+ 3 Recovery Days
What is really good! So, picture this: I'm knee-deep in Youtube fitness videos, and it hit me like a dumbbell to the head - rest days are vital, right? But then, I stumble upon this Mike Mentzer dude and his approach - super high intensity, one set to failure, and loads of rest days. Now, I'm scratching my head, wondering if anyone out there is giving this wild workout a shot. Are you brave souls training like this? Can you share your thoughts on these bite-sized workouts with fewer sets than a toddler's bedtime story?
Here's the deal: I'm usually a gym rat, hustling six days a week with the rhythm of a Push, Pull, Legs, Rest day, Push, Pull, Legs, Rest day... you get it. I love the gym like I love pizza, and that's A LOT! But hey, if this Mentzer magic leads to epic gains, I might just sacrifice some gym hours - reluctantly, of course. I know the gym is just the catalyst for growth, and we grow during down time.
My style? Explosive concentric movements and savoring the eccentric part of the lift like it's a gourmet dessert. I mean, we've got around 3 sets per exercise. Time under tension right? But I'm open to all opinions, experiences, and even conspiracy theories. So, come on, folks tell me your secrets, you can trust me... haha! I'd also imagine natural vs enhanced makes a difference.
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I think it’s genius. If you look at Arthur Jones and his Colorado experiment, you’ll see how effective this is. In fact, the 3 set training standard wasn’t common until Arnold picked it up from a Guy named Reg Park who was looking to sell his fitness programs back then, so when Arnold said that’s how he trained people followed him with religious fervor. I believe Mentzer’s style leads to the greatest gains with the least amount of excess damage to muscle, joints, tendons and ligaments. Mentzer was one smart motherfucker, and people often write him and Dorian Yates off as genetically gifted, & although it’s true, that training style is superior to most, I believe. I’ve been guilty of overtraining most of my life. I use this style now and am able to make solid gains with far less time in the gym. Also, I would suggest that with incredible intensity, most training styles are effective.
It’s so interesting, it’s almost like MMA where there are many valid styles but always an argument of what is superior. I’m working on a fatigue rating system. I am a PT and I’m looking at the RPE scales from 0-10 ten being the hardest to come up with a work out fatigue score. I like the idea of warm up sets or time under tension but not to failure to engage the muscle then having a really difficult all out set to failure. I’m trying to get my mind up to the task. I always feel like I hit failure then after I’m like if someone had a gun to my head I could have done another.
Thanks guys! Yes I have seen some of those videos. It seems almost like you are mastering your mind over your body. It’s insane. I dont think at this time I could replicate that at all. Although I feel with volume you are still testing your limits. It’s like mental endurance vs sprinting.
I wonder if you could come up with a system to rate your workout even down to an individual set with a fatigue rating. Like say you rated a leg day at x amount of fatigue points where x is the number of fatigue points you need to say I am taking a recovery day???
I trained in Dorian Yates’s gym when he was doing this years ago in his Olympia winning days. I watched him many times blast a workout in 15 minutes. The method was all about intensity, but at such a level that most people, (myself included), just couldn’t do. The guy was also blessed with the sort of genetics that if you said “squat” within 10 feet of him he’d gain a pound of muscle on his quads.
I tried it, didn’t work for me. Most aren’t a fan from my experience and my brain says the science doesn’t work either. We are all different, so may work for you though? Give it a whirl for a month, see what happens? If you do, let us know.
Dorian Yates training style is my favorite. I still use this training split to this day for years.
Chest, biceps
Back, rear delts, traps
Rest
Shoulders, triceps
Legs
Rest
I tried push, pull , legs repeat and it doesn't work for me. I can't train full blood and guts style anymore because like Dorian I tore my tricep tendon completely off lol. But I still push pretty fkn hard. Dorian is my all time favorite bodybuilder. You need a training partner like Leroy Davis to fully train blood and guts. I used to have a training partner like this I trained him blood and guts style he put on 20 lbs of real muscle tissue in 6 months and came in harder and leaner training heavy up untill the show
Did it take a while to get your mind up to the task of overriding safety shut off and go all out to be able to tear something like that?
