none other than Mike Mentzer. Yates had been training much less frequently and much more intensely.

Even today, Mike Mentzer’s workout is followed by gym-goers around the world.

Training tips

Mike Mentzer had a strict set of rules which he followed and did not deviate from. Let’s take a look at what they are.

Split the body

Mentzer recommends splitting your body parts into two workouts and allowing 48 hours between each workout session. For example, if you do workout A on Monday, do workout B on Wednesday, then workout A on Friday, and so on. This allows for adequate recovery timesso you can feel refreshed for your next training session.

Follow the push-pull system

To maximize recovery, workouts should follow the push-pull system. But because Mentzer divided his body into two separate workouts, he included them legs the day of the push and shoulders on shooting day.

Sets and reps

Always do 1-3 warmup sets before your working sets, and the last warmup set should be about 75% of your working weight.

For work sets, go to complete rep failure in the 6-8 rep range and try to get stronger in this range. Use things like pre-exhaust supersets, like flies immediately before incline presses.

Form and failure

When following the Mike Mentzer workout, ALWAYS maintain proper form. Correct form ensures you hit the desired muscle and decreases the risk of injury.

Take your sets beyond failure, using forced reps, negative reps, and rest breaks.

Conclusion by Mike Mentzer

Overall, Mike Mentzer’s workouts were very different from those of most modern bodybuilders. Many times you will see bodybuilders doing a lot more frequency and volume, but not Mike Mentzer. Instead he followed a high-intensity training routine, in which he absolutely brutalized muscle groups with heavy, low-volume sets and only trained three times a week.

Do you agree with Mike Mentzers workout routine?

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Images courtesy of Instagram (@mentzerhit)