Well I treated the situation as going to work and shit has to get done, like I said below it wasn't all out I was only on my second set of my workout I probably wasn't even warm yet. It was a long time progressive injury that got worse over years of abuse in the gym and using anabolics agents. Many times our muscle strength exceeds out tendon strength.
DamikeThat's crazy. How did you tear your tricep? I often hear of biceps tears, but not triceps.
I tore it on a seated dumbbell shoulder press, it was my second set of my first exercise for the day. It wasn't that heavy, only a 95 lb D.B. for me I was going up to the 120lb for 8-10 in those days. I had tendonitis bad, I was lean and I used a lot of winstrol that whole year I think that caused my tendon to get brittle. I was experiencing pain but in typical blood and guts fashion I didn't give a fuck, ignored it and kept training. It was kinda funny thinking back it happened on a Friday night 4 years ago, I left the E.R. about midnight, in true blood and guts style I was in the gym next morning 8 a.m. training legs with my arm in a sling lol
I have tendonitis that comes and goes in my elbows, knees and most recently wrist.
I also tore my quadricep muscle in one leg because I walked into a loaded barbell on the rack at full stride not paying attention I walked right into the end of it. My whole leg turned purple after I trained legs hard with the injury not even knowing it was tore.
DamikeDamn man. Sorry that shit happened to you. I bet the down time was tough mentally. I am guesing it was already partially torn and the dumbell press was the straw that broke the camels back. Be nice if we all had an mri machines at home lol. In my younger years I was an mri tech and would always scan any area I had persistent pain. Def nice and reassuring to know it wasnt a partial tear waiting to give.
I went into a depression when I tore my labrum and finally had shoulder surgery it was almost a two year process from injury to diagnosis, surgery and finally full recovery.
Like I said I didn't have down time. The next morning I was training legs and the rest of the week I trained only my right side, I believed it would keep me from atrophy on my tore side and it did. That's how I dealt with it, I wasn't going to let it fk me up, I stayed persistent I stayed in shape too, what sucked was after I was able to start training my tore side again COVID happened shortly after so I had to do home workouts for a few months but still maintained. I have some pics in my pic section of when I was 8 or 9 weeks post surgery and I looked pretty good considering my circumstances and what I was running.
https://www.eroids.com/pics/didnt-miss-a-beat
Blimey I bet that was pretty magical seeing that in those days - If even you couldn't do these type of workouts and get much from them then there is no fuckin hope for the rest of us!! LOL Just wait till @Big Tone36 see's you use to train around him in the Blood & Gut's days!
I’ve used the HIT style of training an saw some great progress. However I think the key to seeing benefits with this style of training is to have a training partner that can match the intensity needed and force you past you’re comfort zone. It’s hard to match that extreme intensity alone without someone helping w forced reps. Watch any of Dorian Yates’ old videos or training seminars. He had some wild training partners. I remember one video where Chris Cormier came to train legs with him. He ended up puking.
I seem to remember Makwa ain't a fan of this approach! lol
Correct, I am not a fan of this style of training. Keep in mind the individuals promoting this type of training, They are genetic freaks and this allows them to be successful with this type of training. If I had the genetics like those guys, I would definitely be a fan because it would work for me, but for most us gym rats it doesn't work due to our genetic limitations, so I don't recommend it to people. If it works for you then you likely have the genetics to step on the Olympia stage.
https://www.eroids.com/forums/newbie-corner/training/intensity-vs-volume...
Yes, he actually helped me a lot a bit over a year ago. It’s crazy how many different approaches there are. The reason this idea has been holding some weight in my mind is when I did triathlons I had this almost tangible idea of fatigue vs fitness. As fitness goes up so does fatigue. You take a day or two off they both drop but fatigue fads faster then fitness. I was wondering since doing something like a squat is so draining to your whole body if your just racking up a ton of fatigue working high volume and holding yourself back long term.
With the high recovery method are you taking one step back to take two forward??
Just a thought.